By DiscoMonster
Jafnan er hálfsögð saga ef einn segir. A tale is but half told when only one person tells it. Nevertheless, this is the saga of how I came to love and remain in the cool lands.
Part 1 - Sex, fun and love:
At the age of 21 I met a girl who looked like the love child of Björk and Little My. She was elfin, feline, irreverent– much like The Sugarcubes’ Cat. She told me her exotic looks were due to her roots the Arctic Circle.
“At midsummer,” she told me, “we have great bonfire festivals of drunken debauchery and go Blah! Blah! Blah!” Next June I found myself at a Midsummer Party, naked and drinking medicinal alcohol with dry-humoured doctors – slurring My Darling YOU!
It was at such a party that I discovered the uninhibited (but still fraught) seeking of sexual pleasure in the Nordic culture was actually a thing – it’s expressed with good humour in the lyrics of Hobo Humpin’ Slobo Babe (and other songs) by Whale.
The doctors deadpanned, “Sex is fun! What else can we do in the winter?”
“But…” I protested, “It’s blazing, 24-hour sunshine and 30C.”
“Why waste the summer!”
And I looked at the bonfire, thought of The Wicker Man and thanked my foresight in losing my virginity before visiting these pagan lands.
In Nordic summer night cities, knowing Barbie Girl and Ken creations wandered down the street going to parties and the heat seemed endless as I swam in the crystal clear Aqua of the Baltic Sea! These people had an outsider’s perspective on the English-speaking culture; they loved it but they parodied it and made fun of themselves for liking it. They knew the tune was a joke and laughed at themselves while dancing to it, it was very meta, very Nordic – the highest of the lowest common denominators!
They were also stylish (well the women were), practical and honest. It showed in their design, architecture, furniture and love affairs – flat love lives are easily packed. Romance dies to synths, a dance beat and tears-in-my-eyes lyrics sung by a strong-willed female beauty with a mastery of the dramatic; With Every Heartbeat by Robyn is a perfect example.
The Nordic female archetype finds its opposite in a strong, silent but sensitive male identity with an open mind and a thirst for knowledge, despite the not quite sex machine voice and daft lyrics. Could it be more Nordic new man than Jimi Tenor trying to be a smooth operator and praising his woman for opening his mind through his nose [Eh!?]. Which is nice because Lykke Li is a Little Bit charmed and with the help of a Loving Hand remix her “legs are apart”.
Part 2 – Nature and tradition, design and technology:
Over time I came to be like the Nordic archetype and these days I don’t care much for Hollow Talk. Instead I like the space in the conversation that says so much, just like the space in the music of the Choir of Young Believers – sparse can be beautiful and that is very Nordic.
Nordic people also seem to appreciate nature more than other cultures, while simultaneously and voraciously embracing technology; chilling at a party in Helsinki in autumn 1999, my Icelandic friend put Svefn-g-englar by Sigur Rós on his superb hi-fi equipment. He let the song unfold and then said: “These boys have spent too long looking at the sea, listening to the gulls.” I said it sounded spiritual and he told me the song was about (re)birth. We thought deep and hard and had another vodka. It was OK to be alone with our thoughts.
And being alone is something I came to appreciate out here. Susanne Sundfør desires a place far from people where she only sees White Foxes. Illo by Ameeba (featuring mattip & pijall) describes the almost sacrosanct respect Finns have for the silence of the sauna and its cleansing, life-giving qualities. The sauna is a world in which you can slow down life. Listen to your own thoughts and reconnect with old Nordic traditions and ancestors. Despite the electronica and rap, the song’s pacing is utterly Nordic, in particular, Finnish.
And the mix of folk tradition and the modern is found in Jan Johansson’s Visa från Utanmyra There’s a love of the technical and a desire to keep it practical and accessible that’s very endearing in the Nordic traditions and you can hear it in the music – bring the folk into the jazz. They care for the folk here – in every sense – and I love that inquisitiveness mixed with a sharing and caring outlook. Of course, that outlook is partly driven by a climate which is bloody hard in winter, meaning you have to plan ahead to live and to have fun.
That climate means you don’t take the world for granted, but live in it and are strong when facing it, while finding pleasure in the small things of the natural world; Vuoi Vuoi Mu by Mari Boine articulates that feeling and does so while adding modern music to her Sami folk traditions.
And these days I find myself exploring the old Nordic traditions more – be they Norse or Finno-Ugric. Lots of musicians weave the old pagan traditions, sagas and runo poetry into their music as Tuonen Tyttö by Kardemimmit does, spicing up the old kantele strings and singing of the Maiden of Death rowing the souls of the dead to the next world. There’s a lovely acceptance of the darkness and sadness of the world up north.
There’s also a sheer obdurate, obsessive bloody-minded, pig-headedness to do one’s own thing, but while (almost) respecting the other. I find it fascinating as it often leads to extreme and unacceptable positions but it also opens up other paths and results in more creativity elsewhere. So let’s raise a glass to death metal, even in the tunes of Make a Change … Kill Yourself you’ll find light, the baroque and assured female voices.
The A-list: Norsing Around
The Sugarcubes - Cat
My Darling YOU! - Midsummer Party
Whale - Hobo Humpin Slobo Babe
Aqua - Barbie Girl
Robyn - With Every Heartbeat
Jimi Tenor - My Mind
Lykke Li - Little Bit (Loving Hand Remix)
Choir of Young Believers - Hollow Talk
Susanne Sundfør - White Foxes
Sigur Rós - Svefn-g-englar
Ameeba - Illo ( feat. mattip & pijall )
Jan Johansson - Visa från Utanmyra
Mari Boine - Vuoi Vuoi Mu
Kardemimmit - Tuonen tyttö
Make A Change... Kill Yourself - Chapter I
The B-list (also known here as the extended A-list):
Sibelius - Finlandia (Turku Philharmonic Orchestra)
Gyllene Tider - Sommartider
The Sugarcubes - Cat
My Darling YOU! - Midsummer Party
The Hives - Hate to Say I Told You So
Whale - Hobo Humpin Slobo Babe
Blues Pills - High Class Woman
Aqua - Barbie Girl
Röyksopp - What Else Is There?
Robyn - With Every Heartbeat
Jimi Tenor - My Mind
Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators - Feeling Free
Lykke Li - Little Bit (Loving Hand Remix)
Choir of Young Believers - Hollow Talk
Sigur Rós - Svefn-g-englar
Ameeba - Illo ( feat. mattip & pijall )
Susanne Sundfør - White Foxes
Agnes Obel - Riverside
Tenhi - Uuvu Oravan Luu
Jan Johansson - Visa från Utanmyra
Mari Boine - Vuoi Vuoi Mu
Pekko Käppi & K:H:H:L - Mun vereni
Kardemimmit - Tuonen tyttöOpeth - Burden Make A Change... Kill Yourself - Chapter I
Guru's (not so serious) wildcard pick:
These playlists were inspired by readers' song nominations from last week's topic: Share: songs from or about Nordic countries. The next topic will launch on Thursday at 1pm UK time.
New to comment? It is quick and easy. You just need to login to Disqus once. All is explained inAbout/FAQs ...
Fancy a turn behind the pumps at The Song Bar? Care to choose a playlist from songs nominated and write something about it? Then feel free to contact The Song Bar here, or try the usual email address.