Awake, by Mirna Bogdanovic

Awake

by Mirna Bogdanovic

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1.	I Love 03:46		buy track
2.	Only Child 06:03	lyrics	buy track
The love they gave Haunting her Her privileged days Destroying her The rain pours down As heavily As she weeps in her bed at night Attention is a double edged sword Got hooked on one side of it all A special girl gets everything she wants On demand An only child Grew up To find herself alone Without a place that feels like home A bitterness inside her soul Too much of good can do you harm The life she loved Did not prepare her soul for reality The sun won’t shine just ‘cause you want it You’ll have to wait like the others Wait like the others Just like the others Be like the others
3.	Clocks 09:33	lyrics	buy track
Standing and watching life Slowly passing by Upright, staring outside Witnessing As life unfolds in silence Far away it shows Ticking clock it goes: “You should do something! Go and discover All the things you wanted to Do the things you promised to, you know It’s on you, yes it’s all on you!” Clock is ticking I am waiting Church bells ringing I am waiting Worlds are turning Time is passing Ready, pacing, watch me waiting Praying I find the strength To wake up Wishing I’d find a way To escape my mind Holding me hostage
4.	Crazy Chords 05:47		buy track
5.	Moving On 05:23	lyrics	buy track
So long, so long since we said goodbye So long, so long since I held you tight So far are the days since we were close It's hard to believe this ever was I'm trying to live without you here I'm hoping that you still think of me My dreams are filled with so much love The love I was always longing for Feeling as if the time has come To finally forgive you Closing my eyes, loving my time My life with you Fading away How could you How could you say you don't want me Just to tell me you want me So long, so long you let me down So long, so long you let me drown Letting go Setting free Moving on Moving on What we shared will always remain Deep in my soul Close to my heart
6.	Wish I Didn't Miss You 05:41	lyrics	buy track
Same old story is back again She′s not a lover, she's just a friend I′m sick and tired for you To blame on me Now you think it's funny Now you wanna spend your money On girls but you forgot when you were down That I was around Call my lover, hang up, call again What in the world is happening Listen in, but don't yell at me Isn′t it ironic All you wanna do is smoke chronic? Boy, you forgot when you were down Who was around I can′t eat, I can't sleep anymore Waiting for love to walk through the door I wish I didn′t miss you anymore I can′t eat, I can't sleep anymore Waiting for love to walk through the door I wish I didn′t miss you anymore Memories don't live like people do I′m sick for ever believing you Wish you'd bring back the man I knew Was good to me, oh, Lord Every time you say you′re coming Boy, you disappoint me, honey How well you forgot when you were down And I was around I can't eat, I can't sleep anymore Waiting for love to walk through the door I wish I didn′t miss you anymore I can′t eat, I can't sleep anymore Waiting for love to walk through the door I wish I didn′t miss you anymore One of these days, it's gonna happen to you Missing a love like I′m missing you One of these days, when your dreams come true That's the one that′s gonna do it to you One of these days, it's gonna happen to you Missing a love like I′m missing you One of these days, when your dreams come true That's the one that′s gonna do it to you
7.	May 04:18		buy track
8.	On My Own 05:58	lyrics	buy track
Forgotten how to be alone I'm searching for any meaning To this life Now that you're gone Just don't want to smile Cause nothing makes me smile anymore Try I might To appreciate the beauty that surrounds me Try to recall Precious moments that we shared There's no more tears, tears left to cry And I have tried To keep the saddest times alive, To have you hurt me again But I can't remember anymore Can't recall what was before I carry this numbness It makes me feel paralyzed Trapped in a dream Of us being close An illusion of love and hope Of us being close An illusion My heart's longing to be at peace On my own To be happy alone To remember how to smile And to learn how to cry So show me how to smile And teach me how to cry
9.	Dancing In The Dark 07:12	lyrics	buy track
Down and up and up and down As her head spins round and round Sent response with no reply Talented at stretching time Craving this but dreading That it may not turn out As she wants Stars, she’s flying Through the clouds Made of dreams Of loving him Dangerous She cannot allow herself To fall again Losing all at once Down and up and up and down The pretty petals fall as she yearns For their advice She fears Her intuition has been fooled By hopeful premonitions Anticipation grows inside Dusting off the diffidence For just a moment She’s content Stars, she’s gliding Through the clouds Made of dreams Of loving him As dangerous as it all seems to her Admiring from afar Dancing in the dark
10.	Awake 01:09		buy track
11.	Finding Closure 03:21	lyrics	buy track
Suddenly I see the sky above me And realize that it’s alright Suddenly I can breathe the air again The burden has lifted All around there’s motion From the ground and up towards the sky I open up my heart and feel the magic I allow it to flow through No one knows What you and I have been through Too long I was stuck with you Under your surface Suddenly I see no clouds above me And realize that I’m alright Suddenly I can breathe the air again The burden has lifted Suddenly there’s no more sadness How was I able to forget? All the mess you managed to cause me My path to closure has come to an end

about

Mirna Bogdanović’s new album AWAKE is released by BERTHOLD records on May 12th 2023.
The line-up: Mirna Bogdanović (vocals, ukulele and composer), Povel Widerstrand (piano, synths), Peter Meyer (guitar, efx), Felix Henkelhausen (double bass, e-bass), Philip Dornbusch (drums, percussion);
guests: Asger Nissen (alto saxophone), Paul Santner (ukulele) and the Rothko String Quartet: Majella Münz (cello), Marc Kopitzki (viola), William Overcash (violin), Joosten Ellée (violin).

Supported by a wide cast of musicians, Bogdanović’s seductive voice and eloquent compositions give AWAKE, her second album, its compelling dramatic curve. Bogdanović broke up with her boyfriend in 2019. Through her music and lyrics she describes the drama of this and other personal experiences.
The song Clocks deals with her sense of existential crisis, the feeling that time was passing her by and that she was not making the most out of life. “It’s also about my inner conflict of being a freelance musician and not having a nine-to-five job like most people,” she explains. “Sometimes you have a feeling that life is happening and you’re not part of it. You’re in your own little bubble.”
On My Own is about loneliness and reminiscing about the lost relationship. “I was emotionally stuck,” she says. “At first the track shows my sadness. In the end it almost becomes a rock song, exploding into energetic anger – and it feels good to play.”
Moving On “looks back at the relationship as if it never happened, hurting and still feeling the sadness, but slowly letting go.”
Dancing in the Dark “has less to do with dancing and more about being in the dark about a new romantic relationship,” she explains. “There’s a sense of anxiety when you’re starting with someone and they’re giving you mixed signals. I ended up in a relationship with someone who was emotionally unavailable. Difficult situation dating!”
Finding Closure “has ascending vocal lines which reach a resolution, but there’s also a counter-melody. The synth descends, joined by a peculiar groove. It’s a happy song but with a twist of melancholy.”

Bogdanović’s lyrics, written in English, are beautiful and poetic. She also expresses her feelings through music alone, as in Crazy Chords. “In the first part the chords are changing fast, the harmony is complex and I’m singing a simple melody on top. In the second part there are only four chords, resolving into something open and lyrical. Then back again to the wild opening.”
May, also without lyrics and written in May – her favourite month, has musical references to her time as a classical pianist. “I was playing a lot of Debussy and Chopin. The piece is dissonant but with a pretty sounding harmony. Debussy creeps in though not intentionally.”

At the age of seven, Bogdanović began learning piano in Maribor, Slovenia, where she was born and brought up. Her mother is Slovenian, her father Bosnian. “We had to flee the war when I was two years old,” she recalls. “It affected a lot of things in my life. It was a rough beginning for me. I experienced the war through my parents. We lost everything. They started a company and worked day and night to make it successful. That’s why I have no siblings.” The track Only Child “is an interplay of music and vocals. The voice here, as in my music generally, is not always up front, but has an instrumental role as part of the band.”
She recalls that music was always played at home, though never jazz. Her father performed Balkan rock. Bogdanović went on to study classical piano and in her own estimation was good, but not a prodigy. She also sang in various pop and rock bands but felt that she needed more complexity in music and slowly moved towards jazz, which she studied in Austria before moving to Berlin where she now lives.

The composer’s inspirations are a “mashed up, mix of different things from classical music to jazz – traditional and modern, singer-songwriter, indie, electronic, soul, neo-soul, r&b, and hip-hop.” Drawn to melancholy she likes rich and unusual harmonies. “When I listen to music,” she says “it needs to sound new to me. The perfect combination is something familiar, but original – especially harmonically.”
She wants her own music to be “very cross-over and fresh. I don’t want to be limited by anything.” Greg Cohen, the renowned bass player, talks of her: “...sultry tone, expressive phrasing and total musicality… the choice of many musicians ‘in the know’. Comfortable in all walks of musical life, Ms.Bogdanović is guaranteed to please.”

credits

released May 12, 2023

Mirna Bogdanović – voice, kalimba
Povel Widestrand – piano, synth, Rhodes, celeste, Hammond organ
Peter Meyer – guitars, efx
Felix Henkelhausen – double bass, e-bass
Philip Dornbusch – drums, percussion

Paul Santner – ukulele
Asger Uttrup Nissen - alto sax

Rothko String Quartett:
Joosten Ellée - violin
William Overcash - violin
Majella Münz - cello
Marc Kopitzki - viola

All compositions by Mirna Bogdanović except nr. 6 by Ivan Matias/Andrea Martin (original recorded by Angie Stone)

All arrangements by Mirna Bogdanović except nr. 6 by Povel Widestrand & Mirna Bogdanović

Production & Post production: Chris Hyson, extra synths on track 11 by Carl Morgan

Sound engineer: Nanni Johansson
Assistant engineer: Frida Claeson Johansson
Studio: Hansa Studios, Berlin
Mixing: Howie Beck
Mastering: Guy Davie

Photography: Dovile Sermokas
Hair & Make-up: Ellen Eilzer
Design: Sandro Rybak

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about

Mirna Bogdanovic Berlin, Germany

Original music somewhere between instrumental and vocal, jazz mixed with electronic and pop. Deutscher Jazzpreis winner 2021.

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