King of Spain Lyrics
Just cause I steal the things you hide,
Just cause I focus while we're dancing,
Just cause I offered you a ride.
I am not even from Madrid.
I am a native of the North Pole
And that can mess up any kid.
Well if you could redirect my day,
I wanna be the King of Spain.
And I'll provoke the bulls with words
And then I'll send a man to meet them all
But he's fake, so I have heard.
Will be the fountain of my lies.
But while we're floating in siestas
You search for bottles and for knives.
Well if you could redirect my day,
I wanna be the King of Spain.
Oh while I'm tightening my crown.
I'll disappear in some flamenco
Perhaps I'll reach the other side.
Just cause I stole some eagle's wings
Because you named me as your lover
Well, I thought I could be anything.
Well if you could redirect my day,
I wanna be the King of Spain.
When I first heard the line "Still I am not from Barcelona / I am not even from Madrid" I immediately thought of Dylan and then my thoughts were reinforced when he restates the Dylan's song title, "Boots of Spanish Leather". Dylan's song is about a lover (probably Dylan's girlfriend at the time, Suze, who left for Italy because her family didn't want her seeing Dylan) leaving behind her love with no intentions of returning back to him. There are multiple lines that suggest it is a sort of "response" to Dylan's song.
To begin with, the very first line of "King of Spain", "I never knew I was a lover" is a direct link to Dylan's "Boots of Spanish Leather" where both characters in the song are labeled by each other "my own true love" respectively. I think the song "King of Spain" is a derogatory stab at the lover from Dylan's song "Boots of Spanish Leather", arguing that she made the man who he is today, something he never wanted to be. So if he had the chance he wishes she could "reinvent my [his] name" and "redirect my day [life]", he'd wanna be anything else but her lover. In this case, he'd want to be the "King of Spain" presumably so he could still keep an eye on his previous lover.
I think that Kristian Matsson is the next Dylan. Just how Dylan was to Woody, Matsson is to Dylan. It's a wonderful thing to see folk music still thriving today, maybe not as prominent, but still provoking beautiful imagery and memorable, meaningful lyrics, that could also be argued as great poetry. All in all, excellent song and I absolutely love his delivery, makes the song that much better.
this is probably the greatest song of all time
indeed
indeed
Isn't it "the blood is fake, so I have heard" rather than "but he is fake"? it makes more sense and that's what I hear every time. And I think it's north folk as well.
also, i'm pretty sure it's
"I'm a native of the north folk"
I've listed to it and tried to hear it both ways. I'm pretty sure it's North Pole, but I wouldn't 100% swear to it. After all, living at the North Pole I think would go a long way to "mess up any kid."
I've listed to it and tried to hear it both ways. I'm pretty sure it's North Pole, but I wouldn't 100% swear to it. After all, living at the North Pole I think would go a long way to "mess up any kid."
Yeah Im pretty sure I can hear an f
Yeah Im pretty sure I can hear an f
I'm pretty sure it's "native of the North Folk". It makes sense seeing as how Kristian Matsson (The Tallest Man On Earth) is from Sweden.
I'm pretty sure it's "native of the North Folk". It makes sense seeing as how Kristian Matsson (The Tallest Man On Earth) is from Sweden.
Could "The King of Spain" be Bob Dylan? Provoking "bulls," or unforgiving, brutal critics with words, wearing "boots of Spanish leather," et cetera . . . He suggests that he would be this king of Spain if he could "reinvent [his] name," and "redirect [his] day." Bob Dylan (who, as we remember, "reinvented" his name from Robert Zimmerman) the Woody Guthrie-evoking folk singer happened a long, long time ago. Maybe that's the "day" he would "redirect." If this is the case, my respect for this dude has grown even more. As Bob was to Woody, Kristian Matsson is to Bob.
@lordimwalkingdowntheline you've just opened a world to me! Despite having a playlist composed solely on Tallest Man and Bob Dylan, I never quite thought of that... and it absolutely makes sense! Kris wishes to be Bob Dylan. This is how I read it now: Kris stole musical concepts hidden in Dylan's work and "offered him a ride" as to saying he gave new life to pre-electric Dylan, so he is his "lover", though he never realised that. And Kris is actually a native of the "North Pole" because he's Swedish... And if someone could reinvent his name and redirect (as redirecting a movie)...
@lordimwalkingdowntheline you've just opened a world to me! Despite having a playlist composed solely on Tallest Man and Bob Dylan, I never quite thought of that... and it absolutely makes sense! Kris wishes to be Bob Dylan. This is how I read it now: Kris stole musical concepts hidden in Dylan's work and "offered him a ride" as to saying he gave new life to pre-electric Dylan, so he is his "lover", though he never realised that. And Kris is actually a native of the "North Pole" because he's Swedish... And if someone could reinvent his name and redirect (as redirecting a movie) the day he was born, he would have liked to be Dylan, who provoked the government (bulls) with his songs; and the man who could meet the bulls may be seen as the president Dylan would have wanted? - he definitely says "blood is fake", maybe referring to peace-oriented politics of this "man". I don't know about the following verses, mentioning señoritas and bottles and knives... The latter maybe being the pressure of the press on Dylan? He too would wear Spanish boots, ending the first part of his career with some other musical genre as Flamenco, perhaps reaching the other side - referring to Dylan going electric? Then eagle's wings are a symbol for liberty, and also the symbol of the USA, Dylan's nation.
It makes sense... maybe not always, so it might be a wrong interpretation. Still, it's very interesting!
pitchfork characterized this song as "an ode to the transformative powers of love" and mentions "notes of celebration and excitement", but i get quite a different vibe - a skeptical one, an element of miscommunication. given lines like "i never knew i was your lover", "but while we're floating in siestas, you search for bottles and for knives", after having mentioned provoking bulls with words and a fountain of lies (bottle being something that contains water), "why are you stabbing my illusion?", and "because you named me as your lover, well, i thought i could be anything", i wonder if this song is directed towards someone that isn't enough for him, or tries to boss him around too much?
You're on the right track. This is from an interview with Kristian Matsson found here: http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4139578-dis-meets-the-tallest-man-on-earth
You're on the right track. This is from an interview with Kristian Matsson found here: http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4139578-dis-meets-the-tallest-man-on-earth
Q:With a song like ‘King of Spain’, it sounds so…freewheeling and triumphant the first few times, but then when you really listen to the lyrics, it quickly becomes clear that the song isn’t really…
Q:With a song like ‘King of Spain’, it sounds so…freewheeling and triumphant the first few times, but then when you really listen to the lyrics, it quickly becomes clear that the song isn’t really…
A:No, no [laughs]. I don’t consider it a triumphant song at all. You know, obviously it’s not about being the King of Spain — it’s not about Spain at all. I really don’t want to try and explain it; it’s more fun...
A:No, no [laughs]. I don’t consider it a triumphant song at all. You know, obviously it’s not about being the King of Spain — it’s not about Spain at all. I really don’t want to try and explain it; it’s more fun for me to have other people try to figure it out.
Pretty sure he sings 'blood is fake, so I have heard' in the part about the bulls. I think the line before that is something different as well, but can't really make out what. Great song, anyway. I might like the new album even more than the first.
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahh i love this song! yeah i think it's about being in the early stages of a relationship when neither people know that much about each other but want to know everything about each other and he wants the girl to think the most of him as she can because she has already started calling him her lover and he's getting all in love n that but then the relationship and love begins to fade.
I like what carlylisboa is saying but I would like to elaborate a little more of on what I think of it. I agree that it is skeptical. It sounds like someone said that him and someone else were in love. So he is sort of saying that if you call me a lover, I can call myself the king of Spain.
This song is about someone who wants to be something he already is. He sings about he wants to be the King of Spain which he thinks he can never be because he is not even from Spain (just a native of the north pole). But if you listen to his guitar play its the most Spanish you can get, without realizing he already is the King of Spain by playing this song! Its a metaphor for us running around trying to achieve something which inside we already are.