February 5 - Hjernen Er Alene

When I talked about DumDum Boys, I mentioned three other Norwegian bands that were popular at around the same time - and they also had in common that they sang in Norwegian. My least favorite of those three other bands was deLillos, which has a singer whose voice annoys the living daylights out of me, and whose lyrics in their naiveté get on my nerves. However, there are exceptions. Their third album, released in 1989, was a sprawling double album called Hjernen Er Alene (The Brain is Lonely), with a great murder ballad (Balladen om Kåre og Nelly - The Ballad of Kåre and Nelly), a happy song about spring, simply called Vår (Spring), a slow moody rocker called Venter På Telefon (Waiting For A Phonecall), and one of the greatest songs ever written about depression and loneliness in the title track.

I have to admit that there have been versions of this song released later that also have been great - and the best version is probably from a Norwegian TV show called Hver Gang Vi Møtes (Every Time We Meet), where Norwegian singers gather to interpret each other's songs, where the singer Elg (Elk - or Øyvind Elgenes) interprets it, bringing the rest of the singers there to tears (I had to include that one too, to contrast a little). While Elg's version has the desperation found in the loneliness, the original's very bare sonic structure and use of echo makes it more stripped down and naked, and so the emptiness of the loneliness is emphasized a little bit more. It is such a great song, and while I was set on only bringing you the original, I simply cannot help myself... First, here are deLillos from 1989:

Elg's version changes the character of the song. And I think he took lessons from Joe Cocker...

And finally, Seigmen's version of the song brings out more of the melancholy and gothic character of the song - at least to my ears...