La sorte della Coppa è controversa / c’è chi vuol che si vada e viceversa / io sono per no anche se poi /sono sportivo come tutti voi / Ma purtroppo per il tennis / e per la Coppa Davis / un solo guaio c’è / un solo guaio c’è / e si chiama Pinochet. / D’accordo che ci piace l’insalata / e che l’insalatiera è alla portata / ma non mischiamo con faciloneria / la dittatura alla democrazia. / L’incontro Italia-Cile è solo una partita che vincere potremo / se resteremo qua. / Ma che facciamo? Andiamo da quel fascista / e gli diciam “Señor, hasta la vista!” / e poi prendendo in mano la racchetta / dimentichiamo tutto così in fretta./ Non si giocano volée con il boia Pinochet.
The following translation is reproduced from Lyricstranslate, made by “Seppo Ilmarinen”. Though his Kalevala nickname, the translator declares English to be his native language. Nevertheless, I think he has misunderstood a certain number of points in the Danish lyrics (especially tenses), and his “native English” seems to be a bit lame here and there. I confess I don't like that much criticizing other people's translations, but I couldn't help making some corrections in the English. I hope of course not to have added new errors! Anyway, a new English translation should be advisable. [RV]
THE WITCH (Continues)
Contributed by Riccardo Venturi 2018/10/12 - 11:26
Trøllabundin
I am not amazed Eivør Pálsdóttir (“Paul's daughter”) has written and performed a song about Maren Spliid, the best known of all Danish witches: Eivør herself declares here to be a witch or a sorceress, or at least to be spellbound, enchanted and bewitched (trøllabundin) by some wizard. I hope of course she won't be burnt someplace in Tórshavn: it would be too great a loss. Jokes apart, I too am persuaded Eivør is sort of a sorceress or enchantress: she has enchanted me with her voice. Of course, this is a love song Eivør sings in her native Faroese language, and I am pleased to include it in the same page of a song mostly about human hatred and foolishness -things that kings, judges & churches have well fed through the centuries. So, let's all be trøllabundin by Eivør, the best answer we can give to haters and all their gods, stakes and holy torture racks.
Welcome to join the ranks, Ceil Herman. This is not a place where you score points. Instead it's one where you deserve appreciation for contributing to a worthy cause - while remaining devoted to your passion which to me seems to be translating Swedish songs. Keep up the good work. Björn Afzelius is an excellent choice, but there's a lot more to this genre, Jan Hammarlund, Mikael Wiehe, Cornelis Vreeswijk, Roland von Malmborg ...
Juha Rämö 2018/10/11 - 12:50
Thanks for your message Juha! My desire is to translate the legacy of Björn Afzelius into English, while keeping my Swedish in my memory. I last lived there in 1996.
I was happy to see the English translations which are already done on this website, but I still have many more to go. Since I am already 71 (the age Björn would have been if he lived), it feels like a life work for me!
I just added Björn’s ”Juanita,” so have fun translating it to Finnish!
Well, the future of Björn Afzelius songs looks bright to me thanks to people like you Ceil Herman and you Riccardo Venturi. And those songs most certainly deserve all the attention. Take for instance one of the latest contributions titled Född fri (Born Free). What a beautiful story and beautiful text, almost like a prolonged version of Txoria Txorias pointed out by Lorenzo Masetti.
Your work is, quite simply, invaluable. And much more remains to be done (and improved, of course: for instance, I included the first songs by Björn Afzelius in this site in 2005, when it was quite difficult even to find Swedish songs lyrics in sites, pages etc.) And this holds not only för Björn Afzelius, of course: I think that the song heritage of all Nordic countries (Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, the Sami peoples) deserves to be better known around the world for its contents of humanity, richness, beauty and poetic quality, even in its oldest songs. I cannot but thank all those like you, Juha Rämö and Ceil Herman, who are contributing to this difficult task with competence, and love. Tack så mycket från en gammal svensk- och isländsktalande italienare som ännu har i ögonen midnattsolen av sin ungdom.
This powerful tragic song, with lyrics and music by Björn Afzelius, is still a poignant social commentary. Titled "Kungens man" (King's man), it was also performed by Lisa Ekdahl, as well as Monica Tornell and Falconer (En kungens man).
Björn Afzelius wrote the following notes
Jag läste i den gamla Västgötalagen om hur man förr tid betraffades olika, beroende på vilken klass man tillhörde. Lagstiftningen har ändras sedan dess, men inte sättet på vilket dem tillämpas.
I read in the old West Goth law about how you were previously regarded differently, depending on the class you belonged to. The laws have changed since then, but not the way in which they are practiced.
