Yes! For a week now, Danish fans of melodi grand prix [meloDEE gramPREE] have been in ecstasy. Lørdag den 18. maj in Malmö, Sweden, Emmelie de Forest won the 2013 Eurovision Song Contest, as it is better known internationally. The girl from Randers in Jylland won the hjerter [YERter] (hearts) of fjernsynsseere (tv-watchers) all across Europa [eoowROHpaa], who voted Emmelie and Denmark ahead of the 25 other participating lande (countries). With bare tæer (bare feet, literally ”bare toes”) and a kjole [KYOLeh] (woman’s dress, gown) made from organic bomuld [BOMul] (cotton), Emmelie entered the scene [SEHneh] (stage) to conquer Europe with her song ”Only Teardrops”:
This is a great sejr [SIE-or] (victory) for dansk musik (Danish music). It is the third time in the history of the konkurrence [kongkooRANGseh] (contest) that Denmark wins. (The newspaper tells me that the first time was in London in 1963, when Grethe and Jørgen Ingemann sung ”Dansevise” [Dance Ballad]. The follow-up was ”Fly On The Wings Of Love” with the Olsen Brothers in Stockholm, 2000.)
When Emmelie arrived in Copenhagen i søndags (this Sunday, the most recent Sunday), people went crazy. Thousands of people fejrede hende (celebrated her) in Tivoli, Copenhagen’s famous amusement park. She had no choice but to give a second performance of her song!
The sad things for Danish-aficionados is, of course … that the song’s in English! To make sure you get your weekly fix of the odd-but-beautiful Danish language, here’s the Danish version of ”Fly On The Wings…”
Both texts, of course, are happy little things about kærlighed (love)! 🙂
But funnily enough, the meaning of the verses varies a lot between the two versions. Let’s look at the most famous part:
English:
Fly on the wings of love
Fly baby fly
Reaching the stars above
Touching the sky
Danish:
Smuk som et stjerneskud
som tiden går
smukkere ser hun ud
år efter år
I think the Danish text har more humor [hooMORe]. 🙂 It approximately means:
Beautiful as a shooting star
as Time passes
she looks more and more beautiful
each and every year
I was born in Denmark, but spent large parts of my childhood and study years in Norway. I later returned to Denmark, where I finished my MA in Scandinavian Studies. Having relatives in Sweden as well, I feel very Scandinavian! I enjoy reading and travelling, and sharing stories with you! You’re always welcome to share your thoughts with me and the other readers.
Comments:
Warren P Devonshire:
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Comments:
Warren P Devonshire:
Hi, I really enjoyed reading your superb post a long standing friend of mine recommended it so I decided I’d take a look, I’m pleased that I did.