"747" is a song by Swedish rock band Kent

Kent (band)

Kent is a Swedish alternative rock band founded in Eskilstuna in 1990, with the name Coca-Cola Kids, later Jones & Giftet , and Havsänglar...

, written by Joakim Berg

Joakim Berg

Herbert Joakim "Jocke" Berg is a Swedish singer, songwriter and musician, best known as the lead singer of Swedish alternative rock band Kent, which was founded in 1990.-Biography:...

. It's the final song on their album Isola

Isola (album)

Isola is an album released in 1997 by the Swedish band Kent. It was followed in 1998 by an English version, for which a new song, "Velvet", was recorded. The album name comes from Ed McBains books about the 87:th police district and is a paraphrase for New York city, and Isola is mentioned in the...

and was released as third single in 1998 with B-sides "Din skugga" and "Elever". It's been recorded both with Swedish

Swedish language

Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...

 and English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 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, but it is a reference to the Boeing 747

Boeing 747

The Boeing 747 is a wide-body commercial airliner and cargo transport, often referred to by its original nickname, Jumbo Jet, or Queen of the Skies. It is among the world's most recognizable aircraft, and was the first wide-body ever produced...

 airplane. 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 (in fact, a Boeing 737

Boeing 737

The Boeing 737 is a short- to medium-range, twin-engine narrow-body jet airliner. Originally developed as a shorter, lower-cost twin-engine airliner derived from Boeing's 707 and 727, the 737 has developed into a family of nine passenger models with a capacity of 85 to 215 passengers...

) which was also used as a backdrop in ensuing concerts. The album name itself is supposed to symbolize New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, referencing "Isola

Isola (fictional city)

Isola is a section of a fictional city that is the setting for the 87th Precinct series of police procedural novels written by Ed McBain ....

" 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 (A = 1, B = 2, C = 3 and so on) 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

Hagnesta Hill

Hagnesta Hill is an album by the Swedish band Kent, released in 1999 and 2000 . For the English version two new songs, "Quiet Heart" and "Just Like Money" were recorded, and "Ett tidsfördriv att dö för" and "Insekter" were left out...

album (the only other album to have an English version), the final song "Visslaren" ("Whistle Song" in the English version) 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

• Swedish album version (7:47)
• Swedish single version (4:25)
• Swedish Nåid
  Martin Landquist
  Martin Landquist is a Swedish music producer, recording artist, remixer and songwriter working under the name Nåid. He has produced albums for artists such as a-ha, Jay-Jay Johanson, Linda Sundblad and Kent, and has remixed tracks for artists including The Cardigans.He is also a member of the bands...
  
   2000 remix (4:31)
• English album version (7:47)
• English single version (4:17) - Video recorded

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

Swedish 4-track single

1. "747" (Swedish single version) (4:25)
2. "Elever" (4:46)
3. "Din Skugga" (4:06)
4. "747" (Swedish album version) (7:47)

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

Swedish 2-track single

1. "747" (Swedish single version) (4:25)
2. "747" (Swedish album version) (7:47)

UK Release

1. "747" (English Radio Version) (4:17)
2. "Unprofessional" (Live Radio Session — Recorded for 2 Meter Sessions, 22-5-98) (4:45)
3. "What It Feels Like" (2:41)

US Release

1. Radio edit
2. Swedish version radio edit
3. Album version
4. Suggested callout hook #1
5. Suggested callout hook #2