It's a Trap! Scandinavian music journal

MP3: Elmo - Shine down on us

"Shine down on us" is about your grandmother, right?

That is right.

It's a beautifully powerful song, probably the album highlight for me. Can you tell me more about her?

Well, her name was Ellen Kitok Andersson. She belonged to the Sami people. She did poetry, handicraft and arts.

She wrote parts of the lyrics in "Shine down on us". It was originally one of her poems. Once she asked me how it sounded if I sang in Swedish, so I wrote some music to her poem "Pärlor I Sjaunia-älven". She really liked it, so I sang it on her funeral - and the sun began to shine down on us through the window into the church. It was probably the most epic moment in my life.

What was she like?

She was a hard working handicraft artist. A thinker and a dreamer. She lived on her arts and gave my father and his siblings a really good start into life. She was the one everyone in the family came to when they needed to talk, and get answers. She had kind of an unspoken goddess aura around her. Right there where she sat. By her working desk. In her peaceful home.

In 2005 I became really sick. I got a tumor in my throat and had to spend a lot of time in the hospital. When I was not in there, I spent a lot of time with my grandmother. She was a really special person, and we shared a really special bond. I think that we still do in a way.

Whenever I'm in a hard struggle I dream of her at night and she speaks to me and tells me what to do to get on through. She helps me.

How is it for you to perform live?

I've never played it live. But I have played "Pärlor I Sjaunia-älven" live and it's always both hard and beautiful. Once a five year old boy started to cry when I played it. I could never write such powerful lyrics myself. If I get a chance to to a full album in Swedish, it will definitely be on that.

Read the full interview

Elmo - Shine down on us