The Story Behind Lykke Li's Dark Love Song "No Rest for the Wicked"

Swedish-born Lykke Li has always been a musical enigma. She started her career seemingly happily at the age of 21 with her light, bouncy breakout track, “Little Bit.” But soon after she veered 180-degree into deep darkness, especially with her third full album, 2014’s I Never Learn. Li’s twisted journey continued thereafter with her 2018 latex-heavy album, so sad so sexy, before stripping down all of that album’s artifice to this year’s darkly haunting, spare and cinematic Eyeye that essentially rejects everything about its predecessor.

Li has never been an industry “hit-maker.” That’s not her mission. Yet, at the same time, somehow her songs consistently find themselves at the forefront of pop culture and into our collective heads - from her song “Possibility” in the film Twilight, to the throbbing pop of “Get Some” in teen soap opera Pretty Little Liars. One her most iconic tracks certainly is “No Rest for the Wicked” from her I Never Learn album. Li wrote the song as she was exiting a relationship and packing her bags to move from Europe to New York, condemning herself for the damage wrought in the process. Of course she did. That’s just her way.

In this latest episode of The Story Behind the Song podcast, host Peter Csathy interviews Lykke Li about the genesis of “No Rest for the Wicked” – and why the song continues to haunt. The two also discuss Li’s new album Eyeye (pronounced simply “eye”) and its final track, “U&I.” The album and track represent yet another vintage departure for Li, and the results are the same. Li has always looked at her life as if it were a “movie,” and this latest film in Li’s life is literally just that. Eyeye is a visual album, with individual one-minute videos that transition each of the album’s eight tracks into the next. Li punctuates this point to supreme cinematic effect in “U&I” when she implores her now ex-lover to not turn his back and walk away, because “The movie is you and I.”

Listen to the full episode now. Then make sure you like, review, and subscribe to The Story Behind the Song wherever you get your podcasts to catch each episode of the monthly series. Also keep an eye on the Consequence Podcast Network for updates on all our series, and follow host Peter Csathy on Twitter @pcsathy and at Creative Media.

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