Now let me tell you about Simen Mitlid’s new song “Saturdays.”
It’s chill, tranquil, and captivating for starters. The song begins and ends with the rhythmic alternating of chords via fingerpicking. This plays throughout the piece in a hypnotizing fashion and accompanies and underscores Mitlid’s soft, soothing voice. The differing chord progressions in the verse and chorus sections lend some extra flavor, but the recurring beat and tone remains, allowing you to sway and tap your foot the whole way through.
When turning to the lyrics, they are short and sweet, conveying a powerful message depending on how you want to look at it. So, naturally, I’ll talk about both interpretations because I can’t decide which one I want to go with.
The first verse comes in after the opening riff:
You call me to say things are different but I’m still the same.
I’m too restless and waiting for something to change us – we fade.
Won’t be long now,
pretend I’m nowhere around.
A key factor here is his usage of “you” and “us.” Normally, addressing your listeners with “you” creates a personal, relatable feeling, however, while this is the case, sticking “us” in there indicates the presence of some sort of couple. That being said, Mitlid is talking to someone in particular, but wants to relate his situation to the world.
Anyways, the opening verse almost sounds like a post-breakup fiasco, where his significant other is calling back “to say things are different,” and therefore ready to get back together. This thought is reinforced in the second verse:
I’ll take anything that will force me to make up my mind,
while you’re going back to the habits you had before mine.
Try to break it all down,
pretend I’m nowhere around.
He remarks that the person he’s talking to is returning to what they were prior to the relationship (so I guess things really aren’t that different, eh?). The repetition of “pretend I’m nowhere around” at the conclusion of each verse is powerful in regards to the plot I’m currently pursuing. He wants that person to move on and forget about him, so that way they can live as per their own rules and personality, instead of having the influence of a broken relationship hang over their every decision.
Now let’s move on to the chorus in between each verse:
Everything keeps on floating.
Everyone keeps on boasting.
Save it for the morning.
This is where I really started to think. Floating and boasting usually connote happiness, and when Mitlid says “save it for the morning,” he’s essentially telling “everyone” to put a cap on it and calm down. Furthermore, the perspective subtly changes from the “us” to “everyone:” particular to universal. At first I thought that he’s addressing broken couples in general, insisting they get over themselves, but then the title hit me.
The second message I could see here is getting over a one-night-stand, which typically happen on Saturdays (‘cause that’s when we all go out to party, right? This could explain the happy connotations of his word choice in the chorus). Applying the same kind of “breakup mechanics” as I did in the previous interpretation, this outlook compresses the song into the timespan of one night instead of the years it could take to get over an ex.
Honestly, I have no idea ‒ only Mitlid does. Either way, this is how I related to it, and perhaps you didn’t see it this way in the slightest.
But that’s what makes music so great.
