Strangers

Album: Sucker Punch (2017)
Charted: 10
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • Sigrid sings in this slow burning anthem about how relationships in the real world are not the same as those portrayed by Hollywood:

    When the curtain drops
    Our touch is just a touch
    Not like in the movies
    Our story's after the end


    Sigrid explained the song's meaning to NME: "It's about wanting something to be something that it's not. A lot of people – especially people my age – want things to be perfect, and therefore you lie to yourself. For instance, you think, 'This romantic relationship is so good,' but then it turns out that it's not. You just wanted it to be. It's a really, really sad song. My favourite pop tunes – like 'Dancing On My Own' by Robyn or 'Green Light' by Lorde – are always the ones that makes you wanna cry and dance at the same time."
  • Sigrid wrote "Strangers" with regular collaborator Martin Sjolie. As was their usual habit, the pair were talking and singing by the piano when they came up with this song. Sigrid explained in a Genius attribution:

    "We sing a lot together, it's just like a jam session. The great thing about Martin's Studio is that the room itself is not huge. I always sit here and he always sits here so I have my piano there and he has his piano there but they are connected together, so it's the same sound so we're just playing over each other and sing. I always love working with him is that we sing for a long time and suddenly a good line comes in and we look at each other like that's good and we just record it."
  • Like strangers
    Perfect pretenders


    Sigrid explained: "I think 'strangers, perfect pretenders' kind of sums up the whole song. It is called 'Strangers' and it's when you get to that point in any type of relation where you just feel like you don't know each other anymore or maybe you didn't know each other to begin with. You thought you knew each other, you thought you knew what this was. People have the tendency of just remembering positive glossy memories instead of thinking of everyday life memories and that colors a relation very easily. That's what I meant by 'strangers, perfect pretenders,' as you're pretending this is something it's not."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Rock Revenge Songs

Rock Revenge SongsMusic Quiz

John Lennon, Paul Simon and Lynyrd Skynyrd are some of the artists who have written revenge songs. Do you know who they wrote them about?

Timothy B. Schmit of the Eagles

Timothy B. Schmit of the EaglesSongwriter Interviews

Did this Eagle come up with the term "Parrothead"? And what is it like playing "Hotel California" for the gazillionth time?

What Musicians Are Related to Other Musicians?

What Musicians Are Related to Other Musicians?Song Writing

A big list of musical marriages and family relations ranging from the simple to the truly dysfunctional.

Goodbye, Hello: Ten Farewell Tour Fake-Outs

Goodbye, Hello: Ten Farewell Tour Fake-OutsSong Writing

The 10 biggest "retirement tours" that didn't take.

Rick Astley

Rick AstleySongwriter Interviews

Rick Astley on "Never Gonna Give You Up," "Cry For Help," and his remarkable resurgence that gave him another #1 UK album.

Janis Ian

Janis IanSongwriter Interviews

One of the first successful female singer-songwriters, Janis had her first hit in 1967 at age 15.