Appropriate Music (2020)


Mirrorball Stars
Magnus Lefsaker / Sjur Lyseid

The line is long
Bouncer says
Go ahead please
Music’s loud
Moving crowd
It’s a tight squeeze 

Barman lifts his eye
In the mirrorball stars
Ponds of alcohol
Reflected

This city’s lonesome without you here
My mind, it’s toxic atmosphere
And underneath the disco sun
I just really miss someone

My lines are short
While the words are slurring
But the breakbeats will
Impair their hearing
Anyway

A girl lifts her eye
Strobe lightning strikes
In ponds of alcohol
Projected

This city’s lonesome without you here
This club, It´s toxic atmosphere
And underneath the disco sun
I just really miss someone
Miss someone

In this crowd I’m all one
Don’t bother me I’m going home

This city’s lonesome without you here
These streets, their toxic atmosphere
And underneath the rising sun
I just really miss someone

This city’s lonesome without you here
These streets, their hopeful atmosphere
And underneath the rising sun
I just really miss someone

Another Life
Simen Følstad Nilsen

First i’ll say to you
I just can’t believe the things you went through
i’ts hard to comprehend
how no one ever did anything back then
and you'll say

Another life is what it's like for me
It gets me to where i'm supposed to be
He’s just a phase that i have to live through
Still there's something left of him in you

His mask is wearing thin
Forgetting how to act he let's the sun in
Screaming in the car
He slides in to the past back in to the dark

He wasn't subtle like the teacher was
Through all those years you kept the truth from us
All this time and he still worships her
Sets the bar to high for his new girl

She was in charge and made you hold your breath
Remorseful only on the brink of death
As long as he's around she will live on
Her weight is off your shoulders when he's gone
Her weight is off your shoulders when he's gone

Lisbon
Magnus Askjer Lefsaker

I know the drill I know the rules
Our bodies are just a set of molecules
But this feeling
Here and now
I can't describe it, I don't know how

She was dancing in a Cuban bar
I was singing with a local rock star
We got drunk she put on a show
She's pole dancing on the lamppost
I'm in love

The Sun is Shining
Magnus Askjer Lefsaker / Malene Askjer Lefsaker / Henning Askjer Lefsaker

It seems like it was yesterday
Still it feels just really far away
From where we were. From way back when
When we met, I remember then

The sun was shining, sun was shining on us

But now I’m climbing up to my own tree
Only pilots looking down at me
I’m not lost for words, I´m just discreet
Shielded from the soil and it’s prancing beat 

The sun is shining, sun is shining on us

Relationships. They’re all a scam
In a see-through bubble, “Here I am”
I would dare, If I only knew
Then for once I’m see-through too 

Still the sun is shining, sun is shining on us

The Periphery
Magnus Lefsaker / Sjur Lyseid

I’ve been there
The periphery
I see myself 
Like I'm on the outside
I'm locked behind these mirror walls
Headshots in a gallery
And if you see me
Tell me there's an upside

Or is it a one-way?
Is it one-way? 

We both voted for change
On a chair-o-plane
Circling the same
Only on the outside

I’ll bribe the man with the baton
Tell the judge you’re surely wrong
I need to know if you see me
From the outside

Is it a one-way?

I’ve been there
The periphery
I've seen myself 
From the outside
And here behind these walls:
A spring and a fall
The curtain call
Then we’re on the outside

I’ll be with you again 

Broadcaster
Even Ziesler Andenæs

Here comes the news brought to you by the passionate pink
She’s telling stories sounding frightening, dont you think
Only time is separating us from knowing how it ends
Will it blow
I dont know

Oh, the lady in pink
The north Korean sfinx
I dont know what she thinks
Does she even know?

The army greets him marching bouncing on their feet
A nuclear earthquake makes him smile and show his teeth
The tones of Richters scale make up her bulletin
Like a song
Wont be long
Till were gone

Oh, the lady in pink
The North Korean sfinx
I dont know what she thinks
Does she even know?

Here comes the news

Counterclockwise
Magnus Lefsaker / Sjur Lyseid

It’s when you’ve called me after midnight
And we are not entirely sure if cause precedes effect
Still, we’re not here looking for insight
If I look a little down on you, I do it with respect

And here we are - me and you
Here we are - me and you

It’s when you’ve answered close to twilight
And I’m not after deeper meanings to dissect
You said "did you know the universe is flat"
If I looked up on you I did it with neglect

But here we are - me and you
Here we are - me and you

And I’m not looking for answers
Perhaps just a reply
I'm not making advances
And I don't need to know why 

I’ve got a long list, you’re sure on it
A good list and you’re sure on it
I’ve got a long list, you’re sure on it
I’ve got a long list, I’ve got a long list
You’re sure on it

It’s when you’re reading me through screen light
As spinning dancers propel at our brains’ dubious requests
You say counter, I say clockwise
But either answer doesn’t make us all that different I guess

Streets
Magnus Lefsaker / Sjur Lyseid

So I’m back on streets I used to walk
Hope to bring back feelings from years ago
I believe in this
I believe in this

Boomerang me to that state of mind
When we sat on curbs
I’m back but I’m
In these cold streetlights
Full of bad advice

I’m gonna count the minutes
Then I’m gonna fade out with the sun
I’m gonna count the seconds
I’m gonna stay here I’ll tell no one
Don’t believe in this 

Every paragraph and empty line
Your every word and letter
Your every sign
They all say the same
It’s a hollow game

I’m gonna count the minutes
Then I’m gonna fade out with the sun
I’m gonna count the seconds
I’m gonna stay here I’ll tell no one
Don’t believe in this

Flashmobs
Magnus Lefsaker / Sjur Lyseid

At a juncture, an arrow’s pointing south 
One north and a third directed somewhere else  
It’s a been a long, long day 
And all signs are angled the wrong, wrong way 
So I’ll just sit here in the station hall 

At least I’m able to say that I don’t know where to go 
Pocket sized distractions and a noisy radio 
Flashmobs are out of style  
But I’ll watch it for a short, short while 
Their choreography and balloons 

How do you know that I’m really here 
How do you know you’re right 
How do you know it won’t disappear 
How do you know you’re right 

I’ve been waiting for hours, I’ve been waiting for days 
Waiting out departures, keeping track of the delays 
There’s sweepstakes collected in 
A roulette you see it spin and spin 
The subway wind in my hair  

How do you know that I’m really here  
How do you know you’re right 
How do you know it won’t disappear 
How do you know you’re right 

How do you know that I’m aware  
How do you know you’re right 
A ticket machine-castle-in-the-air 
How do you know you’re right  

Nida Beach
Magnus Lefsaker 

We went to the beach in Nida
The seven of us in the shade
One by one they all went home
But you and I stayed

Sentences flow freely
Like the wind you shield me from
We’ll kiss under star falling
And then I remember once

You were appearing in my dream
I clearly could recall your face
Then you said you were to go abroad
To another time and place

Sentences flow freely
Like the wind you shield me from
We’ll kiss under star falling
And then I remember once

Its rough. Oh, the Baltic Sea
Turn off. That fake fragility
Enough. The Curonian Spit
That stuff. I know we’ll make it

Sentences flow freely
Like the wind you shield me from
We’ll kiss under star falling
And then I remember once

Patiently (2019)

Cellophane Bricks
Lefsaker

Summarize it in words
Your advice down the drain
A list of things to do
Lazy Day
Sun shines through
Trough
These bricks of cellophane
Dusty windowpane
Times are changing
Then you quickly realize
I’ts too late to revise


Groupthinker
Lefsaker

It doesn’t really matter how much you’ve invested
You gotta take the past for what it is
Those lips are barely smiling, I can see it
Your face is moist from salty drops

Groupthinker, take a step out and be thankful
Take what you want. What you want, wants you
Your bias let it be. This isn’t science
It’s only about you and her

 
Shadowboxer
Magnus Lefsaker / Sjur Lyseid 

So we beat
On against
The current
In that stream
We are libertines
In exile 

737 stench
Off all the scarves went
In mid air
Down where the rivers join
Reduced to a single point
They’re overjoyed

So we beat against
Fly like a june bug
The ring was the persian rug
You hit me hard
Frail paper kites
Became shadows in the night
Covered and veiled 

Still we beat against

We’ll try to punch
above our weight
In the current
There’s a stream
And we are libertines
In exile

Patiently
Lefsaker 

Please, won´t you get
In touch with me
Noone will thank you
But I´ll wait patiently 

Below the headlines
But next to the Clintons
I saw you looking
Back

Thats the look I stay here for
So ill stay

MONA (2017)

Hitmans List
Lefsaker

You know how to swim but still in dreams you drown
When the summer sun dies down
I prepare for guns and fists
Hope I´m not on the hitmans list
Today

But we´ll live a hundred lives or more
We´ll live a hundred lives or more
Or more or more or more

So lets go out and coat the subway walls with tags
Buy the cheapest tickets pack our bags
Say ”fuck our parole”
Take the yard flag off its pole i’ts pole
 

Passion Cosmo
Lefsaker

She’s born here, and she married this city
But she didn’t get any money when it died
Once a summer city by the ocean
Now icy surfboards, water’s frozen

The traffic sign are clear
Says there noone else around her here
And now theres only seven miles left

Then the night comes falling the lights rushing by
And it will fall apart
Might be gone for a while

The waitress serves me in golden heels
Keeps the tables turning fast
With a blonde wig, a Passion Cosmo coloured dress
The best stones from her jewelry chest
I like the funny way
She talks and so i’ll pay
Some extra, she smiles as she picks it up
 

Ocean Spray
Lefsaker

Tonight i went to see the beach where you and I went
The first time I saw you covered by ocean spray
Now its been over a year
Since we were walking here
And we told each other
We’ll be with noone else

And I’d tried to live in a love isolated regime
Now I’'ve had become a renegade from that land it seemed
We made out in the park
And hide in the manor dark
Hide in the manor dark

I never seen her in winter clothes
Will she keep me warm even when it gets colder
Or leave here with the hummingbirds
Fly far away as I moulder

She says ”If I ever leave you please come right after me
And I say ”You ain’t leavin nowhere”
I belive what I’ve been told
Though how would I even know
I only know who I think I am I think I am

Ignore the Flags on the Beaches (2016)

Lyrics by Magnus Askjer Lefsaker
 

Map of Lake Victoria

After all, the only thing I conceal
Is, though I don ́t get all the signs, I feel
That the saints of the day, they gather here
They gather here, right here

And we have some decisions to make
That we make for the choices sake
I should be off to see the world around
With your sunscreen as my veil

So wake me up at seven
And turn time around
We’ll ignore the flags on the beaches
Say “Well be gone soon anyway” 
Then your face is painted with lipstick
On the Lake Victoria shore
Serenity is all we have, anyway

And then it turns out we sit still
You say: “What’s the best way to abandon
What we have picked up on the way”

“How many times we let our self, feel fine?” 
Instead of chasing dreams again
We should give up then resign

To the only thing I conceal
While I don ́t get any signs, I feel
That the saints of the day, they gather here
They gather here, right here

 

Pastel Waves

I’d like tell you ‘bout this thing that I found
A drizzling day, some drops to keep me down
If time stood straight up and still
I’d catch this moment I will
The moment, I’d catch this moment.
This moment I’d catch

In pastel painted on a sheet, a mandrake root
She’s a child of mother earth and she dresses in a suit
And I ‘ll make her mine
I ‘ll get her a spaceship and we ́ll be fine
We ‘ll travel over the ocean beyond the skies

Like a surfer she would ride the greatest wave
Like a Stone Age man I will take her to my cave They all betrayed me, but she’s not
Like them. And she‘ll need me a lot
And I will not let myself feel as strong as her


Line of Sight

Three blocks away from here
There’s a ladder
There you can climb above the silver sky
In February she’s a fairy
In April she’s just one who’s climbing high

As if I talk To the wind To the wind

As if two eyes would soon appear
Above my line of sight, but still I see
A flying arrow hits her and she’s swaying
The glacier moves underneath my feet

As if I talk to the wind to the wind

Three blocks away from here
There’s a ladder
There you can climb above the silver sky
The silver sky
The silver sky

Austere

Your cords are tight as the beat
Of the gunboots on your feet
But Love is All when you play
And when you ́re quiet you say

That your chest is tied and anchored
To the ground and round my feet
My feet

Like elm, she is velvet green
But painter, make her look tangerine
Her room and her looks be austere
And paint her view to be clear

And her chest not tied and anchored
To the ground and round my feet
My feet

Dowsing

Dowsing for water, build a raft
Got a pile of pine, I’ll make a floating craft
Down on the river there’s an inch of snow
Down by the river, where they go..

Dowsing for water
Dowsing for water
Down on the river there’s an inch of snow
And the sun will make the levees overflow

Then drink till your well runs dry
Drink till your well runs dry
Your well runs dry

The drunkards are on the street
A poor boy is staying in the royal suite
Don’t bother asking shelter from the storm
Your scarf and your blood will keep you warm

Dowsing for water
Dowsing for water
Don’t bother asking shelter from the storm
You’re scarf and you’re blood will keep you warm

Then drink till your well runs dry
Drink till your well runs dry
Your well runs dry

 

Fifty Second Run

Now the floor is decked with gloom
And the ceiling is a wall
You wash your shirt clean as you prefer
But your jeans are not blue at all

It’s just a fifty second run
Fifty second run

And all the times you have changed your mind
Like a bell that softly chimes
Now the sculptors make your body real
And they animate your eyes

They animate your eyes
Animate your eyes

And as soon as you look over fences
Find where you belong
Takin one step down
One step down
If a hand will grab your shoulder
And then right before your eyes
Turn the day around
Take you one step down
One step down
Taking one step down

Bells are quiet, and the fog ́s still thick
And as soon as you come through
You ‘ll say ”You never get what you deserve
And wins are far between and few

So from now on

Golden Plated Door

You spin in gravel, there are flowers in the cracks
In the northern air
If I’ll ever leave here I’ll be high above the oaks
That’s where
    
You’ll get a piece of flint: Cut me loose if I get trapped
Between the buildings and the street below
Where the roofs are painted red, and there are flowers in the cracks
How I will someday know 

The laughter’s canned in plastic shield
Conversation’s wrapped and sealed
So I’m dancing with the shadows on the wall

The heath watch it wither hear the soothing sound of lies
And why don’t you take a glimpse, to look with open eyes
You will always get by with your charm, and if you take the floor
Like a statue you’ll stand, and you’ll speak through a golden plated door

The heath watch it wither tonight
Wither tonight
Don’t you know

The laughter’s canned in plastic shield
Conversations wrapped and sealed
Keep dancing with the shadows on the wall

Oh the heath, watch it wither hear the soothing sound of lies
And why don’t you take a glimpse to look with open eyes
You will always get by with your charm, and if you take the floor
Like a statue you stand, and you’ll walk through a golden plated door

 

Myths and Facts about Sleep

“Some say you can’t
Compensate for lack
Of sleep” And what is lost
You can’t get it back. Can’t get it back

If she’d kill an animal
She’d stomp it hard
And if you’d be caged
She would be your guard
The prison guard

And if we still had shorter days
In her darkest corners I would lay
Murder stories make her sick but still
She walks among the men who rob and kill
The men who kill

Jokingly
Breathing deep
We stay up until the early hours
And she tells me myths and facts about sleep
About sleep

The Prophecies of Skeeter Davis

If there are days ahead
Then all prophecies I ́ve misread
Don ́t they know it’s the end But I don ́t mind

And still the waves rush to shore
Oh, and the sights look just like before
Don’t they know it’s the end
I don ́t mind

Why don’t these, why don’t these eyes of mine
See the ship, oh see the ship of the line
Don ́t they know, and don’t they know it’s the end
It’s the end

You give predictions that turn our heads
But with needles and silver threads
Written on fabric cloth
I don’t mind

The Prophecies of Skeeter Davis (2014)

Lyrics by Magnus Askjer Lefsaker  

Some Will Never Die

I ́m a king with tiny hands
The crown, you can ́t see
I will be your only one
And that ́s all I ‘ll ever be
You never liked to drink, tonight you should try
You‘ll get older you’ll go grey, and I will never die

You ́re as dull as politics
But pretty in your way
Even if I didn’t plan to speak
It’s what I need to say
That if you come to see me here I can understand
You ́re a lady Im a boy, I ́ll never be a man

Some will never die
Some will never
 

Balcony Song

I wish I belonged somewhere
But I don’t know where I should go
This city seems to move as a herd, a crowd, a group
But I’m the only living boy in Oslo

And if I ever stand beneath a balcony and sing
I wouldn’t care to raise my voice
She should come to me, and she should stand outside the window
Of the only living boy in Oslo

The last time I kissed a girl, it kinda felt all right
Guess she felt all right too
But it’s time to meet someone who really has a heart
For the only living boy in Oslo
The only living boy in Oslo

I need somewhere
I dont know where i should go
Still I’ve got skinny jeans, in an apartment I own
There lives the only living boy in Oslo
The only living boy in Oslo
 

The Prophecies of Skeeter Davis

If there are days ahead
Then all prophecies I ́ve misread
Don‘t they know it’s the end
But I don ́t mind

And still the waves rush to shore
Oh, and the sights look just like before
Don’t they know it’s the end
I don‘t mind

Why don’t these, why don’t these eyes of mine
See the ship, oh see the ship of the line
Don ́t they know, and don’t they know it’s the end It’s the end

You give predictions that turn our heads
But with needles and silver threads
Written on fabric cloth
"I don’t mind"

 

Aviate (2013)

Lyrics by Magnus Askjer Lefsaker

´63

Wipe the dust of this old guitar
Wipe the dust of this old chair
Need to face the right direction
Sitting in an airport lounge
We are headed for 1963
To a men’s club at North Palm Drive in Taft Hotel

Where have you been, since ‘63? 
Where have you been, since ‘63? 
Where have you been? 

Need a purpose, buy some time
Feels like an aimless summer day in June
Like a summer day in June
As the plane gets off the ground
See a man without his shoes
Mr. Gladstone where have you been?
Where have you been?

Where have you been, since ‘63? 

Once I knew you well, Elaine
Dustin, run to reach the train
Need to face the right affection
It’s too late, but not for me
I just want some sympathy
Are you trying to seduce me, Mrs. Robinson

 

Loopholes

There may be some among the rest
A new moniker at best
Laid in a casket

They found you sleeping in your nest
Must ́ve been decaf, on the desk
But when you wake up
When you wake up

Oh, they only listen when
You make a fire with you pen
In the paper
When you wake up

And there behind those eyes
You ́re headed for the clear and open skies
"Dont call me out"

When you wake up

 

It Goes On

I’ll wait for an hour
Watch you melt the dust of snow
Shook down by the feathers
Of a black and shiny crow
Should just grab you by the neck, take you away from this place
I’ll pretend to sleep, feel a breath upon my face

They’re hunting with rifles
And they’re putting out a snare
I’m not trying to save you, no
And the law don’t care
A pack of dogs they are getting ready for the chase
I’ll pretend to sleep, feel her breath upon my face

Watch you melt the dust of snow
Paying back what you owe
You owe me

Should just grab you, take you away from this place
I´ll pretend to sleep feel her breath upon my face 

 

The Golden Plated Door

You spin in gravel, there are flowers in the cracks
In the northern air
If I’ll ever leave here I’ll be high above the oaks
And oh that`s where

You ́ll get a piece of flint to cut me loose if I get trapped
Between the buildings and the street below
Where the roofs are painted red, and there are flowers in the cracks
How I will someday know

The laughter’s canned in plastic shield
Conversation is wrapped and sealed
So I’m dancing with the shadows on the wall

The heath watch it wither, hear the soothing sound of lies
And why don’t you take a glimpse, to look with open eyes
You will always get by with your charm, and if you take the floor
Like a statue you’ll stand and you’ll walk through a golden plated door

 

Touch of Ivory

Remember when you woke and you’d slept in a heap of snow
Well this time is different now that the violets grow
Still we need a fire to keep us warm

So this is why the children stretch their height
Above those cardboard walls to reach the sun light
Then bring your friends to tear it down

In these days of fall the spring is where I’ll be
And I’ll bring a little touch of ivory
Never more will warmth be out of reach