Happy birthday Robyn! 10 of her very best
By Nick Bond
Possibly the world’s coolest Swede (sorry, Mans Zelmerlow) turns 36 today – Robyn, the pre-Britney teen pop sensation-turned-tears on the dance floor icon.
To celebrate, we thought we’d count down 10 of her very best. Think we missed an ESSENTIAL Robyn track (and she certainly has a lot more than 10 brilliant songs – in another universe she’d have more number one hits than Rihanna and Katy Perry combined)? Let us know your favourite Robyn track below.
Counting down…
10. Keep This Fire Burning
Released in the quiet years before her rebirth as an uber-cool indie-pop princess, this certified #banger was a hit throughout Europe – but was not released by Robyn in the UK, leading soul sista Beverley Knight to release a cover of it instead. Not-so-fun-fact: When released in Australia, the single was retitled to By Your Side due to the country’s recent bush fires. Still flopped. TRAGEDY.
9. Konichiwa Bitches
Fierce and funny, the one-liners fly thick and fast here. “Comin’ in your mouth, make you say yum-yum” INDEED.
8. Time Machine
In which Robyn reunited with pop mastermind Max Martin, some 13 years after their first collaborations on her debut album. The results? A near-perfect pop song with a sky high chorus in which Robyn pleads for a DeLorean so she can go back in time for – what else – Love Reasons.
7. Call Your Girlfriend
This is an excellent tactic if the guy you fancy is already with someone else: calmly and authoritatively instruct him to call his girlfriend and dump her immediately. If you can do a hella-good backwards somersault like Robyn does 90 seconds into this video, he’s bound to do as you say.
6. Do It Again
The most recent song on this list, from her 2014 EP with Royksopp. This is the sort of song we’d love to hear from Britney in 2015. Instead, she’s duetting with Iggy Azalea. Neat.
5. Show Me Love
Back where it all began… one of her 1997 Max Martin-helmed early singles, this is pre-Britney pop at its best. Also responsible for a chorus of “Wait. She’s THAT Robyn?!” from pop fans when she reemerged on the charts a decade later.
4. Be Mine!
From the oh-so-needy exclamation mark onwards, this 2005 classic marked the start of Robyn’s new cottage industry penning lovelorn, desperate break-up anthems. Home to one of the best opening lines in pop – “It’s a good thing tears never show in the pouring rain” – AND one of the most heartbreaking spoken-word middle-eights:
“I saw you at the station
You had your arm around what’s-her-name
She had on that scarf I gave you
You got down to tie her laces
You looked happy, and that’s great
I just miss you… that’s all”
*lays down on the floor and cries until 2018*
3. Dancing On My Own
Be Mine! part 2, lyrically speaking. Robyn’s man has moved on with a new girl (what’s-her-name, perhaps), so Robyn resolves to dance it out solo – while spying on the happy couple:
“I’m in the corner, watching you kiss her
I’m right over here, why can’t you see me
I’m giving it my all, but I’m not the girl you’re taking home
I keep dancing on my own”
SADDEST. CHORUS. EVER.
2. Girl and the Robot
Another killer opening line – “I go mental every time you leave for work” – and oppressive, frantic production courtesy of Royksopp. Can we please have a government inquiry into why this incredible single didn’t chart in the UK?
1. With Every Heartbeat
Could we put anything else at the top spot? The best bit in Robyn’s sole UK number 1 so far: from 2:24 when the production falls away, leaving just the heart wrenching sound of strings, before the whole song builds again for a massive finish. Just one of the best songs of. All. Time.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROBYN. PLEASE CONTINUE BEING AMAZING FOR MANY YEARS TO COME.
