Welcome to Happiness. No Smoking Allowed.: Stina Nordenstam

If someone were to ask me what 3 things would I run out of the house with if it were on fire, I'd have to say: my dog, my Bible (because of all my notes) and my Stina Nordenstam cds. Hopefully, I'd be wearing my converse, and my cowboy boots and hat would be by the door so those wouldn't be a concern...

Seriously, though. More than any other artist in my life, Stina Nordenstam has been a doorway to newer, more eclectic branches of music. This makes her the most important to me. Born March 4, 1969 in Stockholm, Sweden, she stays out of the spotlight nowadays, and if I may say so, it's a darn great idea. Why?

Well, there are fans...and then there are Stina fans. For a while, I was as obsessive as the next one, back when music was all I had in life. Stina has more of a mystery to her than anyone in this world could ever even hope to obtain. Not that that's what most singers nowadays are in the business for anyway. That's not what makes money. Stina Nordenstam hasn't given a live preformance since the early 90's! Her last album came out in ...was it 2005? "The World Is Saved."

Now...let me tell you the beauty of this woman, of her talent.

1. Her voice

Light, at times slurred and difficult to understand. The song that made her popular in the States was "Little Star" from that stupid Romeo + Juliet movie with that stupid, stupid actor that annoys me so much. My brother brought home a tape a girl had made him in high school and I loved the song right off and had to explore it when I was older and got the chance. And when I did, I found what I was looking for in music. This light, delicate voice crawling through the dark bloody alleys at night being witness to murders and beatings and things so depressing that I didn't know what to do with myself. Yes, I was a depressed teen, what can I say? "Forgetting you is like breathing water. There's gotta be a better way..."

That was DYNAMITE. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone prone to depression. She less depressing, better albums, no worries.

Then, there was the album with a few love songs and less misery, the one containing "Little Star" - And She Closed Her Eyes

Then, FINALLY, after searching high and low every used cd store I knew, I stumbled upon perhaps my favorite of Nordenstam's up to then: Memories of a Colour. You see, maybe I should have mentioned this before, Stina Nordenstam's father was a jazz musician... I think... perhaps I'm wrong, I seem to read somewhere she listened to jazz records, but i don't trust the sources. This album is soaked in jazzed influence, yet, it is very unusual in it's beats and compsition. The last song, A Walk in the Park is a perfect example. There is nothing mainstream about this artist. A quality I hold dear in all my favorites.

Before I forget:

2. Lyrics

Stina's lyrics seem to always tell a story, something even my brother could appreciate. Memories of a Colour has the best stories in my opinion, pre-This Is...

Moving on...

This Is Stina Nordenstam. Yes, that's the name of the album. I'm skipping one, but I'll get back to it. This one has it's jewels such as "Circus", where I get my "only not mad woman in the park" page name, Everyone Else in the World" - the video breaks my heart. "There's Welcome to Happiness". You can guess the next line...

People Are Strange. An album entirely of covers(except for one song, I believe), though it takes some doin' to figure out what songs they are. That's how well remade they are. After hearing this record, it annoys me when people remake songs and they sound EXACTLY the same as the original!! Use some imagination already! People are lame. There are some songs I have yet to discover what the originals are...but I'm still searching... and randomly I find them while watching old movies or something like that. There's a... is it Bryan Adams? song that I didn't recognize until I heard the lyrics in the original. Never have I appreciated that song previously. Looking at an interview of hers after that album helps understand alot about that record.

The World Is Saved. Now, I'm all to familiar to artist fading out when they get into their 40's... getting comfortable with themselves, having a kid and their anger dying down (Tori Amos) or the drugs they took when they were young finally fully catching up to them (Bjork)... or bands just going on an indefinite hiatus.

But this album, after so many years, is one of my very favorites. Right there with Memories. Of course, if you chat with other Stina fans, they all have different opinions, but they all love every record she has made, some more than others. every one has goodness in it and this one shows she could very well be only beginning all over again! Makes it all the more exciting. I remember the years wondering if the rumour of a new record really was only a rumour... the desparate excitement of having to have the cd as soon as it came out, needing it...

Sorry, i'm drowning in memories...great songs on this one are: Butterfly and From Cayman islands With Love.
"Living is great."
"Of course it is! What else did you think? What else did you think..."
A strange note of hope for me in this song. It reminds me that living really is wonderful. I forget sometimes. A beautiful trumpet, too.
Failing to Fly is terribly depressing, but the last bit defines me to the tee.
"And out of all my failures in life, I like that the best." You have to hear it to make sense of it.

That reminds me why she stays away from the public. She herself is obviously so alone and depressed herself, that so many lonely and depressed people listen to her and want to be her friend because they think they'll understand her and vice versa. But you can't know anyone from their music alone. No, not ever. That is why I think she is more stable than most. That's why it's so easy for me to feel kinship with her through her music. many people hang on to that obsession, but having grown over the years, I understand it's nothing real.

As Blonde Redhead said, "Had to tell myself "It's only music." Blows my mind, but it's like that."'

-T

>>>LINKS to **songs and videos

Everyone Else in the World (This Is...) -