Every June, Swedes gather to celebrate Midsummer. Actually, they celebrate Midsummer Eve. It\u2019s a time of singing and dancing and even a bit of drinking. That singing and dancing is quite the traditional part of a Midsummer celebration. As is the drinking, actually, but we\u2019ll focus on the singing and dancing for now, just like Anders Zorn did back in 1897 in this famous Swedish painting.<\/p>\n
Many of the songs that are sung during Midsummer are also sung at Christmas time. Which might seem a bit strange, but both celebrations offer a large green thing to dance around. In June, it\u2019s the Midsummer pole and in December, it\u2019s the Christmas tree. Songs like \u201cSm\u00e5 grodorna,\u201d \u201cR\u00e4ven raskar \u00f6ver isen,\u201d and \u201cVi \u00e4ro musikanter\u201d are popular choices. In fact, we wrote a bit about Sm\u00e5 grodorna a few years ago<\/a>.<\/p>\n This year, we\u2019re going to introduce another Midsummer song. It\u2019s not a new one, by any means, but is a classic song and dance that people around Sweden will be performing and taking part in. The title of the song differs from place to place, but it is commonly known as \u201cS\u00e5 g\u00e5r vi runt om ett enerissn\u00e5r<\/a>\u201d or \u201cDe sm\u00e5 tv\u00e4tterskorna.\u201d Sometimes the enerissn\u00e5r<\/em>, the juniper bush, is replaced by the Midsommarst\u00e5ng<\/em>, the Midsummer pole.<\/p>\n The song involves several laps around the Midsummer pole with several verses. Each verse differs jus a bit and describes some of the household chores that folks are taking care of during their work week. Of course, those household activities offer the dancer a chance to act out the chores, which you can see in the YouTube clip below.<\/p>\n