Boten Anna

"Boten Anna" ("Anna the Bot") is a song by Swedish Eurodance musician Basshunter, from his first studio album, LOL. Following the single's release in 2006, Basshunter gained popularity in his native Sweden, as well as Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Norway, Poland and the Netherlands. The song topped hit charts and, on 3 May 2006, was named Norway's official Russ-song[1] of the year. It was also the most popular song at The Gathering demo party 2006. An English version titled "Now You're Gone", sung by Sebastian Westwood, using unrelated lyrics, was released in December 2007.

"Boten Anna"
Single by Basshunter
from the album LOL
Released9 May 2006 (2006-05-09)
RecordedMarch 2006
Genre
Length3:28
LabelWarner Music
Songwriter(s)Basshunter
Producer(s)Basshunter
Basshunter singles chronology
"Boten Anna"
(2006)		 "Vi sitter i Ventrilo och spelar DotA"
(2006)
Music video
"Boten Anna" (original version) on YouTube
Music video
"Boten Anna" (2nd version) on YouTube

Lyrics and composition

The Swedish lyrics of "Boten Anna" tell the story of a female IRC user who the vocalist believes is a bot and later finds out she is a beautiful woman, although she will always remain a bot in his eyes. The song is based on an actual experience of Basshunter. His friend said he would create a bot with administrative capabilities to keep order in his channel, #BassHunter.se; when this happened Jonas saw a new user with administrative capabilities named "Anna" enter the channel, and naturally thought this was the bot. Months later, he learned that Anna was actually not a bot, but was his friend's girlfriend; the embarrassment, he says, inspired him to create the song.

Despite the esoteric subject of the lyrics, the song was well received by mainstream media, albeit the word bot was frequently mistaken for boat - the Swedish word bot ("bot") is commonly pronounced almost the same as båt ("boat") in the unusual dialect spoken by Altberg (Basshunter). The double meaning of the word kanal — which can refer to an IRC channel, as well as a canal, added to the confusion.

"Boten Anna" has a tempo of 140 beats per minute and is written in the key of A minor.[2]

Music video

The video to the song deliberately plays on double meanings. It shows Basshunter riding a sightseeing pedal boat down the Malmö City Canal. The "A" on the boat is merely a marking to differentiate from other loaned pedal boats in the canal.

Other versions
  • In the Dutch Top 40 in the Netherlands, a spoof of the song peaked at No. 6 in weeks 38 and 39 of 2006. It is also called "Boten Anna" and it is by De Gebroeders Ko (they also made an English and German version), who also made other Dutch versions of known songs like "Dragostea din Tei". Although they knew the original song wasn't about a boat, they translated it as if it were (one called Anna). "Boten" is the plural form of "boat" in Dutch.
  • In November another spoof of the song, again by De Gebroeders Ko, charted the Dutch Top 40. In week 47 the song called "Sinterklaas Boot (Boten Anna)" charted in the Dutch Top 40 and peaked at number 7. This version of "Boten Anna" is about the boat of Sinterklaas.
  • An Israeli band called Chovevei Tzion (חובבי ציון) spoofed "Boten Anna" with their popular single, "Rotze Banot" (רוצה בנות, meaning "I Want Girls"), which was extensively spoofed in turn.[3]
  • Na Nach Breslov singer Hazamir put the melody to his song "Rotzeh Tisot" (רוצה טיסות, meaning "I want flights", 2007), which is about wishing to make the thrice a year pilgrimages to Rabbi Nachman's grave.[4]

"Now You're Gone"
Main article: Now You're Gone (Basshunter song)

An English version of "Boten Anna" titled "Now You're Gone", sung by Sebastian Westwood[5] with the Net-Tag of Masrad, using unrelated lyrics by DJ Mental Theo's Bazzheadz which was originally released in 2006, became the music to a video by Basshunter with the same title in November 2007. The video and the track were met with world chart success and became the most requested record in summer holiday resorts around Europe in early 2008. As people returning from their holidays wanted to hear it again, TV channels in the UK were inundated with requests for the video. On 13 January 2008, "Now You're Gone" entered number one in the UK Singles Chart and spent five weeks at the top of the charts, ending Leon Jackson's three week run with "When You Believe".[6] In the sixth week after the song's release it was knocked off the top by Welsh songstress Duffy, with her song "Mercy".

Track listing
  • CD Single (9 May 2006)
  1. "Boten Anna" (Radio Mix) - 3:29
  2. "Boten Anna" (Club Mix) - 5:26
  • CD Single (4 September 2006)
  1. "Boten Anna" (Radio Edit) - 3:29
  2. "Boten Anna" (Club Remix) - 5:26
  3. "Boten Anna" (DJ Micro Spankin Club Remix) - 5:30
  4. "Boten Anna" (Backslash Fluffy Style Remix) - 4:40
  5. "Boten Anna" (SkillsToPayTheBills Remix) - 4:34
  6. "Boten Anna" (Instrumental) - 3:20

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Austria (IFPI Austria)[26] Gold 15,000*
Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[27] 3× Platinum 61,000+[28]^
Sweden (GLF)[29] Platinum 20,000^
Europe — 500,000[30]

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

See also

References
  1. "Årets landeplage", from NRK, accessed on June 21, 2006 Archived November 8, 2006, at the Wayback Machine
  2. "Boten Anna". Musicnotes. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  3. (in Norwegian) , accessed on August 24, 2007
  4. , accessed in Nov. 2013
  5. "Sebastian Westwood Discography at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2012-01-17.
  6. Ministry of Sound - Basshunter, accessed on January 4, 2008
  7. "Austriancharts.at – Basshunter – Boten Anna" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  8. "Ultratop.be – Basshunter – Boten Anna" (in Dutch). Ultratip.
  9. "ČNS IFPI" (in Czech). Hitparáda – Radio Top 100 Oficiální. IFPI Czech Republic. Note: Change the chart to CZ – RADIO – TOP 100 and insert 200727 into search.
  10. "Danishcharts.com – Basshunter – Boten Anna". Tracklisten.
  11. "Boten Anna [Radio Edit] – Basshunter". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on 23 January 2011. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  12. "Basshunter: Boten Anna" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
  13. "Offiziellecharts.de – Basshunter – Boten Anna". GfK Entertainment Charts.
  14. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 34, 2006" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40
  15. "Dutchcharts.nl – Basshunter – Boten Anna" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  16. "Norwegiancharts.com – Basshunter – Boten Anna". VG-lista.
  17. "Spanishcharts.com – Basshunter – Boten Anna" Canciones Top 50.
  18. "Swedishcharts.com – Basshunter – Boten Anna". Singles Top 100.
  19. "Swisscharts.com – Basshunter – Boten Anna". Swiss Singles Chart.
  20. "Pladebranchen.06 – Download" (PDF) (in Danish). pladebranchen.nu. p. 23. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-10-08. Retrieved 2013-05-24.
  21. "Årslista Singlar - År 2006" (in Swedish). sverigetopplistan.se. Retrieved 2016-05-08.
  22. "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 2006". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 2020-04-09.
  23. "JAAROVERZICHTEN - Single 2006" (in Dutch). dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 2016-05-08.
  24. "JAHRESHITPARADE SINGLES 2007" (in German). austriancharts.at. Retrieved 2016-05-08.
  25. "OFFIZIELLE DEUTSCHE CHARTS" (in German). offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 2016-05-08.
  26. "Austrian single certifications – Basshunter – Boten Anna" (in German). IFPI Austria. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  27. "Guld og platin november / december / januar" [Gold and platinum November / December / January]. IFPI Danmark (in Danish). 19 February 2007. Archived from the original on 30 January 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2014.
  28. "Pladebranchen.06 – Download" (PDF) (in Danish). pladebranchen.nu. p. 25. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-10-08. Retrieved 2013-05-24.
  29. "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 2006" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  30. "Now You're Gone - Basshunter". Ministry of Sound. Archived from the original on 22 December 2007. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
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