Jens Lekman Quotes
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I became paranoid for a long time: I thought that people were out to harm me.
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Really, to me, a really good evening would be a comedian, followed by a band, followed by a really good DJ.
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I don't want music to be a museum.
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There's so much nostalgia for music from the past.
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When I was working on 'Night Falls Over Kortedala,' I was listening a lot to 'Graceland,' the Paul Simon record. I really got into the lyrics on that album. The opening line is so brilliant, the way he sets the scene.
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I wouldn't write about something that I haven't experienced myself.
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I've never felt at home in Kortedala, or in Gothenburg, so I always felt like I needed to go somewhere and find some kind of perspective on things.
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This is one of the reasons I'm so interested in stories. Because everyone has a story in their life, and when their story doesn't make sense, that's when we get depressed, I think.
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My aim is for every song to have a purpose - for you to be able to say, 'This song is about this.' But love and heartbreak are some of the most abstract subjects.
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It was never part of how I imagined my music, and I watched in awe at how this ukulele troubadour image suddenly devoured the Jens Lekman I had planned so carefully.
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I've established a certain voice over my albums. It can be an obstacle, but in the end, I think it's a strength, because I can build upon that voice, which is ultimately very much mine.
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I feel like the few times in my life when I really felt like I love my own story is when I've been the happiest.
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The 'sent' folder of my email program is really my biggest inspiration and my biggest source of lyrics. That's where I go to pick up a lot of the lyrics that I'm writing.
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I need to write a sitcom, but something with warmth, not one where the dad comes home and he's treated like an idiot.
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The whole thing with playing on a stage with mics and all that has always been kind of uncomfortable to me.
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I struggled with a lot of doubts around my songwriting and around what I was and what my purpose and mission were.
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'Postcards' was just a way of slapping myself in the face and saying, 'You can do anything! Just go for it!'
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When you're writing about difficult things and darker issues, it's nice to offer some sort of light at the end of the tunnel. Some sense of hope. Sometimes, the best way to do that is by offering it in the music, so that you can dance your way out of the darkness.
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I like short beards. Not a big fan of the bigger beards.
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I went to Legoland in Denmark when I was five, I think, but I went to Germany when I was 17 to have a little adventure after graduation.
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Christmas music is usually more concentrated pop music in a way. It's meant to make us feel good, and it's meant to make us like we belong somewhere.
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I don't like irony and sarcasm very much. But I do like it when you think someone is telling you a joke, and then you discover it's serious.
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I still love touring rock clubs around the world, and that's something that's really a part of me. I love making albums, and I'm a wedding singer on the side; that's my parallel career. So I love all those aspects of making music.
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For me, it's sort of like a cultural democracy or musical socialism to take a stand and get out of the major cities if you can.