Essentials: The Top 10 First Aid Kit Songs

As we certainly know at AUK, sometimes people far, far away from the United States naturally flourish in Americana. Anyone acquainted with the niche and wildly underrated subgenre of Scandifolk must know First Aid Kit. Practically the pioneers of the movement, sisters Johanna and Klara Söderberg, grew up on country and folk as children in Sweden and formed the band in 2007.

For my Essentials, I couldn’t think of any other band that has had considerable success without much widespread recognition, given the depth and quality of their discography. Their debut album was 15 years ago, and while the releases since have been intermittent, each First Aid Kit album signposts the life stage and love the Söderbergs have navigated together, rendering them into some really class indie-folk.

Putting this list together was very personal. I still remember exactly where I was when I heard my number one song: 11 years old and forever indebted to my father for introducing me to such a wonderful band. Many of the songs below have stayed with me for over a decade now and I never tire of revisiting them. If you’re just meeting First Aid Kit now, climb aboard! It is never too late to make this music your own.

Number 10: ‘Waitress Song’ from “Stay Gold” (2014)

If you’ve ever wanted to start over or felt tempted by the simplicity of a town you just stopped through, ‘Waitress Song’ is there to encapsulate that feeling. Klara and Joanna theorise that out in the sticks, “our love would seem trivial and obscure / And I would never feel lost anymore”. Wherever you go, there you are, but it’s nice to imagine otherwise.

Number 9: ‘Ghost Town’ from “The Big Black and the Blue” (2010)

Not really an essential, per se, but I wanted to include something from their lesser-known debut album. ‘Ghost Town’ is an apt prediction of what the band’s future work would transform into. What’s more, it begs the age-old question of whether the ones we love are haunted by us years later. Its production is very simple, just a guitar and an accordion backing Klara’s voice, with the thoughtful chorus, “I found myself attached to this railroad track / But I’ll come back to you someday”.

Number 8: ‘It’s a Shame’ from “Ruins” (2018)

Like ‘Waitress Song’, First Aid Kit is at their best when pairing a happy melody with sad lyrics. ‘It’s a Shame’, the first single from 2018’s “Ruins”, narrates the empty feeling in the aftermath of a relationship, specifically the moments in which you feel powerless against your emotions: “Sometimes the night cuts through me like a knife”. Struggling to let go can indeed feel like a shame.

Number 7: ‘The Lion’s Roar’ from “The Lion’s Roar” (2012)

“And I’m a goddamn coward, but then again, so are you”, as the beginning of a chorus sums up First Aid Kit as a whole: beautifully haunting and plagued by remorse. It’s creepy, it’s angry, and it leaves one wondering what the hell the proverbial “you” did to warrant this song.

Number 6: ‘My Silver Lining’ from “Stay Gold” (2014)

Perhaps one of their biggest commercial hits, ‘My Silver Lining,’ details the crushing weight of anxiety and uncertainty, which came free with your subscription to being a human. It ends with a repeated mantra as the music drops: “I try to keep on keeping on”.

Number 5: ‘King of the World’ from “The Lion’s Roar” (2012)

With an uncredited feature from Conor Oberst, ‘King of the World’ celebrates the unpredictability of life and the decision to not care in spite of it. Again, being a human is very, very taxing. The song starts with reminiscing about that very morning: “I was laughing at something at the airport terminal”, but less than 12 hours later, “I was sitting crying to you over the phone.” The trumpet in this will put you in mind of Neutral Milk Hotel and has a wonderfully catchy chorus: “I’m nobody’s baby, I’m everybody’s girl”. This is also one of the most fun songs to hear live, the whole audience “screaming FIRE in a theatre”.

Number 4: ‘29 Palms Highway’ from “Palomino” (2022)

Their most recent album to date, “Palomino”, combined a lot of different sounds, ranging from radio-friendly pop (see ‘Fallen Snow’ or ‘Angel’) to more distorted synth-heavy country. And it is in the latter that they really hit their stride, with the Cosmic American of ‘29 Palms Highway’. “I hold my arms out to you / I’m ready to listen, are you coming through?” perfectly captures that mystical isolation of the Mojave Desert.

Number 3: ‘Postcard’ from “Ruins” (2018)

Very little of their discography is purely country, with the exception of this. Eulogising the end of a relationship with a wandering man, ‘Postcard’ includes the wonderful line, “I went and broke my own goddamn heart”. In fact, it’s probably best to listen to it as Annie’s side of the story from Gram Parsons’ ‘Return of the Grievous Angel’, which First Aid Kit gives a nod to before an instrumental break: “Pick it for me, James!”

Number 2: ‘In the Hearts of Men’ from “The Lion’s Roar” (2012)

There’s a lot of “Lion’s Roar” on this list, purely because it is such an iconic album that propelled them into fame. ‘In the Hearts of Men’ stands out as a much softer song amidst the rest and features layered instrumentals that blend stunningly with the sisters’ voices.

Number 1: ‘Emmylou’ from “The Lion’s Roar” (2012)

As demonstrated in ‘29 Palms Highway’ and ‘Postcard’, the California desert and its mythology have been a major source of inspiration for First Aid Kit. The music video for this was filmed at Cap Rock in Joshua Tree National Park, a pilgrimage for any Gram Parsons fan. ‘Emmylou’ is a career-defining hit for Klara and Johanna Söderberg, stopping the listener in their tracks from the first few notes with a wonderful steel guitar (there should always be more steel guitar). It’s easy to see why Emmylou Harris herself was so moved by their performance in her honour.

“Stockholm’s cold, but I’ve been told I was born to endure this kind of weather” is a perfect thesis for the band: definitively Swedish but searching for warmer pastures out west.