Puppet
"I know that life can be both good and bad, and I think it is important to bring out the shadowy sides as well."
When we look up “Aurora” on the World Wide Web today, we will get two kinds of answers; A great light-phenomenom across the sky, and a great light among the singer-songwriter-superstars inhabiting this planet. But - Aurora Aksnes also started somewhere, and to figure out where, we have to go all the way back to the 12th of December 2012. Back to when the song “Puppet” emerged as Aurora’s first step into the light - towards recognition. She had been in a studio with a friend to record a song onto a CD. The first song she ever recorded. Maybe it was intended as a quiet listening for her family, but fate had other plans for her.
With a stroke of luck, a close friend of Aurora uploaded the song to the Norwegian radio show "NRK Urørt" (= "Untouched"), a platform for rising artists to share their music. This was Wednesday. By Sunday, it was played close to 3.000 times, and it climbed all the way to the top of that list.
Now, think about this: This was before TikTok and the social media virality that we are so familiar with today. Back then, people had to talk about it. They shared what they liked at a much slower pace. This means that the song’s popularity grew only on the fact that people liked the song, her hauntingly beautiful voice and the delicate piano melodies.
Two weeks later, the song reached Geir Luedy from Made Management, and he contacted Aurora and her family, sensing a rare talent. Looking back, I think we have a lot to thank Aurora’s incredible soon-to-be manager and friend for.
It was a teacher at her junior high school, Søfteland, that encouraged her to make contact with Thomas “TomTom” Haugland, who produced music. He gave Midtsiden some thoughts on the session with Aurora:
It was great fun to work with Aurora, we’ll probably see much more from that girl, TomTom said. She is young, but knows how she wants it. At the same time, she was good at listening and open to input.
At the time, the 16 year old girl was more into dancing. In 2011 she was part of an elite dance troupe who participated in the Norwegian Youth Culture championship. She had no other experience in having an audience. Now she sings and dance in front of thousands of people all over the world.
In an interview from back hen, Aurora was asked about the song and her songwriting. She said she had written 32 complete songs, and that she had more ideas not written yet. "Puppet" was the first she ever recorded. She was also asked what she was writing about, and Aurora - only 16 years old - already showed her wisdom and clarity of mind:
I know that life can be both good and bad, and I think it is important to bring out the shadowy sides as well. That’s why I choose to write about this, and I hope someone can recognize themselves in my lyrics.
We know she had performed “I Had A Dream” at her 10th grade graduation party, but I think it was at this moment that Aurora took her first humble steps towards building her home for all of her fans, a Queendom for her Warriors and Weirdos.
Credits
Composer: Aurora
Producer: Aurora, Thomas Haugland
Vocals: Aurora
Piano: Aurora
Sources
Brurarøy, K.V. (2012, December 16). Debutant til topps på Urørt. Midtsiden. Retrieved 2023, May 02 from: https://www.midtsiden.no/debutant-til-topps-pa-urort
Bruarøy, K. V. (2014, March 01). Sjølvlært stjerneskot. Midtsiden. Retrieved 2023, February 2023 from https://issuu.com/macbox1/docs/midtsiden_1_2014_z-mag
The song “Puppet” on YouTube: Aurora aksnes - Puppet (Video )