THE WWJD MIXTAPE
September 2nd, 2014
While travelling through mid
west America some time ago I stopped at a gasstation and
bought a WWJD bracelet for $1.99 and insisted that it
stood for ‘What Would Jens Do?’. I would look at it when I
felt indecisive, think about what Jens really would do and
then do the opposite of that. I thought that would be a
good way to find some new paths in life, and to get away
from the paths I kept taking that didn’t lead me anywhere
good.
WWJD is a song about regrets, learning from your mistakes,
and bettering yourself. I wrote it last year, recorded it
quickly and felt it didn’t fit in with most of the other
songs I was writing. Together with ‘What’s That Perfume
That You Wear?’ and ‘I Remember’ they weren’t adhering to
the rules I had set up for my next album but they were
also too good to forget. So I weaved them in exclusively
on this mixtape where they are stations on a longer
journey, where loops and smaller fragments, ideas for
songs and favourite songs by others swoosh by outside the
window. Feel free to open that window and feel the breeze
in your hair.
Yours truly
Jens Lekman
0:00 - Jens Lekman - WWJD
3:05 - Bunny Maloney - Baby I’ve Been Missing You
6:18 - David Byrne - Theodora Is Dozing
7:59 - The 11:08 Train Swooshes By
09:52 - Jhene Aiko - Stranger
11:34 - Jennifer Lara - Our Love
13:10 - Georges Delerue - Theme from Camille
15:25 - Jens Lekman - What's That Perfume That You Wear?
18:47 - Ralph MacDonald - The Path
20:33 - All Your Sorrows Reversed
26:25 - Jens Lekman - I Remember
Contains smaller fragments from: The Philly Devotions -
Yeah Yeah Girl. The Duprees - Why Don’t You Believe Me?
Soul 2 Soul - Back To Life (acapella). Beethoven -
Stringquartet no 5 in A Major. Dalida - Salma Ya Salama.
Fairouz - Zourouni. Angel Haze - Same Love. Syl Johnsson -
I Hate I Walked Away. Hermeto Pascoal - Musica da Lagoa.
Crue-L Grand Orchestra - (You Are) More Than Paradise
(Freaks Switching Channels 12inch Mix). Paul Johnson -
Where Can You Be. Jim Nabors - With These Hands. Israel
Vibration - The Same Song.
Lilian Paunovic Olsson sings harmonies on ‘WWJD’.
Thanks to Sara, Luís and Malin for the inspiration and
Rachel Tabet for the Fairouz track ID.