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Trubbel Monica Zetterlund/Olle Adolphson Posted by on Dec 28, 2010 in Swedish Language, Vocabulary

 

Nu lyser ängarna av sommarns alla blommor. ( The meadows are lit with all the summer flowers now.)
Nu surrar bin, och fåglar sjunger överallt. ( Bees are buzzing and birds singing everywhere now.)
Nu stryker vinden genom trädens höga kronor (The wind is stroking through the high crowns of the trees)
men i min trädgård är det visset, mörkt och kallt. (but in my garden it is withered, dark and cold.)
Här är det snårigt och förvuxet, fult och risigt (Here it is jungly and overgrown, ugly and tombled down)
och lika hopplöst grått och trist som i mitt bröst. (and just as hopelessly grey and gloomy as in my cheast.)
Därute lyser det av sommarns alla blommor. (It is shining of all the summer flowers out there.)
Där är det sommar, men här inne är det höst. (There it is summer, but here inside it is autumn.)

Jag levde lycklig här med dig och mina katter (I lived happily here with you and my cats)
ett liv i synd och utan omsorg att bli frälst. (a life of sin and not caring to be saved)
Försonad med min karaktär, för jag har aldrig (reconciled with my charachter, because I have never)
förmått att säga nej till någonting som helst. ( been able to say no)
Och inte nekat mig det ena eller andra, (and never denied either this or that)
och levat livet, tills jag krossades en dag. (and lived my life until I have been crushed one day)
Det börja med att du bedrog mig med en annan, (It started with that you betrayed me with an other)
en som du sa var mycket finare än jag. (with someone that you said was much prettier than me.)

Vårt gräl tog veckor, ropen blandades med gråten (Our battle took weeks, the shoutings were mingled with tears)
och jag blev grundligt jämförd med din fina vän ( and I was thoroughly compared with your pretty friend)
Tills du bekände att hon givit dig på boten ( until you confessed you were left)
Då blev det dödstyst här i trädgården igen! (Then there was dead silence here in the garden again!)
Ifrån den stunden var den kvinnan dubbelt hatad (From that moment that woman was hated twofold)
Hon hade lekt med dig, med oss ett litet slag (She had played with you, us a little while)
Och tänkt! jag kände det som även jag var ratad (And think! that I felt rejected as well)
Jag ville slåss, och gick mot mitt livs nederlag ( I wanted to fight and I walked towards the defeat of my life)

Jag kom med hammaren beredd under min kappa ( I came prepared with the hammer under my coat)�
När hon kom ut i sidenscarf och sa: God dag! (When she came out in a silk scarf and said: Hello!)
Kom in och slå dig ner en stund så får vi prata! (Come and take a seat for a second we can talk!)
Jag bara stammade, nu minns jag inte vad… (I was just stammering, but I can´t remember what…)
Och jag blev bjuden på likör och cigarriller ( and I was offered liquere and cigarillos)

och kunde inte få mig till att säga nej! (and I couldn´t force myself to say no!)
Och när vi skiljdes var vi bästisar och bundis (and when we parted we were best friends and buddies)
och jag tog saker som du glömt med hem till dig! (and I took things you forgot home to you!)

Jag går omkring i mitt Pompej, i bland ruiner (I am walking around in my Pompei, among ruins)
och jag traskar runt i resterna utav vårt liv (and trampling around on the remains of our life)
Men du skall aldrig ge mig pikar om sekiner (but you shall never taunt my poverty)
och aldrig bliva en annans tidsfördriv! (and you shall never become someone else´s leisure)
Nej, åt det gamla skall vi binda vackra kransar (No, we should bind beautiful wreaths of the past)
och ta vårt liv och mina katter som de är. (and take our lives and my cats as they are.)
För trots all kärleksbrist och trasighet och fransar (cause´despite all the lack of love and brokeness and fringes)
Dig skall jag älska livet ut, dig har jag kär! (I will love you til the end of life, I keep you dear!)

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Comments:

  1. George:

    trying to translate swedish songs i like is always a time wasting effort…even if it’s not my kind of music it’s really helpful and nice! and as a song probably quite classic for Swedes(so a great way to learn the culture as well)
    thank u for your blog !! great way to learn 🙂

  2. Tibor:

    Hi,

    of course it is..but this is a famous piece of Swedish culture so I thought it might be interesting for the fans of Swedish culture. It is hard to pick right songs with interesting and fun expressions.

  3. Karen:

    I appreciate you posting this song because she is singing slowly enough to be able to hear all the words. So often when I hear Swedish, the people are talking way too fast to catch all the words. I like the style of this song too, and the story certainly is universal to every culture and language. Thanks!

  4. Kenia:

    I agree with Karen, it’s such a slow and clear swedish that i had to google her to see if she was not an immigrant =)

  5. Tibor:

    Ha ha. This was funny. I should not read my messages at Macba..LOL

  6. David:

    Thank you for posting this! I actually prefer the original version by Olle Adolphson, but that’s not available on Youtube. (If you have Spotify, it’s here: http://open.spotify.com/track/047lLHbDSRCGuBaOsCixTh). The lyrics in Zetterlund’s version have been changed a bit to reflect the fact that it’s a woman singing, not a man. (In the 1950s, for instance, men drank cognac while women had liqueur.)

    While Sweden has produced many world-famous acts singing in English, those that are really popular at home and which everyone knows by heart are the Swedish-language ones, like this one…)

  7. Tibor:

    Thanks David! I agree that the original version is better…I am not really sure whether she got confused about the lyrics during the performance though. I agree…when I was looking for a good song I was thinking “no way that I am posting Sommaren är kort” although everyone knows that by heart..