Swiss-German Pop Duo BOY Shares “Fit Back In” Acoustic Version feat. Kaiser Quartet
With their acoustic version of “Fit Back In,” BOY has succeeded in creating another highlight of anintimate acoustic interpretation for which their fans love them so much-live and on record. Recorded with the Kaiser Quartet, the warmth and security of Valeska Steiner’s voice envelops usand is gently bedded in the fine instrumentation of Sonja Glass.The acoustic versions of their songshave been streamed millions of times and their live tours in Europe, Brazil, the USA and Japan have been completely soldout.
On the track, BOY says, “It was important to us that the acoustic version clearly differs from the original, which also sounds rather organic. So we came up with the idea of getting our friends from the Kaiser Quartet on board. They have often accompanied us live at acoustic shows, the last time was in 2017 at the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, and we are very happy with the arrangement that Ingmar Süberkrüb (the quartet’s violist) wrote for Fit Back In.”
“Fit Back In” opens with the lines “Feeling like a stranger in my city and my skin / Nothing around here reminds me of anything”, and while these may appear timely for a world overfamiliar with lockdowns, the song was written before Covid-19 arrived. Instead, it was inspired by the death of Steiner’s father, with whom she was particularly close, and the lyrics were written over the course of more than a year. If, however, this sounds like the premise for a sad song, think again. It’s instead a masterclass in finding hope in despair.
“I feel so grateful for this song,” Steiner says, “because I really learned something for myself. I started writing it after my father passed, when I had this weird feeling that, in just one more week, a year would have gone by and somehow I’d have to be magically over it and not feel so sad or lost. It’s like there’s this official mourning period, and after that you’re meant to be fine. So I wrote it while I was ‘allowed’ to have this feeling, then sent the lyrics to Sonja, who wrote the music. Later we decided the end wasn’t working, and another few months passed, and then the line “Time doesn’t heal / It just goes by” came to me. It felt like such a relief! There are so many well-worn phrases we don’t really question, like ‘Time heals everything’, but some things are just sad forever. I found comfort in acknowledging that, and at the same time I was able to see more and more clearly how, as time passes, it brings new life and new beauty and new things to look forward to.”
