Boten Anna

"Boten Anna" ("Anna the Bot") is a song by Swedish 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
"Welcome to Rainbow"
(2006)		 "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 but later finds out to be 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 it from other loaned pedal boats in the canal. Music video features text-based chat system for instant messaging mIRC.[3]

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Findance.com[4]

Brynjar Mår from FM957 recommended the song and said that "Boten Anna" is a hilarious dance song and has an addictive melody.[5] Tom Jerry Boman in his ranking of summer hits for Mitt i described "Boten Anna" as the most unlikely summer torment of all time but he noted it is both festive and gives nerds a certain amount of fresh feeling.[6]

Chart performance

In August 2006 "Boten Anna" peaked at number one the on Norwegian ringtones chart.[7]

Adaptations

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 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 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.[8] 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.[9]

In 2021 "Boten Anna" was covered by Millennium Project.[10]

"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[11] 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 chart, ending Leon Jackson's three week run with "When You Believe".[12] In the sixth week after the song's release it was knocked off the top by Welsh singer 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
Certifications and sales for "Boten Anna"
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Austria (IFPI Austria)[34] Gold 15,000*
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[35] 3× Platinum 61,000[36]
Finland — 8,044[37]
Sweden (GLF)[38] Platinum 60,000[39]
Summaries
Europe — 500,000[40]

* Sales figures based on certification alone.

Awards
Awards for "Boten Anna"
Award Year Category Result Ref.
Eurodanceweb Award 2006 Best Dance Track of the Year Won [41]
Gaygalan Award 2007 Swedish Song of the Year Nominated [42]
P3 Guld 2007 Song of the Year Nominated [43]
Rockbjörnen 2006 Swedish Song of the Year Nominated [44]
Russ.no Russ Song of the Year Won [45]
Telia 2007 Best Ringtone of the Year Won [46]

See also

References
  1. "Årets landeplage", from NRK, accessed on 21 June 2006 Archived 8 November 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "Boten Anna". Musicnotes. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
  3. Ernie Smith (13 February 2018). "Why Did Slack Win Out Over IRC, Anyway?". Vice. Archived from the original on 7 November 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2022.
  4. Antti Niemelä (24 August 2006). "BassHunter: Boten Anna (Warner Music)". Findance.com (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 16 February 2007. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  5. "Brynjar Mar mælir með". Fréttablaðið (in Icelandic). 15 September 2006. p. 14. Retrieved 7 June 2022 – via Timarit.is. PDF version.
  6. Christoffer Röstlund Jonsson (16 July 2018). "Ingen tycker väl på riktigt att "Hej hej Monica" är en bra låt?" [Nobody really thinks that "Hej hej Monica" is a good song?]. Mitt i (in Swedish). Retrieved 5 June 2022. Select "Visa mer" button.
  7. Magnus Blaker (6 September 2006). "Nerdesang er mest populær" [Nerd song is most popular]. Klikk.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  8. (in Norwegian) , accessed on 24 August 2007
  9. , accessed in Nov. 2013
  10. "Millennium Project julkaisi oman versionsa Basshunter-klassikosta Boten Anna - "Pehmoilu sai nyt jäädä 2000-luvun alkuun"" [Millennium Project released its own version of the Basshunter classic Boten Anna - "Plushing is now allowed to stay in the early 2000s"]. Findance.com (in Finnish). 19 November 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  11. "Sebastian Westwood Discography at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  12. Ministry of Sound - Basshunter, accessed on 4 January 2008
  13. "Basshunter – Boten Anna" (in Dutch). Ultratip.
  14. Basshunter — Boten Anna. TopHit. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  15. "Basshunter – Boten Anna". Tracklisten.
  16. "Boten Anna [Radio Edit] – Basshunter". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Archived from the original on 23 January 2011. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  17. "Basshunter: Boten Anna" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat.
  18. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 34, 2006" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  19. "Basshunter – Boten Anna" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  20. "Basshunter – Boten Anna". VG-lista.
  21. "Basshunter – Boten Anna". Singles Top 100.
  22. "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. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  23. "Basshunter – Boten Anna" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40.
  24. "Basshunter – Boten Anna" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
  25. "Basshunter – Boten Anna" Canciones Top 50.
  26. "Basshunter – Boten Anna". Swiss Singles Chart.
  27. "Pladebranchen.06 – Download" (PDF) (in Danish). pladebranchen.nu. p. 23. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 October 2007. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
  28. "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 2006". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  29. "JAAROVERZICHTEN - Single 2006" (in Dutch). dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  30. "Årslista Singlar, 2006" (in Swedish). sverigetopplistan.se. Retrieved 29 May 2022.
  31. "JAHRESHITPARADE SINGLES 2007" (in German). austriancharts.at. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  32. "European Hot 100 Singles". Billboard. Archived from the original on 13 May 2009. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  33. "OFFIZIELLE DEUTSCHE CHARTS" (in German). offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  34. "Austrian single certifications – Basshunter – Boten Anna" (in German). IFPI Austria. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  35. "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.
  36. "Download". Pladebranchen.nu (PDF) (in Danish). IFPI Danmark. p. 25. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 October 2007. Retrieved 18 June 2022 – via Pladebranchen.nu.
  37. "Myydyimmät levyt 2007" [2007 Top Selling Records]. Musiikkituottajat (in Finnish). Retrieved 17 June 2021.
  38. "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 2006" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 May 2011. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  39. "Jonas skrev nya låtar på turnén" [Jonas wrote new songs on the tour]. Hallandsposten (in Swedish). 1 September 2006. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  40. "Now You're Gone - Basshunter". Ministry of Sound. Archived from the original on 22 December 2007. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
  41. "Award 2006". Eurodanceweb. Archived from the original on 2 April 2014. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  42. "Dags att nominera favoriterna till Gaygalan 2007" [Time to nominate the favorites for the Gaygalan 2007]. QX (in Swedish). 29 November 2006. Retrieved 3 June 2022.
  43. "P3 Guld hyllar veteraner och nykomlingar" [P3 Gold celebrates veterans and newcomers] (in Swedish). Sundsvalls Tidning. 6 December 2006. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  44. Zendry Svärdkrona (4 January 2007). "Här är finalisterna till årets Rockbjörn" [Here are the finalists for this year's Rockbjörn] (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  45. Stian Fjelldal (16 May 2006). "Årets landeplage" [Country Plague of the Year] (in Norwegian). NRK. Archived from the original on 8 November 2006. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  46. "Vinnare övriga priser" [Winners of other awards] (in Swedish). Grammis. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
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