Lykke Li has put me through every emotion. I was thrilled when I scored tickets to see her in Las Vegas in 2015 at the tail end of her tour for “I Never Learn,” which is still one of my favorite albums ever. I was devastated when that very concert was canceled due to winds, and I was denied the chance to see her for years. I was furious when her comeback show was scheduled for a tiny (TINY) venue in downtown LA years later, but the tickets sold out before there was even a public announcement of it happening. I cried when I bought a scalped ticket for that show and met Mark Ronson while waiting outside, just two weeks after having gotten my Amy Winehouse tattoo.
The whole experience was overwhelming, and I was captivated by her concentration during her performance. She hadn’t had a show since becoming a mother and going through a fresh breakup. I hated everyone around me who had paid $25 for the show that I forked over $120 to get into. But it was worth it.
“I haven’t played this song in nine years. This is ‘Tonight'” she said. I had never given a fair listen to this song. It was pretty far back in her catalog, and by no means a hit. She started slowly:
“Watch my back, so I make sure
You’re right behind me, as before
Yesterday, the night before, tomorrow...”
She rose to chanting, with everyone singing along to the easy chorus “don’t you let me go, let me go tonight…” over and over.
I couldn’t get past it. In a concert where she debuted most of her then-forthcoming album “So Sad, So Sexy” and covered the best songs from “I Never Learn,” the standout was this small, simple music box of a song. I sang it to myself for days afterward, and have never really stopped since.
Having gone through a time when all you need is for someone to stay, even when you know they wont, when I listen to this song, I believe that Lykke Li is the only person who knows what it feels like. And only because of that, I feel a little less alone.
I'm Just Gonna Dance All Night 