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Tim Bergling was never satisfied. Even when he had a global smash on his hands, he’d go back into the studio and tear it apart just to see if it could breathe differently. That’s exactly what happened with You Make Me Avicii by Avicii.
You know the original. It’s that high-energy, piano-driven anthem from his debut studio album, True, featuring the soulful vocals of Salem Al Fakir. It hit the top of the charts in 2013 and became a staple of every festival set from Tomorrowland to Ultra. But the "Avicii by Avicii" version? That’s something else entirely. It’s part of a full-album project where Tim remixed his own work, essentially competing with his past self to prove that dance music didn't have to follow a single template.
The Story Behind the Avicii by Avicii Concept
Most artists release a remix package where they hire five other DJs to flip their tracks. Tim didn't want that. He was obsessed with the idea that True was a fusion of acoustic instruments and electronic beats, but he also missed the raw, gritty energy of the "Levels" era.
So, he did something kind of crazy.
He took the entire True album and remixed every single track himself. The project was titled True (Avicii by Avicii). When you listen to You Make Me Avicii by Avicii, you aren't just hearing a club edit; you're hearing an artist reinterpreting his own creative DNA. He took the upbeat, almost pop-rock energy of the original and stripped it back into a darker, more rhythmic house groove. It’s less about the radio-friendly melody and more about the late-night dance floor.
It was a bold move. Honestly, at the time, people were confused. Why remix your own album just months after it came out? For Tim, it was about showing the versatility of the compositions. He proved that a good song is a good song, whether it’s played on a banjo or a dirty sawtooth synth.
Breaking Down the Sonic Differences
The original "You Make Me" is famous for that staccato piano riff. It’s bright. It’s bouncy. It feels like a summer morning.
In contrast, You Make Me Avicii by Avicii feels like 3:00 AM in an underground club in Ibiza. The piano is still there, but it's processed differently. The drums are heavier. The structure is elongated to allow for a more traditional progressive house build-up. If the original was for the radio, this version was for the purists.
Salem Al Fakir’s vocals are chopped and looped in a way that feels more like an instrument than a lead performance. This is a classic Bergling trope. He didn't treat vocalists as "stars" in the mix; he treated them as textures. By the time the drop hits in the remix, you realize he’s swapped the melodic hook for a rhythmic one. It’s aggressive. It’s driving. It’s arguably more "EDM" than the folk-inspired original.
Why Fans Still Debate the Two Versions
Music is subjective, obviously. But in the Avicii fandom, the "Avicii by Avicii" project is often cited as his peak technical work.
Some people hate it. They think it strips away the "soul" of the acoustic elements that made True a groundbreaking album. Others—mostly the old-school fans who followed him since the "Bromance" days—think it was a return to form. They see You Make Me Avicii by Avicii as a reminder that Tim was, at his heart, a master of the 4/4 beat.
The interesting thing is how the remix manages to keep the emotional "lift" of the original while changing the entire vibe. You still get that feeling of euphoria, but it’s a more mechanical, synthetic euphoria. It’s less about the lyrics and more about the way the frequency cuts through a massive sound system.
- The original version: 125 BPM, focus on piano and lyrics.
- The "Avicii by Avicii" version: Focused on the "drop" and rhythmic complexity.
- The impact: It allowed Tim to play his "pop" songs in "underground" sets without losing his credibility.
The Technical Genius of the Remix
If you’ve ever opened a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) like FL Studio—which Tim famously used—you know how hard it is to make a remix that doesn't just sound like a "worse version" of the original.
In You Make Me Avicii by Avicii, the side-chaining is more pronounced. The kick drum has more weight in the low-mid frequencies. He used a lot of layering on the synths to create a wall of sound that the original purposely avoided. It’s a masterclass in production. He wasn't just adding a beat under the song; he was re-architecting the frequency spectrum.
He also played with the "swing" of the notes. The original has a very straight, pop-quantized feel. The remix has a bit more of that "shuffle" that defined early 2010s Swedish house music. It’s subtle, but if you’re a producer, you hear it immediately. It’s the difference between a song that’s meant for singing along in a car and a song that’s meant to move a crowd of 50,000 people.
Impact on the EDM Landscape
When True (Avicii by Avicii) dropped in early 2014, it set a precedent. Before this, "remix albums" were usually just a collection of various artists. By doing it himself, Bergling showed that an "album" isn't a static piece of art. It’s a living thing.
You Make Me Avicii by Avicii specifically showed that you could take a track that was essentially a pop song and turn it back into a club weapon. This influenced a lot of other producers to start releasing "VIP" (Variation In Production) mixes or "Club Mixes" of their own radio hits. He basically bridged the gap between the Mainstage and the DJ booth.
How to Experience the Track Today
To really appreciate You Make Me Avicii by Avicii, you have to listen to it in context. Don't just play it on your phone speakers.
Put on a pair of high-quality headphones or, better yet, crank it up on a system with a decent subwoofer. The way the bass interacts with the lead synth in the second half of the track is where the magic happens. It’s a testament to Tim’s ear for melody—even when he’s trying to be "darker" and "clubbier," his sense of harmony is still perfect.
It’s also worth watching his live sets from 2014 and 2015. He would often mash the two versions of "You Make Me" together, using the vocal intro of the original to get the crowd singing, then slamming into the drop of the "Avicii by Avicii" remix to catch everyone off guard. It was a high-energy bait-and-switch that worked every single time.
The Legacy of the "Avicii by Avicii" Series
Tim’s passing in 2018 changed how we hear all of his music. Every track feels a bit more heavy, a bit more significant.
But You Make Me Avicii by Avicii stands out because it represents a moment where he was having fun with his own success. He was playing with his own creation. It wasn't about the pressure of a "new hit." It was about the joy of production.
There are very few artists who can successfully remix their own work and have the remix be considered just as good (or better) than the original. Tim Bergling was one of them. This track is the proof. It’s a snapshot of a genius at the height of his powers, refusing to be pigeonholed into "just" being a pop-star DJ.
Actionable Steps for Music Lovers and Creators
If you want to dive deeper into this specific sound or learn from Tim’s approach to this remix, here is what you should do next:
1. Compare the Waveforms Listen to the original "You Make Me" and the "Avicii by Avicii" version back-to-back. Notice the "energy" levels. The original is a steady plateau of energy, while the remix is built on tension and release. For aspiring producers, this is the best way to understand "arrangement" for different environments.
2. Explore the Rest of the Album Don't stop at "You Make Me." The "Avicii by Avicii" versions of "Wake Me Up" and "Hey Brother" are equally fascinating. "Wake Me Up" in particular becomes a massive, rolling progressive house track that sounds nothing like the folk-country hit you hear at weddings.
3. Study the "Leads" If you’re a producer, try to recreate the lead synth from You Make Me Avicii by Avicii. It involves heavy use of detuned sawtooth waves and specific compression settings to get that "pumping" feel. Analyzing his presets (many of which were from Nexus or Sylenth1) is a rite of passage for electronic musicians.
4. Check Out the Official Music Video The visualizer for the "Avicii by Avicii" project used a unique aesthetic that matched the "reconstructed" nature of the music. It’s a great example of cohesive branding between sound and sight.
5. Listen to the Live Mashups Search for his 2014 Ultra Music Festival set. You’ll hear exactly how he transitioned between these different versions of his songs. It’s a lesson in how to read a crowd and how to use your own discography to build a narrative during a live performance.
Tim Bergling left us with a massive catalog, but these self-remixes are perhaps the most honest look into his mind as a producer. He wasn't just making hits; he was solving musical puzzles. You Make Me Avicii by Avicii is a puzzle he solved perfectly.
