Hej hej Monika (lost Danish version of Nic & the Family song; 2004)
The cover of the Danish single.
Status: Lost
“Hej hej Monika” (sometimes referred to incorrectly as just “Hej Monika”) is a song performed by the Swedish pop group Nic & the Family for their debut studio album Hej hej skiva in 2004. The song became a summer hit in Sweden that year[1] and gained notoriety for its simple and repetitive nature, where the title is repeated 55 times during the runtime of the song.[2] “Hej hej Monika” got a resurgence in popularity in December 2017, when the Swedish YouTuber Felix “PewDiePie” Kjellberg did a cover version in one of his videos.[3] PewDiePie released a longer version of the song in January 2018, which had been remixed by the Dutch YouTuber Party In Backyard.[4]
History
“Hej hej Monika” was written by Nicolaj "Nic" Schröder, the singer of Nic & the Family, some time in the mid-1990s and it was performed live only once during that time. Around the turn of the millennium, Schröder was collaborating with the members of the Swedish indie rock band The Sounds. He played “Hej hej Monika” for them and both Felix Rodriguez and Maja Ivarsson from The Sounds felt that the song had hit potential.[2]
By 2003 Schröder had formed the pop group Nic & the Family and they recorded a studio version of “Hej hej Monika”. The song was co-written by Rodriguez and Ivarsson under their pseudonyms Joey Demo and Nancy Blond. In the spring of 2004 the single version of “Hej hej Monika” was released.
Nic & the Family recorded three different versions of “Hej hej Monika”:
1) The original Swedish version, released both as a single and on the studio album Hej hej skiva in 2004.[5]
2) A Japanese version called “ねぇねぇ モモコ” (also known as “Nee nee Momoko”),[1] released as both a B-side on the single “Hej det är Nic... klick”[6] and on the studio album Hej hej skiva in 2004.[5]
3) A Danish version called “Hej hej Monika”, released as a single only in Denmark in 2004.[7]
Danish version
The Danish version of “Hej hej Monika” was released as a CD single by Warner Music Sweden AB and Dansk Skalle in Denmark in 2004.[7] This version was performed during the summer of 2004 by Nic & the Family[1] but it never became a hit song in Danish and the single only sold 10 copies, according to a 2020 interview with Schröder.[2] The Danish version seems to be more or less a direct translation of the Swedish lyrics. The cover of the Danish single is different from the original one: the original cover had a boy in dark blue clothes sitting on a motocross bike looking at a girl with purple lipstick on, with the background being different shades of blue[8]. On the Danish cover the boy has white clothes sitting on a motocross bike with a DK (short for Denmark) sticker on the seat, the girl has red lipstick on and the background is red and white,[7] most likely to more resemble the red and white colors of the Danish flag.
On music streaming sites such as Spotify, the Danish version of “Hej hej Monika” is unavailable.
Reference
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Magnusson, Per (26 August 2004): "Nee nee Momoko" till Japan (in Swedish), Expressen.se. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Björck, Joakim (12 September 2020): Hitlåten som vägrar dö (in Swedish), Hd.se. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
- ↑ PewDiePie (12 December 2017): ZOOTOPIA MEME (MEME REVIEW) 👏 👏 #3, Youtube.com. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
- ↑ PewDiePie (27 January 2018): PewDiePie Hej Monika Remix by Party In Backyard, Youtube.com. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Nic & The Family – Hej Hej Skiva, Discogs.com. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
- ↑ Nic & The Family – Hej Det Är Nic... Klick, Discogs.com. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Nic & The Family – Hej Hej Monika (Danish version), Discogs.com. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
- ↑ Nic & The Family – Hej Hej Monika, Discogs.com. Retrieved 20 January 2022.