Feel no sorrow for me Gothenburg Posted by jennie on Jan 5, 2010 in Culture
Happy new year, everyone! I hope it has been a good one so far and that at least some of the new year-phrases have come in handy.
I spent most of the day listening to the Swedish radio station P3 and their “10 timmar av 00-tal” (10 hours of the noughties) where a whole decade of music, books, film, TV and people were summarised. And as always, there was a list. A list of the best Swedish song of the decade. Over 15 000 people voted and I can assure you, there was never really any doubt who was going to be number one. Dear blog readers, I hereby present to you a man who is dividing the Swedish nation into many lovers and a few haters. Håkan Hellström [ˈhoːkan ˈhɛlːˌstrøm]. Almost every Swede has an opinion about this man, be sure about that.
You might even have heard Håkan’s music in other parts of the world, because this 35 year old has made it across some oceans. Weirdly enough, because he sings in Swedish, lyrics mostly about walking the streets of Gothenburg, his love for the Gullberg pier and what it is like to be in love with the ugliest girl in the world. When Håkan released his first single ten years ago, “Känn ingen sorg för mig Göteborg” (Feel no sorrow for me Gothenburg) everyone was amazed, but not only in a good way. He sang out of tune, the lyrics were irritatingly naive and on top of it all, the critics loved him. Who was this boy and why did he get a record deal? But during a ten year period, five albums and tons of hits, Håkan has won most of the Swedes over. Today he is as publically loved (folkkär) as ABBA-Benny and he performs on Saturday night family-TV and national celebrations as well as festivals and clubs.
How did it happen? I’m not sure, I was not convinced from the beginning, but quite quickly I had to surrender to his charm and the mix of happiness, melancholy and pure energy that he presents. In short, Håkan has become pretty irresistible (oemotståndlig). Or, at least I thought so, until I took my British boyfriend to a Håkan gig, a huge one with thousands of screaming and dancing Håkan fans in the audience. He didn’t get it AT ALL, he just looked at me and the crowd with raised eyebrows and mumbled something about “solo-boyband-pop” and “false notes”. And to be fair, when I tried to translate the lyrics, it did not come across as poetry.
“Anna had a friend with a car and we travelled very far. We might even have left Sweden, because this is a new game and I don’t want to be in it” (A friend with a car)
“Anna hade en vän med en bil och vi åkte långt bort vi kanske till och med lämna sverige, för det e nytt ett spel å jag vill inte va med” (En vän med en bil)
“She was lying on the street while the space ships were sending messages through the atmosphere” (This is how I say it)
“Hon låg på gatan medan rymdskeppen sände meddelanden genom atmosfären” (Det är så jag säger det)
But it doesn’t matter. Håkan is Håkan, today we love him unconditionally despite false notes and naive lyrics. In Sweden this man is considered as a genius and an icon. And this has been voted the best Swedish song of the decade:
Can anyone from anywhere else in the world get this, apart from us in the north?
(Click here if you want to hear some of Håkans more recent stuff)
Build vocabulary, practice pronunciation, and more with Transparent Language Online. Available anytime, anywhere, on any device.
Comments:
Brian:
ehh.. couldn’t say I liked that song.
Any other music recommendations? I have had a fun time beginning to learn swedish by translating swedish songs. First swedish songs I heard were some silly Basshunter tunes, but I recently got into Kent and am absolutely loving listening to them. I’ve got a playlist that I listen to constantly. It’s been a huge help with my swedish!
Charlotte:
@Brian, there are so many great Swedish bands! Most of the ones I can think of sing in English, but maybe try Dundertåget, Dungen, or Thåström?
Michael:
De gustibus non est disputandum! (roughly translated: Om tycke och smak bör man ej tvista.)
Letícia:
Oh, I love Håkan. I too wasn’t so sure about him at first, but he really won me over. I really like his energy! I was also amazed to see him singing in perfect Portuguese – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZCKeBEomas (don’t know if he actually speaks the language or just learned the lyrics, but either way it’s impressive).
Unfortunately he’s one of the few Swedish artists that I know that sing in svenska. We have a festival here in Brazil called the Swedish Invasion, so every year several great Swedish artists come over, but as far as I can remember, all of them sing in English. Our local artists get a lot of criticism here when they decide to sing only in English, I wonder what it’s like in Sweden.
jennie:
Oh I have loads of recommendations of Swedish bands singing in Swedish! Here are some, to start with:
Hästpojken http://www.myspace.com/hastpojken
Ingenting http://www.myspace.com/nadazipp
Säkert http://www.myspace.com/sakert
Movits http://www.myspace.com/movits
Alf http://www.myspace.com/alfofsweden
Kent is a fantastic band btw. Happy listening!
@Lecita: Wow, I have not seen that, that is amazing! I know he spent alot of time in Brazil, so I think he acctually speaks the language. Interesting with the festival also, hope you’ll get some more bands singing in Swedish this year. When is the festival?
Most bands sing in English, but it has become more more and more common for bands to sing in Swedish, it almost became trendy a couple of years back, togehter with naming your band something typical Sweidish instead of the Hives or Mando Diao. Also, there’s a strong Swedish hip hop scene with rap in Swedish. This started in the late 90s and has grown very strong since.
Kenia:
oh Kent is a really great band! their music is nice, i just love it. I also think the singer’s speech is pretty clear and understandable.
@Jennie, you’re not suggesting we should “train” our ears with swedish rap, are you? =D
Letícia:
Thank you for the recommendations, Jennie! I’ll have a listen right now.
The festival is usually held in September, but sometimes the producers also promote solo tours for the more popular artists like José González and Jens Lekman on different times of the year.
Carla:
Hejsan! I read a few lists of best Swedish songs of the decade, and I was so surprised that “Sister Surround” by The Soundtrack of Our Lives wasn’t on any of them. It’s one of my favourite party songs!
I got a Taken By Trees record for Christmas, there are a few songs sung in Swedish. I also got a Cornelis Vreeswijk record, he’s fun. There’s also Anna Järvinen, Christopher Sander, Jonathan Johansson, Markus Krunegård…
jennie:
@Kenia: 🙂 An excellent idea! I shall write a post based on Swedish hip hop lyrics a s a p!
If you want to check some out, I recommend http://www.myspace.com/lorentzmsakarias
http://www.myspace.com/isonfille
@Leticia: Oh, I love both Jens Lekman och José Gonzalez, they are both from Göteborg, as well as Håkan! have you heard Timo Räisänen? Check him out if not! http://www.myspace.com/timoraisanen
And while we’re at it, one last: http://www.myspace.com/markuskrunegrd
Brian:
Thanks! I’ll start giving all these bands a listen. I’m a metalhead for the most part, so I know of all the swedish metal bands that sing in english, but as far as non-metal swedish bands go, I’m pretty much clueless. 🙂 I’ll work on fixing that.
This Säkert video is awesome.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZX1GXeE4mg
Inger:
The most idiotic piece of “music” I’ve ever heard! What is happening with Swedish teenagers nowadays? Have they lost all contact with things like culture, good diction, logic, melody and lyrics that are reasonably logical and understandable?
Disappointed pensioner in foreign land.
Letícia:
@jennie, Jens is my absolute favourite. I travelled all the way to São Paulo last June just to see him. The concert was awesome and I got to meet him afterwards. I feel awkward about asking for photos and autographs, so I had never done that before, but he is just so humble and sweet that I just had to. (By the way, that’s what stands out the most for me about all the swedes I have ever met – you all come off as such nice and polite people)
And I wish my city had as many talented artists as Göteborg! Jens, Håkan, José, El Perro del Mar, The Tough Alliance, The Embassy, just to name the few that I know of. And I’m not so sure about “talented”, but I know Ace of Base is from Göteborg too and they were a BIG hit here in the 90s. 🙂
Tack så mycket for even more recommendations!
David:
As far as Swedish rap is concerned, these are also some very popular acts (all Swedish-language):
http://www.myspace.com/Petteronline
http://www.myspace.com/timbuktuonline
http://www.myspace.com/afasifilthy
http://www.myspace.com/maskinenmaskinen
http://www.myspace.com/snookonline
Those who originally brought Swedish-language rap into the mainstream were The Latin Kings, but that group is now disbanded. Their frontman, Dogge Doggelito, has now gone solo: http://www.myspace.com/officialdoggedoggelito
Some of these acts, such as Ison & Fille and Latin Kings, rap in what’s sometimes known as “Rinkeby Swedish” or “Suburb Swedish”, heavily infused with words from immigrant languages. Timbuktu displays the local accent of Lund, while many others are from the Stockholm-Uppsala region.
If you want lyrics, http://www.hiphoptexter.com is often the best place to go. Many videos on Youtube also have lyrics. Here, for instance, is “Logiskt”, one of Petter’s most popular songs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hdv89y3Oke0. The lyrics are also relatively straightforward, compared with much else.
David:
Finally, I couldn’t help but mention Glesbygd’n: they’re a reggae band singing in Arvidsjaur dialect. Hearing 20-somethings using highly archaic forms such as “vi hava” (which started going out of fashion in more standard forms in the 16th century…) to the tune of reggae beats is an interesting experience to say the least…