{"id":9544,"date":"2021-12-03T13:19:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-03T13:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/?p=9544"},"modified":"2021-12-03T13:19:00","modified_gmt":"2021-12-03T13:19:00","slug":"say-skal-swedish-christmas-drinking-songs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/swedish\/say-skal-swedish-christmas-drinking-songs\/","title":{"rendered":"Say sk\u00e5l! Swedish Christmas Drinking Songs"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo by Nicole Michalou from Pexels<\/p><\/div>\n

It\u2019s December – let the holiday festivities begin! Besides celebrating Christmas, Swedes enjoy advent and Lucia. Each holiday comes with a suite of songs that people know by heart. But at the dinner table with family and friends – a proper sk\u00e5l<\/em> craves another type of jovial ballad – the snapsvisa<\/em>. This week, we\u2019ll cover 3 popular drinking songs that you\u2019ll hear at the julbord<\/em>. Plus, Will Ferrel makes an appearance to help you learn Helan g\u00e5r!\u00a0<\/em>
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Swedish Tradition of Snapsvisor<\/em><\/h2>\n

We talked about the festmiddag<\/em> in last week’s<\/a> post, and learned what a classy, but casual Swedish dinner party looks like. Now, let’s equip ourselves with the skills to sk\u00e5l <\/em>(cheers)!<\/em> Snapsvisor <\/em>is the general term for drinking songs. Snaps <\/em>refers to\u00a0a spirit of some kind, and visor<\/em>\u00a0“ballads” or “ditties” comes from the singular noun en<\/em> visa<\/em>.<\/p>\n

During holiday celebrations, guests may enjoy a glass of beer or wine with dinner but tradition will also have each person drinking something a little starkare<\/em> (stronger) from a stemmed shot glass. What are folks drinking? Typically some type of akvavit<\/em> (aquavit), a spirit distilled from potatoes or grain, commonly flavored with carraway, citrus, and dill, among other herbs and spices.
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To help dinner guests get the courage to sing out, many hosts will print a <\/span>s\u00e5ngh\u00e4fte<\/em> (song booklet). Here are some common julsnapsvisor <\/em>(Christmas drinking songs) ones that you’re almost guaranteed to hear during a sing-along.<\/span>
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Helan g\u00e5r<\/b><\/h2>\n

Helan g\u00e5r <\/em>is a great one to kick off a round of singing because helan<\/em> (the whole thing) also refers to the first pour of alcohol at the table. Helan g\u00e5r<\/em> translates to something like “the whole thing goes down.” This one is a popular snapsvisa<\/em> for any occasion. Here are the lyrics:<\/p>\n

<\/span>Helan<\/span> g\u00e5r
\n<\/span>Sjung hopp faderallan lallan lej
\n<\/span>Helan g\u00e5r
\n<\/span>Sjung hopp faderallan lej
\n<\/span>Och den som inte helan tar
\n<\/span>Han heller inte halvan f\u00e5r
\n<\/span>Helan g\u00e5r<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

(Drink)<\/span><\/p>\n

Sjung hopp faderallan lej<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

For the loose translation, see Swedish actor and Tomb Raider star Alicia Vikander and American Will Ferrell (did you know he lives in Sweden) teach Jimmy Fallon this popular song:
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