A breathtakingly beautiful indie folk reverie, Norwegian singer/songwriter Simen Mitlid’s soothing, soul-stirring song “Five Hundred Days” aches with the beauty and pain of memory.
for fans of Sufjan Stevens, Ben Howard, Lewis Watson, Andrew Bird
Stream: “Five Hundred Days” – Simen Mitlid
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I started to run just to feel the heat of the sun – an escape, every sound…
Life really is magical, but the cruel reality of our existence is that for every give, there’s a take.
From the fleeting nature of a spectacular sunset and short-lived romances to our very own mortality, everything we experience and everyone we know is temporary, and there’s little we can do to change that. All we can do is to embrace them with all the love in the world and hold on tight; to live in the moment, and be grateful to have what we have, to know who we know, and to be alive, right here, right now.
Simen Mitlid’s new single is a soul-stirring reflection on time and life’s ever-changing nature: A breathtakingly beautiful indie folk reverie, “Five Hundred Days” aches with the beauty and pain of memory. In some ways it’s a poignant eulogy for a loved one – for a relationship that is no longer – and in others, it’s a reckoning with the very world we all live in, the laws of which we can’t escape.
five-hundred days
and a million ways
I lived through them all
feel it in my bones
and in my broken songs
nothing lasts anymore
I forgot the feelings
remember all the ideas
in the trees, in the house,
outdoors, in the neon skies
I saw your old gun, on the lawn,
where we used to watch the sun
come down
Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering “Five Hundred Days,” Simen Mitlid’s second song release of the year and the latest single taken off his forthcoming new album Fredsvenn, out October 27, 2023 via Koke Plate. Following this past July’s enchanting single “Bloodshed,” “Five Hundred Days” is a captivating display of pure talent and raw emotion from the Norwegian singer/songwriter.
Building up from a hushed, stripped entrance of vocal and acoustic guitar, “Five Hundred Days” slowly grows into a radiant, lush sonic daydream full of heartfelt vocal harmonies and stunning instrumental accompaniments (including a gut-wrenching cello performance that can’t help but take our breath away).
Lyrically, Mitlid’s song is one of bittersweet introspection, finding him wistfully looking back on the past through the clarity (and gut-wrenching absence) he’s experiencing in the present. It’s something of a reminder that we never know just how good we have it, until that person or that thing we love is gone. Mitlid’s tender, visceral, and deeply vulnerable vocal performance adds just the right amount of weight and warmth that this powerful track deserves, creating a showstopping three minutes of intimate spine-chilling brilliance.
“In ‘Five Hundred Days,’ I reflect on my sense of nostalgia and longing for a time that’s passed, while contemplating the dual nature of memories – that they can be both painful and beautiful at the same time,” Mitlid tells Atwood Magazine.
was forty degrees
and when I turned
thirty years old
I started to run
just to feel the heat
of the sun
and escape every sound
I forgot the feelings
remember all the ideas
in the trees, in the house,
outdoors, in the neon skies
I saw your old gun, on the lawn,
where we used to watch the sun
come down
You don’t create a song like this unless you’re a victim to one of time’s cruel acts.
While on paper it is most certainly a ballad, “Five Hundred Days” is also an anthem for all of us who have loved and lost in any way imaginable – be it a parent, a friend, a romantic partner, a pet. It’s a reminder of how little control we ultimately have in our lives, and of how important it is for us to embrace those around us while they’re here with us.
It’s also a captivating take on memory itself, and how devastating it is to retain these images, experiences, and moments from the past well into the future. “I forgot the feelings, remember all the ideas,” Mitlid sings in the chorus, his voice aching with sweetly seductive nostalgia as he bathes in a pool of quiet indie folk wonder.
I think the place was haunted
‘cause any normal sound
was terrifying
in the trees, in the house,
outdoors, in the neon skies
I saw your old gun, on the lawn,
where we used to watch the sun
come down
Mitlid’s forthcoming album Fredsvenn promises to offer much more of this captivating, gentle music. “Fredsvenn is a collection of songs that I wrote inadvertently,” the singer/songwriter explains. “However, I gradually noticed that they revolved in the same universe and around the same themes. Early on, I decided to arrange the songs as simply as possible, preferably not at all, except for the last track, which serves as a protest against the modest arrangement and withdrawn presence of the rest of the nine songs.”
Fredsvenn is set to release October 27, 2023; for now, get wrapped up in the beautiful, gut-wrenching blanket of “Five Hundred Days,” streaming exclusively on Atwood Magazine!
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:: stream/purchase Five Hundred Days here ::
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Stream: “Five Hundred Days” – Simen Mitlid
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