747 (song)


"747" is a Swedish-language song by rock band Kent, written by Joakim Berg. It's the final song on their album Isola and was released as third single in 1998 with B-sides "Din skugga" and "Elever". It's been recorded both with Swedish and English lyrics. It quickly became a fan favorite, and for eight years, the band always ended their concerts with it.

Name, lyrics and theme

In its album version, the song is 7 minutes and 47 seconds long, almost half of that as an instrumental outro with characteristic guitar riffs and keyboard melodies. The title is not to be found in the song, and is not a reference to the Boeing 747 airplane even though the lyrics are flight-inspired: the Swedish original, which is slightly different from the English release, describes the narrator and an unidentified second character leaving or escaping something, towards an unknown destination, on a passenger airliner. It closes with a crash scene, moving into the instrumental outro:
listening

tense & strapped in

& when panic erupts

you smile faintly

and whisper to me you

are worth dying for

but against rubber, glass & metal

a miracle means nothing at all
The cover image of the Isola album is an aircraft which was also used as a backdrop in ensuing concerts. The album name itself is supposed to symbolize New York City, referencing "Isola" in Ed McBains crime novels.
A strange fact is that if you take the full names of each band member, and assign every letter with a number and sum it all up, you will get the number 747. The band kept on toying with the number 747: in their 1999 Hagnesta Hill album, the final song "Visslaren" also had a length of 7:47.

Video

A music video was recorded for the English version. In it, the band is playing on a stage with a picture of an airplane as a backdrop. At the same time, a story is played up about a man who attempts to steal the mysterious contents of a briefcase, but ends up abandoned at an airport.

Versions

The single versions have a shorter outro but contain a chorus which the album versions lack.

Track listings

Swedish 4-track single

  1. "747"
  2. "Elever"
  3. "Din Skugga"
  4. "747"
The songs "Elever" and "Din Skugga" were later re-released on the B-Sidor 95-00 album.

Swedish 2-track single

  1. "747"
  2. "747"

    UK Release

  3. "747"
  4. "Unprofessional"
  5. "What It Feels Like"

    UK Promo

  6. 747

    US Promo CD

  7. Radio edit
  8. Swedish version radio edit
  9. Album version
  10. Suggested callout hook #1
  11. Suggested callout hook #2