Some pre-second half of 19th century non-classical traditional Swedish music

Local church in Bredsättra, a village where I spent all my summers until very recently. Just thought it looked oldschool enough for the subject matter...

The title may seem like just an odd way of saying ‘Swedish folk’ , but where to draw the line between traditional folk of and other types of oldie music such as church songs and material in old lower-class entertainment performances aimed towards a wide audience, is often very blurry. When it comes to musical inspiration, songs from these various contexts were largely interconnected to each other, shamelessly stealing/’borrowing’ from each other all the time. So for the purposes of this blog entry and its imaginary reader’s entertainment, it’d be very unnecessary limiting it to just pure folk tunes. Also, that they (estimately) need to be at least from the mid-19th century is to avoid romanticist attempts to ’’recreate the sound of the past’’ which was very popular the later half of the century, and instead focus on the genuine material nostalgic aristocrats were crying and masturbating each other about later on.

Have a listen

Till Österland Vill Jag Fara
(To The Land In The East I Will Fare)

Rather moody all-male vocal church choir song which I couldn’t find a studio recording of, so it’s just recorded from a regular church performance. It’s about traveling to the holy land/Israel before death arrives. The song has nine verses, but only two of them are preformed here. The melody is taken from a church song titled På Dig o Herre Kära found in a psalm book from 1695. The lyrics can interestingly enough be traced back to text fragments by a regular sailor named Anders Flöija from the mid 1700’s.

To the land in the east I will fare
where my beloved lives
To the land in the east I will fare
where my beloved lives
Over mountains and deep valleys
beneath a green linden tree
Over mountains and deep valleys
beneath a green linden tree

I will build us a cottage
where the ground is always green
I will build us a cottage
where the ground is always green
Where the trees are full of blossoms
of blossoms that smell sweetly
Where the tress are full of blossoms
of blossoms that smell sweetly

När Som Jag Var På Mitt Artonde År
(When I Was On My Eighteenth Year)

Slow-paced, somewhat eerie vocal-only folk song from the perspective (and here preformed by) a young woman remembering a love interest who cheated on her, but who she still loves and longs for. Much of the songs charm unfortunately gets lost in translation and not only in the usual sense with pacing and rhymes getting all screwed up, but because it relies heavily on poetical wordplay and grammar-twisting in very old fashioned Swedish.

There isn’t much information available on the internet about this one, but it’s featured in a book from 1907 among other authorless traditional Swedish folksongs. To able to establish such status, a qualified guess is that it’s at the very least from the mid 1800’s. My first thought when hearing this was that it was probably a romantic early 1900’s/ late 1800’s composition dreaming of an ancient Scandinavian musical tradition, but seeing there is no author to be found, it might just have it’s origins in that really, really old reality.

When I was on my eighteenth year
There was beautiful boy who fell out in my yard
I thought of owning it forever
But this my thought soon disappeared
There was another girl who got laid down in his arms
He compares it with a blooming flower
Though I’ve held father and mother in high love
And sisters and friends who’ve loved me here
This love goes beyond it all
Thanks for having been my only comfort
And thanks for all the moments I’ve rested on your chest
In heaven we shall again be united

Ack Värmeland Du Sköna
(O Värmeland You Beautiful)

Dramatic song number about a Swedish province whose lyrics is originally written for a 1822 sångspel, which was a theatrical musical act of significally lower budget than opera aimed towards a broad mass, often relying on traditional melodies rather than originally written material. You know the score with these types of songs: Just change the area to any other with a decent nature and it works just as well. Actually, that’s the foundation of this very song: Pretty much the same lyrics and melody was used earler for a folk song about Swedish province Östra Götaland, which in its turn is suspiciously similar to dutch 1500’s folk song O, Nederland! Let op u saeck. Nevertheless Ack Värmeland remains the most polished and proudest version of the tune both lyrically and melodically, and the performance by one of the most skilled operatic tenors of all time Jussi Björling (1911 –1960) posted here is the strongest version of the song recorded.

O Väremland, you beautiful, you magnificent land
You crown jewel among Sweden's provinces
And if ever I should reach the Promised Land
I would still return to my beloved Värmland

For there I want to live, there I want to die
If one day I take me a bride from Värmland
I know it's something I shall never regret.

If one day I take me a bride from Värmland
I know it's something I shall never regret.

In Värmeland – yes, there I want to settle down and live
With the simplest joy to be satisfied with
It’s valleys and forests gives me the calm of silence
And the air is fresh on it’s heights

And the streams sings their lovely song
By it I want to fall asleep so calmly sometime
And rest in Värmlands soil.

By it I want to fall asleep so calmly sometime
And rest in Värmlands soil.

Meeting us halfway

A while ago now (which is a surprise, considering our similarly faltering lifestyles), Simon and I were discussing the essence of experimental music, or something like that. Now, while i've always been fascinated by experimentation as an idea, I think we both safely came to one conclusion: in this climate of music, it's just all too easy to get bored. This could be chalked down to a number of reasons, because as of late 'experimental' has meant music that drones, repeats and, most annoyingly of all, moves ever-forward to a climax that never comes.

So while this pure experimentation may just get old (i've worn my copy of Boris' Flood to dust), these two bloggers (actually just me) present the stuff that wavers somewhere inbetween -- that is, the stuff that doesn't quite know whether to be pop music or 'experimental' music, but it's hard to care either way. To conclude, INDIE STUFF I LIKE.

Wilco - Misunderstood (1996)

Jeff Tweedy's country children are probably the most unlikely band to even associate with the bunch of words I just used, but early on in their career came what is probably their weirdest song. While the live version eclipses Tweedy's probable insanity slightly less, what originally was put onto their opus Being There is odd enough; a folksy, country ballad beginningg with a minute of noisy drum kit destruction, a lyrical verse stretching the next three, all finished off by a collaboration of the two layered under Tweedy's loud outburst. It's the kind of track that repeats itself just long enough to repeat itself some more - the verse is repetitive, the chorus is repetitive - but much like all the greats (Lou Reed, Mark Kozelek, those guys), the lyrics go ever-changed through and through for a good six extended minutes.

The Velvet Underground - Heroin (1967)

Like all good songs about drugs, the aforementioned Lou Reed wrote one much like a trainwreck to the listener: it's so horribly frightening, but impossible to turn from. One verse, over and over and over again, but for whatever lyrical twist and turn, Reed always returns to the same lyrical focus (I guess that I just don't know). Most of you have probably heard it though.

The Flaming Lips - Riding To Work In The Year 2025 (Your Invisible Now) (1997)

With Zaireeka, Wayne Coyne and co. wrote the biggest musical oxymoron I have ever heard. The whole philosophy of the 4-disc album is to have each playing in sync at whatever blend you want, allowing the listener to meddle with their settings and create a mix however loud or noisy they want. But stripping it down to one disc, half the fun's gone; "Riding To Work In The Year 2025 (Your Invisible Now)" was mind-bending when I finally got the discs up and running, with bass blasting from one side of the room and the synth apocalypse from elsewhere. Still, it'll give you the idea - Flaming Lips' typical pantomime sound gone one further.

Sufjan Stevens - You Are The Blood (2009)

This track is done for a 4OD project headed by frontman of The National, in charity against AIDs. So, good causes aside, this may be the biggest stretch in Stevens' career thus far, with a ten minute track extracting any sound either mechanical or classical. It's his most brooding and scary song, but where his longer tracks on Michigan such as "Vito's Ordination Song" would build and build and build, he sort of just plummets into nothingness for a good minute and reprises the entire song for the rest of the proceeds. Excellent piano playing and all that, shame it disconnects the song's segments. Still, Stevens is stil

The Ascent Of Everest - If I Could Move Mountains (2008)

A piece so in tribute to Efrim Manuck's Godspeed You! Black Emperor that I actually googled "Storm" in search of album artwork. Segmented into three parts (Storm is in five, but no way near as engaging), the track has a lot going for it, speedy guitar with even more impressive slow and steady interludes. With this track, The Ascent Of Everest disguise themselves with a lot of pretentious tendencies no one will actually care about.

Sun City Girls - Esoterica Of Abyssynia (1990)

Sun City Girls are kings of probably the most colossal discography I ever have witnessed, and this album marks their most well known release in the foray of world music et al. And this is a personal favourite.

only six tracks
ENJOY

Almost as underrated pop masterpieces from the psychedelic era

Thought there was enough material to make another entry on the subject, after this I'll go on with other stuff.

Songlist:
The Marmalade – I See The Rain (1967)
Timebox - Gone Is The Sad Man (1968)
The Fox – Mr. Carpenter (1968)
Ramases And Selket – Mind’s Eye (1968)
Gentle soul – See My love (Song For Greg) (1968)
Listen to them here

The Marmalade – I See The Rain (1967)

I See The Rain is The Marmalades flagship song which managed to become a hit in Holland, but not really anywhere else. Hendrix was apparently a big fan of this one, which isn't very strange considering the unusually heavy guitar tuning for it’s time, sounding more like something out of a grunge song. However it only serves to create a warm, comfortable sound together with the songs light hearted melancholy and slower-side-of-mid-pace.

Timebox - Gone Is The Sad Man (1968)

This blog has already a great summary. Might as well just quote:

‘Gone Is the Sad Man’ appeared as the b-side to ‘Girl Don’t Make Me Wait’ in 1968. ‘Gone is the Sad Man’, co written by Patto and Halsall is just about a perfect example of UK psyche. It balances a dreamy texture (Halsall’s vibes help this a lot) with a biting guitar lead, a classic melody and vocal harmonies with enough phasing for the heads in the room. The influence of the Beatles is strong (as it was in probably 80% of all pop records in 1968). The tune manages to be sunny without resorting to treacle and psychedelic without wearing its “far-out-ness” on its sleeve.

The Fox - Mr. Carpenter (1968)

Bouncy, up-and-go rock song which insanely catchy (or annoying, you decide) riffing will probably cause a sleepless night or two. It really is up there with I Can’t Get No Satisfaction and Rebel Rebel, only much more enjoyable since it hasn’t been overplayed to dirt.

Ramases And Selket – Mind’s Eye (1968)

Psychedelic love song with cinematic, eastern-exoticism instrumentation and a wonderfully hypnotic romantic violin riff. The instrumental track is pretty sharply contrasted by an echoing, not-all-too-skilled vocal performance by mentally unstable Martin Raphael (he started to go under the name Ramases after a revelation about him being the reincarnation of the Egyptian pharaoh) with probably sincere yet laughable lyrics ("we found ourself in outer space, to propagate the human race, there was another planet there, we lived alone with time to spare"), but these quirks doesn’t ruin the romantic side of the song and rather just add a "far out" feel to it’s wholeness. The "In my mind’s eye, mind’s eye, mind’s eye… In my mind’s eye" chorus is at least as snappy as the epic violin riff.

Gentle soul – See My love (Song For Greg) (1968)

Gentle soul was a one-album folk rock duo with psychedelic elements lead by Pamela Polland and Rick Stanley, who both sung and wrote most material as a duo. Interestingly enough this one track written and sung by Polland alone is the definite the standout, perhaps because of the artistic and egmotional lack of restraint working alone offers. See My Love is a soft folk tribute her husband and is a very skillful marriage between lyrics, melody and sound. At the center of it all is Pollans beautifully airy, somehow fragile and strong voice, harmonized by harp, piano, guitar among other instruments to create a flowing, dreamy atmosphere, with the lyrics mostly dealing with how aesthetic and mystical her husband is… Remember, this was when the "free spirited poet" still was hot shit.

P.S Think of a guy you really like while listening ;'D