Photo: Sony Music Sweden. “Allt e lättare på sommarn.” Ana Diaz & Parham.

“Everything is easier in the summer.” That’s not just a sentiment that many cold culture folks feel this time of year, it’s also the name of the song that I’d like to highlight for this post. “Allt e lättare på sommaren” was co-written by two standouts in the Swedish music scene – Ana Diaz and Parham. A surrender to the power of summer, this song presents an opportunity for us to dig a little deeper into the culture that influenced it.

First, let’s meet the creators of the song!

An incredible songwriter and producer, Ana Diaz is an artist with a diverse background. Her mother was born in Finland and father is Venezuelan. Spending time working in the music industry abroad in the U.S. and U.K., she penned songs for pop royalty the likes of Britney Spears, One Direction, David Guetta, Jennifer Lopez, and on the Swedish side, Oskar Linnros, Petter, Zara Larsson, Kleerup, and Loreen… that’s quite the line-up, eh? She is one of my ABSOLUT favorites, and just released Tröst och vatten this summer. Bästis is my favorite track there! 

Swedish-Iranian Parham grew up in Göteborg and co-wrote and composed the song. His debut album Pojk came out in 2014, and won Parham “Årets hiphop / Hiphop Artist of the Year” and  “Årets genombrott / Breakthrough Artist” in 2015. He is stellar storyteller and shares a good amount of auto-biographical content in his music.

Why is “Allt e lättare på sommarn” a good snapshot of modern Swedish music?

It’s multicultural.
Swedes have lives and connections that stretch far beyond the Swedish borders. Aside from Swedish lyrics, you’ll also hear English, and Spanish in this song; an expression of three identities that Ana Diaz holds close. Incorporating 2 or 3, even 4 languages is a common way for Swedes to celebrate their backstories.

It’s original.

Some of the best composers, producers, and songwriters have been coming out of Sweden for years. For more on why that is, be sure to check out this post I wrote a while back 🙂 In this track, we’ve got a latin-style horn section, mixed with the popular auto-tune in Parham’s rap, English, Spanish, Swedish, ja, I’d say that’s one of a kind. 

It’s seasonal

It’s no secret that Swedes struggle with the ratio of dark and cold winter to sunny summer. Ana Diaz herself is open about struggling with depression, especially during dark months, which makes the summer revelry in this song all the more poignant.

Let’s break down a couple of lines from the song and then we’ll listen to it! 

• Det är som                                       It’s like, it’s as if 

  Allt är lättare på sommaren, det är som att allt rinner av mig
  Everything is easier in the summer, it’s like everything rolls off me. 

• Ju mer … ju mindre                       The more…. The less… 

  Ju mer ni ber mig ju mindre vill jag bete mig,
  The more you ask me the less I want to behave 

• om du känner för det                      if you’re up for it / if you’re feeling it
  Vi kan ta en flight nu om du känner för det. 
  We can take a flight now of you’re up for it.

Here is some of that English, Swedish, and Spanish mix I mentioned earlier. We’ve got the English word for “dodge” turned into a Swedish verb → dodga, and then Spanish matador, and mi corazón.

• Dodga döden som en matador     Dodge death like a matador 
• Tiden är våran, mi corazón           Time is ours my love 
• Last – the chorus is a few simple lines in Spanish. So get working on that second (or maybe third) foreign language! 

Okej, lyssna nu!