One’s an iconic DJ and producer. The other is a triple threat actor, singer and television host.
And together Darude and Sebastian Rejman will represent Finland at Eurovision this year with the song “Look Away”.
Selected through their national selection, Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu 2019, “Look Away” has a dance pop sound typical of the songs Darude has produced before.
But this dance song comes with a twist: A deep and meaningful message about the troubled world we live in.
What do the “Look Away” lyrics mean?
Sebastian sings about how we should remember that the world isn’t always as perfect as things may seem. People in the West take things for granted as hundreds of millions of people elsewhere cope with poverty and despair. “How can we go to sleep at night, and lay there in our beds”, he sings, “When we know what’s going on with the world today”. Sebastian urges us to confront important global issues and to fight our tendency to “Look Away”.
In an interview with our own editor-in-chief, William Lee Adams, Sebastian explained how the song evolved and precisely why the message resonates with him.
“A couple of years back I was in India — in Delhi — during the New Year’s and I got sick with the stomach flu, something I ate,” he says. “I was in the hotel room looking over Delhi and it looked like a sky fight movie after the nuclear war. It was quite a shock to me as a western person to go in Delhi in the city at night when people were sleeping on the streets and living on the streets.”
“It got to me, honestly. It sounds like a cliché but it really did. I came home and I sat on the piano the first time I had a chance. I wrote ‘Look Away’ in like 20 minutes. I just had to get it out.”
Look Away lyrics – Darude feat. Sebastian Rejman
There’s something you should know
That I can’t sing a love song anymore
There’s something going on
And I can’t turn my back on it anymore
How can we go to sleep at night
And lay there in our beds
When we know what’s going on
With the world today
Is it in my head?
Am I the only one?
Is it in my head?
Where the war has just begun?
We look away
Look away, look away, look away, hey
Look away, look away, look away, look away
No-o-o
Is it in my head?
Is it in my head?
look away look away, hey
No-o-o
There’s something in the air at night
That feels so different
And I don’t understand
I didn’t see this one coming
How can we go to sleep at night
And lay there in our beds
When we know what’s going on
With the world today
Is it in my head?
Am I the only one?
Is it in my head?
Where the war has just begun?
We look away
Look away, look away, look away, hey
Look away, look away, look away, look away
Is it in my head?
Am I the only one?
Is it in my head?
Where the war has just begun?
We look away
Look away, look away, look away, hey
Look away, look away, look away, look away, hey
No-o-o
Do you like the lyrics of “Look Away”? Are you feeling its deep message? Tell us in the comments below!
I feel the meaning really deep and can relate to it so I appreciate the song for this, but it’s really the only good thing about it. The problem is that about 80% of the songs this year have deep meaning, so we just have to look at other criteria too, like melody , orchestration, vocals, if the track is well-produced etc etc etc. And this song, unfourtunately fails at all the other criteria.
The song is in my top 10. It is easy to sing along. But not higher than that, because while the lyrics is meaningful, it does not work well for me. Like “How can we go to sleep at night, and lay there in our beds, when we know what’s going on, with the world today” Um……it sounds like something I made up for my high school English homework.