I'm known for having a poetic touch to my lyrics. In this blog post I am going describe how it began - by reading and listening to the works of two national treasures of Sweden. It influenced my songwriting.
My mom and dad - but most and foremost my dad - had a deep connection with reading poetry and the appreciation thereof, most notably of the pieces by the skald Evert Taube and the poet Dan Andersson. In my parents' library, dad had a book with the complete Evert Taube collection and one with the Best of Dan Andersson. Andersson died in his sleep at a very young age (32) at a hotel in Stockholm, but he had already left a considerable legacy with his melancholy descriptions of life, living, people and knowing there was a Divine power.
The theme both poets had in common was their love for nature, but as Dan Andersson lived and worked in the heart of Sweden, his closeness to the land expressed itself in the fields and forests in his works, while Evert Taube's passion was the sea, the archipelago and sailing, since he lived on the west coast of the country.
Dan Andersson's poetry has had many a singer and songwriter putting melody to his words. A member of ABBA (Bjorn), was part of a band before the ABBA days that recorded and released a Dan Andersson song:
Here's a translation of the first, then the last two verses of "Omkring Tiggarn från Luossa" by Dan Andersson, (courtesy of Ola Wikander):
Round the beggar from Luossa people gathered in a ring, by the campfire they sat and heard his song. And of wayfarers and mendicants and every wondrous thing and of his longing he sang to them all night long.
May the black and salty waters cool the cheeks that burn with fever, let’s be miles away from life before the morning breaks above! Not of this world was I, brother; hardships without end I suffered for the sake of worries, faithlessness and of my burning love.
By a shore all dressed in seashells stands a gate of roses heavy, therein sleep the mouldered shipwrecks, and the tired men find rest. Songs unheard and high there sing like violins in distant echoes under arches where eternal children live forever blessed.
It was my dad's favorite and he asked me to sing it for everyone that came to our house.
I tried to find a good youtube video of one of Evert Taube's songs in English, but I couldn't find one :(
But, one of the songs that my class and I were singing at all summer graduation performances (yes, our school had a show each spring before school let out), was "Änglamarken", which translated into English would be "The Earth of the Angels", saying this earth and this life needs nature and its wonders for to have a place for children to play.
Here is Evert Taube singing himself in a ballad he wrote about a sailor:
When thinking about it, I do believe my song "When I'm Watching Butterflies" has drawn inspiration from both poets .... I did not think about it while writing it though.
There are songs and lines in songs that touch and stir, make my heart sing and my eyes cry. Or simply make me happy. I'll list some of them here, and I will tell you from what songs they are at the bottom of the post. Hey, you can play a game with me and guess from where these lines are taken:
"Hey, I'm not trying to be nobody,
just want a chance to be myself."
"Some are going north and some are going south,
I'm just going to be gone."
"You'll only miss the man that you wanted him to be."
"And I was like a Christmas morning child"
"Then Jesus came like a stranger in the night."
"A hundred years go faster than you think."
"My eyes are not blue, but mine won't leave you."
Interesting how powerful just one line of a song can be ....not to mention a song as a whole along with the melody and the way it's sung ...
No wonder music is such a big part of most of our lives!
I promised to tell, so if you haven't guessed just yet, here are the songs listed in the same order as I posted the lines: "Streets Of Bakersfield", "I'm Just Me", "Shut Up And Drive", "Memoryville" (yes, a song I recorded and that was the line that pulled me in), "I Saw The Light", "Don't Blink" and "I'm Not Lisa".
Now you also know some of my favorite songs to sing and/or to listen to!
A morning routine of mine is to turn the radio on to 650 WSM while I'm having breakfast in the kitchen. One of the songs they played today was "Coward Of The County", which I first heard on the radiop when I was a child over in Sweden. How I viewed it back then, I don't remember, but now I love it because it is so brilliantly written with its storytelling. It also has teachings in it about choices we make and that there always is so much more to a person than what can be assessed by simply one standpoint of theirs. I feel it is a song that encompasses both "Blessed are the meek" (from the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:5) and the more secular "The straw that broke the camel's back".
Sometimes I feel the need to pinch myself in the arm. Especially when I find out that my position on the charts is way up there. Recently I reached the #10 spot on the Reverbnation Americana Chart for Nashville! And I know that you who are reading this are part of my success. Thank you!
The first "taste"of Elvis Presley's music was given to me by my dad. He gave me a Elvis Presley's Golden Records Volume 3 when I was seven. And I remember where I was when mom and dad told me that Elvis Presley had passed away; we were living in Stocka, in an apartment with the address Bergstigen 17C. Picture here below (from Nordanstigs Bostäder's website, thank you):
Our door was the third one. If you want to see the location on Google, here it is
I don't remember what year it was now, but I clearly remember the concert and the venue. It was on a warm, Swedish summer night at the Scandinavian Country Music Festival outside of Gävle on the east coast of Sweden..
The performer was the one and only Billy Joe Shaver. He had an all acoustic line up where even the bass player played an acoustic bass (they were all plugged in, though!). Billy Joe was preaching from the stage. Not the kind of preaching you hear in churches, this was more subtle, but you could still feel it. Yes, he and the band performed "I'm Just An Old Chunk Of Coal (But I'm Gonna Be A Diamond Someday)", "Live Forever" and other hit songs. He spoke about his late son and pleaded in a nice way to everyone in the audience to stay away from trouble. His song about his song brought tears to more eyes than mine. It was a magical night with a sacred feeling. The closest I've been to being in a church without being in a church. It inspired me to write "Eddy's Song (Everybody Needs Someone)" "Eddy's Song (Everybody Needs Someone)" by Kriz Rogers
Here's the one and only Billy Joe Shaver performing at Billy Bob's in Texas::
The guitar that with the owner started the transformation of the guitar as a solely strumming instrument to a lead role - the Gibson L-5.
The songwriter Harlan Howard's typewriter.
"Above And Beyond (The Call Of Love)". It has been on my repertoire since I heard the Rodney Crowell version. It was very interesting to read the original lyrics which differ some from the Crowell cut.
The Princess of modern traditional country music: Ashley Monroe. Her songs have life in them. This is from a show at the CMHOF this past weekend that I enjoyed very much.
Somewhere in between dreamland and awake-land. That's where melodies appear to me. Nothing forceful about it, they are simply there and I hear them. Like "Driving Me Crazy" from Roads. Please don't ask me what I dreamed about before I nearly woke up that time because I don't remember. I rarely do. I guess melodies stick better than dreams do and that's a good thing! :-)
