Since he got old, Kim Larsen started wearing a ”sixpence” (Danish for ”tweed cap”). But he still makes cheeky comments to the press and smokes just as heavily as he did when he was the young prince of Danish rock & pop… In 2006 he refused to be knighted by Queen Margrethe II, saying he’d rather share a cigarette with her!
On a global scale, that might be Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones. In Denmark, however, the guy most people would associate with an exceptionally large
mund [mawn] is …
Kim Larsen.
Kim Larsen [kim LAH-s’n] is one of the biggest stars in the field of Danish-language pop and rock music. All Danes know his name and most Danes can hum along to his hits from the 1970’s and 1980’s. I’ve found Kim Larsen cd’s even in Icelandic and Norwegian music stores!
Kim Larsen was born to an alenemor (single-mom) in Copenhagen in 1945. He started a career as a skolelærer (school teacher), and wanted to become a forfatter (writer). Then, in 1969 he became forsanger (lead singer) of the group Gasolin’. The group existed for a decade, and was like the ”Danish Rolling Stones”.
After the breakup of Gasolin’, Kim Larsen continued his solo career, with 1980’ies albums such as ”Midt om natten” (In the Middle of the Night) and ”Forklædt som voksen” (Disguised as an Adult). With more than half a million copies sold, ”Midt om natten” is the biggest seller in the history of Danish music.
Today, Kim Larsen is still an active musician, but not that popular among young people, who see him as an ”oldie”…
But you should care, because listening to Kim Larsen is an excellent way to practise your Danish! A few times he uses a couple of outdated words, but in most songs the Danish he uses is as clear and correct as it gets! I used to play Kim Larsen to a group of foreign Danish-language students I was teaching, and they loved it!
Let’s listen to the song ”Midt om natten”. (Thanks, Magnus, for translating it!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9QwqwUk8BM
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Håber vi får i morgen med 🙂