I heard a puff, I heard a blow
I felt the ground, I felt the snow
I thought of linen and of lace
I never really saw his face

I heard a grunt, I heard a moan
I felt the sun, I saw the moon
I saw the northern light above
And the eclipse of the sun

I am a breath, I am a wish
I am a rocket and a fish
I felt his measures and his weight
My own body as a scale

I heard a whisper in my ear
”You are not here, you are not here”
I saw the northern light above
And the eclipse of the sun

My feet was hurt and heals were sore
And I wondered why it burned
And I wondered why it burned

Then I had to climb down
I went down to see the sun rise
And then I had to climb back up again
I had to be there to see the sun rise

All the air that you sent to guide me
Had a tone of the elephant gray
We were all there in the morning
We were there and we wanted to stay

So quite a lot of what people had heard was right
Some was wrong




Lyrics submitted by dolcecars

Kino Lyrics as written by Olof Bjorn Dreijer Karin Elizabeth Dreijer Andersson

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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Kino song meanings
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11 Comments

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  • +3
    General Comment

    This song is about the mysterious feeling of being raped, and karins desire to be a arctic fox.

    Spiceron October 13, 2007   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    This to me is about a girl being raped, she hears running:

    "I heard a puff I heard a blow"

    She's knocked down into the groud:

    "I felt the ground I felt the snow"

    Her underwear is perhaps made from lace and linen:

    "I thought of linen and of lace"

    It was dark so he couldn't see the face of the guy raping her:

    "I never really saw his face"

    Pretty self explanatory:

    "I heard a grunt I heard a moan"

    Perhaps a solar eclipse was going on at the time, so everything was dark, which would explain why she felt the sun, but it was dark so she could see the moon:

    "I felt the sun I saw the moon I saw the northern light above and the eclipse of the sun"

    This could describe what she is to the guy:

    "I am a breath I am a wish"

    This I'm not so sure, maybe just needed something to rhyme:

    "I am a rocket and a fish"

    He's on top of her:

    "I felt his measures and his weight my own body as a scale"

    The guy is whispering to her, or perhaps she's in denial:

    "I heard a wisper in my ear 'you are not here, you are not here'"

    Again, the eclipse theory:

    "I saw the northern light above and the eclipse of the sun"

    She's hurting:

    "my feet was hurt and heals were sore and I wondered why it burned and I wondered why it burned"

    Again, this is the moments of sex:

    "Then I had to climbe down I went down to see the sun rise and then I had to climbe back up again"

    It's over and the sun is appearing again, she can see all the people are there, but she doesn't know who her aggressor was.:

    "I had to be there to see the sun rise All the air that you sent to guide me had a tone of the elephant grey we were all there in the morning we were there and we wanted to stay"

    People were talking about what they had heard going on, perhaps they were mixed feeling about whether it was rape or just a fling, some were right and some wrong:

    "So quite alot of what people had hear was right, some was wrong."

    magicman7on June 16, 2008   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    Obvious sexual references here, but I think magicman7 is right when he says that people heard it was rape or a fling, but Karin didn't really know how she should feel, because of being a virgin (linen and lace)so she can't confirm either way. She seems to be in a bubble and once she comes out of it (the sun rising) she doesn't know what just happened or if she enjoyed it, blurring the lines between rape and consensual sex so she goes back up to see the sunrise but she went without him and she goes back to get himto see if the normal world can mix with the bubble. In the end, she says they wanted to stay. She made up her mind that it wasn't rape. Maybe the title Kino is a reference to her physical perception of everything. This is dictionary.com's definition of kinaesthetic: "muscle sense. The sensation by which bodily position, weight, muscle tension, and movement are perceived". This seems to sum the song up very well, especially when directly saying she feels the snow and how her body is the scale which measures him. I spent longer analysing this than I have on most of my college essays :/ unemployment, here I come...

    newyorkcityspeedon January 20, 2012   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    This song is as Spicer said so blatantly about rape. To me at least, it does make much sense. I couldn't understand her at first. I think also she's trying to block it out by thinking of linen and lace. And daydreaming that she's a rocket and what not.

    "Then I had to climbe down I went down to see the sun rise and then I had to climbe back up again I had to be there to see the sun rise All the air that you sent to guide me had a tone of the elephant grey we were all there in the morning we were there and we wanted to stay"

    This line doesn't make much sense though. Any clarifications anybody? You can listen to the song on youtube if you're having a hard time finding it.

    Viellerukaon October 27, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i love this song :)

    Chic_0xon February 01, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Definitely about rape...no doubt.

    shnugen17on June 06, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I agree this song seems as though it is about rape.

    magicman7 nailed alot of what I had thought.

    "I thought of linen and of lace"

    I immediately thought of linen and lace as meaning purity (linen is considered a pure fabric). Meaning possibly virginity?

    "I felt the sun I saw the moon I saw the northern light above and the eclipse of the sun"

    The feeling of the sun may refer to a burning sensation, rape is hardly delicate. 'Seeing the moon' probably refers to it being night. 'The northern light above', a little more vague to me. Could mean the north star, or perhaps just a light in the room, or streetlight. 'The eclipse of the sun' I took to mean she shut her eyes.

    "I am a breath I am a wish"

    I figure this could be her thoughts. She is holding her breath waiting for this moment to pass. 'I am a wish' could be a more desperate thought, literally wishing for the moment to pass.

    "I am a rocket And a fish"

    Possibly the thought of being anywhere but here. The rocket being the highest height and the fish the lowest. Could also mean her mind being strong, but her body being weak.

    Mind you, that's just my take on some of the verses. It is of course, all speculation ;]

    Sketchtastropheon July 17, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I agree that it certainly appears to be about "the mysterious feeling of being raped, and karins desire to be a arctic fox", but the mood is far too upbeat and happy and insouciant for it to be about such a horrible topic. Could it simply be about a chance encounter with an arctic fox? Or something else?

    With that said, her attitude towards rape in "Na Na Na" is also quite nonchalant, so maybe it is about rape.

    revilodrawon August 26, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Ok I think you guys are right on a lot of points but you're overcomplexifying;) it a bit. To me, this is just a song about one of Karin's experiences as a young girl at a party. I do believe there may have been a lack of consent on the artist's behalf, like she was suddenly just grabbed and pulled to the ground and banged, but the general tone of the song and the end lyrics suggest it was perhaps appreciated. I don't mean to offend anyone with my interpretations, just the way my mind sees it...

    "I heard a puff, I heard a blow"

    smokin dope, snortin coke

    "I felt the ground, I felt the snow"

    Probably sitting around a dwindling fire, then unexpectedly, all liquored up and coked out, this guy next to her grabs her and pulls her to the ground and there's a lot of snow in Sweden.

    "I thought of linen and of lace, I never really saw his face"

    Linen is pure, lace is naughty. Trying to decide if this is ok... Never really saw his face cuz it was a campfire and everyone was all messed up.

    "I heard a grunt, I heard a moan. I felt the sun, I saw the moon. I saw the northern lights above, and the eclipse of the sun."

    Obvious sexual noises. The "sun" is his warm penis. That will be important later in the song. Karin calling it the sun also holds significance; she has a noted love for the sun and it's warmth and warm, sunny climates because she is from cold, dark Sweden. So I think at this point she likes it. She saw the moon cuz she was laying on her back in the snow, brrrr! The northern lights are something only seen at night, and the eclipse and the northern (night) lights signify giving in to dark pleasure.

    "I am a breath, I am a wish. I am a rocket and a fish."

    She is a breath meaning she is a warm human body, she is a wish because she is desired. He rides her like a rocket, and the fish is her vagina.

    "I felt his measures and his weight, my own body as a scale. I heard a whisper in my ear, you are not here, you are not here."

    Ok measures, weight, scale, you get it. The whisper could be many things: denial (perhaps she had a boyfriend but did not tell this guy to stop), or so messed up that she wasn't there in her right mind, or you're not here meaning she hasn't come (cum) yet or him telling her not to.

    "I saw the northern light above And the eclipse of the sun. My feet was hurt and heals were sore And I wondered why it burned And I wondered why it burned."

    The dark pleasure/beauty reference again. I believe its my feet was hurt, my KNEES were sore. It burned cuz drunk sex can be futile effort just pounding away only half-feeling everything and, perhaps she got bored and a little dry...sorry.

    SOOOO...she had to climb down!!

    "Then I had to climb down, I went down to see the sun rise. And then I had to climb back up again, I had to be there to see the sun rise."

    She went down on the guy to get his sun to rise:) or she went down meaning she got real dirty so these sexual animals could get off. And then she climbed back up to see the look on his face when she finished him off. Also, the music at this point shifts from confusing and labored and slightly annoying to fun and flowing and powerful. I can't quite figure out if I like the first part of the song or not but I love it at this transition; I think that was intentional on Karin's behalf. And Olaf's too. Let's remember that Olaf is in The Knife too, lol!

    "All the air that you sent to guide me had a tone of the elephant gray. We were all there in the morning, we were there and we wanted to stay."

    The air guiding her is his voice telling her what he wants, it being elephant gray I'm not sure about. Elephant gray is very light gray so maybe he spoke dirty but not too dirty, idk. We were all there in the morning and wanted to stay shows that everyone seemed to be ok with whatever did happen. I'd think if a girl were forcefully raped she would probably try to leave after or at least not WANT to stay. Once again, not trying to offend or judge as I have no experience with rape, just an uninformed assumption I have.

    "So quite a lot of what people had heard was right, some was wrong."

    I don't know, I wasn't there, I didn't hear anything. Maybe someone said Karin slept with so and so, RIGHT. Maybe it was rape, WRONG. Or maybe I'm waaaay off.

    rpmoneysignson July 31, 2014   Link
  • -1
    General Comment

    i think it is obviously reffering to drugs... "puff", "blow". to me is about drugs and also sex...

    nikoposhon November 07, 2007   Link

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