Emil’s grandfather died in a tragic accident. Though Emil never knew him, he has been a part of his life. Emil’s Danish final entry is a song to him. It’s also the story about how an American songwriter brought two A Friend In London members together again.
There are songs which the singers try to make their own. Sometimes they manage and othertimes they don’t. And then there are songs, which are their own – in every way. One of those is titled Ville Ønske Jeg Havde Kendt Dig, which translates to Wish I had known you. Tonight, this song is one of ten songs competing to represent Denmark at the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest.
It’s Emil performing the song – and it’s a very personal song for him. It tells about him growing up hearing stories about his grandfather – a grandfather, he never got to know as he died too early in a tragic accident. Emil wrote the song together with three songwriters; two Danes (Esben Svane and Tim Schou, both from A Friend In London – Denmark 2011) and a young American songwriter named Gavyn Matthew Bailey.
Despite Esben and Tim knowing each other well – it was Gavyn’s presence on this song which got the two Danish former bandmembers to work together on this entry. These things, and Esben’s life after A Friend In London (which now also includes the Czech Republic 2019 act Lake Malawi), you can hear about in the video interview embedded below.
