For us insular American girls born between 1975 and 1990, we likely know Robyn primarily as the voice of such late-90s pop delights as "Show Me Love" and "Do You Know (What It Takes)?". (Were any of you lucky enough to catch her at the Kiss 108 Jingle Ball in 1998 at the Tsongas Center? If so, perhaps you could provide some guest commentary in regards to her performance, as I was not permitted to attend ... thanks MOM!) And then, we foolhardily assumed that Robyn just popped back on the scene last summer with her smash "Dancing On My Own". But while we were busy clamoring for freedom fries, she had been extending her prowess beyond these limited tunes. She's maintained popularity in Europe, well before and after her initial success in the United States. All while sporting an intentionally misspelled name and avoiding a white-trash vibe!
Born in Stockholm in 1979, Robyn wrote her first song at age eleven about her parents' divorce, and soon performed her own music on a Swedish television show when she was only twelve years old. She later recorded her first album with a label at age sixteen. Throughout conflicts with management and labels, she still turned out hits and in the words of Rolling Stone, "eschewed a career as the Scandinavian Jessica Simpson on her way to becoming Sweden's Gwen Stefani". (Not that there's anything wrong with my girl J. Simp. - her patent leather round-toe pumps and 4 inch espadrilles are tah-die-foah.) Robyn's been making her mark on international pop culture in recent years, releasing 5 albums with major record labels since 1995, performing on Madonna's "Sticky & Sweet" tour, singing backup vocals for Brit-Brit on "Piece of Me" in 2007, and appearing on Gossip Girl. She's not without integrity though; she pulled out of a gig opening for the Backstreet Boys on tour in 1997. At least one report says Robyn found it "frustrating for me to be a teen star", while others say that she took medical leave for exhaustion. I like to think that the first lady of electro-pop couldn't listen to one more rendition of "Quit Playin' Games With My Heart" so she stormed out, calling them all sissies and yelling at Nick Carter for stealing her special John Frieda Sheer Blonde shampoo.
Wouldn't you find these fellas both frustrating and exhausting?
My favorite song from Robyn is "Who's That Girl?" The lyrics are just perfect - "good girls are happy and satisfied, I won't stop asking until I die, no, I just can't deal with the rules." It's a classic feel-good female empowerment tune with a little twist. Robyn asks us ladies to challenge the rules of beauty, to question the gender roles in a relationship, and to never settle. All while making us dance!
"Who's That Girl?"
Should you ever find yourself on the bad end of a breakup and overcome with the desire to wallow in self-pity, "With Every Heartbeat" is a good soundtrack for your misery. Not that I've ever been dumped, but one of my friends was once, and I found this song for her and played it for her ... on repeat ... for three days. Robyn, thanks for helping out my friend!
"With Every Heartbeat"
Now pry that pint of Ben & Jerry's outta your hand and hit "replay" on "Who's That Girl?"!
No comments:
Post a Comment