it's about time i recommended some vreeswijk. after all he's one of my very favourite artsts, and pretty obscure outside scandinavia. it's hard to decide wich song to post, as i guess you'd have to be scandinavian to enjoy the masterful, deceptivly simple lyrics. the best way to describe the man is as kind of a swedish crossbred of serge gainsbourg, tom waits and bob dylan.
this is one of his best-known songs, a qusasi-joyous melancholy number about death and hopelessness.
i once heard someone say something that summed up the power of this guy pretty well: "I don�t understand swedish, however I do understand Cornelis Vreeswijk"
the best place to start if you're interested n an initial taste, is probably the new 2-cd set. if you're like me, youll soon advance to the original lp's and the 5-cd set "master cees memoarer".
lyrics:
Somliga g�r med trasiga skor, s�g vad beror det p�?
Gud fader som i himmelen bor kanske vill ha det s�.
Gud fader som i himmelen bor blundar och sover s�tt. Vem bryr sig om ett par trasiga skor n�r man �r gammal och tr�tt?
Vem bryr sig om hur dagarna g�r? Dom vandrar som dom vill.
Medborgare, om ett hundra �r finns du ej l�ngre till.
D� har n�n annan tagit din stol, det vet du inte av.
Du k�nner varken regn eller sol ner i din m�rka grav.
Vem bryr sig om hur n�tterna far? Jag bryr mig inte ett sp�r. Bara jag f�r ha mitt ansikte kvar dolt i min �lsklings h�r.
Jag �r en tvivelaktig figur, duger ej mycket till. Bakom ett h�rn st�r d�den p� lur, han tar mig n�r han vill.
Somliga g�r med trasiga skor tills dom har slutat g�. Dj�vulen som i helvetet bor f�r sig ett gott skratt d�
a very, very bad and rushed translation of the lyrics,most of the humor and finer points are lost but at least you'll know what's it about:
some walk around in bad shoes, say, why is is it so?
maybe the good lord up in the sky wants it that way.
the good lord up in the sky sleeps calmly now.
who cares about a pair of bad shoes when they are old and tired?
who cares how the days pass? they go the way the want.
fellow citizen, in a hundred years you will no longer exist.
someone else will have taken your chair, but you won't know about that.
you'll feel neither rain nor sun, down in your dark grave.
who cares how the nights pass? i don't care at all.
as long as i get to keep my my face tucked in my love's hair.
i'm a questionable character, not good for much.
behind a corner death lurks, he'll take me whenever he wants.
some walk around in bad shoes/ until hey walk no more
the devil, who lives down in the hell/ will have a good laugh then.
25 Nov 05 ·daniel: Hello, I don�t like your translation of "somliga g�r med trasiga skor", You have changed alot in the lyrics, If you like the song you should work on it and translate it corectly.
Daniel
lee marvin sings! i really like the simplistic string arrangements here, especially in the intro and chorus. lee marvin's unbelievably gruff voice fits the song well. wish he'd done some more musical work, he'd be fun for an even kitchier easy listening album.
"do i know where hell is? hell is in hello.
heaven is goodbye forever, it's time for me to go.
i was born under a wan'drin' star...."
"when i get to heaven, tie me to a tree
or i'll begin to roam and soon you'll know where i will be"
classic kitch.
from paint your wagon ost
08 Nov 04 ·n-jeff: heh, and for the hit single the flip was Clint Eastwoods ultra weedy version of "I talk
to the trees". Great for starting conversations while DJing in clubs.
"Whats this sh***!?"
"Clint Eastwood"
"Really?, No! what?"
heh.
heavy 60's garage... lots of guitars and even some double bass drumming? wicked guitar solo... i seem to like this late very white 60's garage thing. well, i guess we're all human beings.
17 Apr 07 ·artlongjr: This song grew on me, I originally heard about it because it was a cover tune given to the band by Arthur Lee of Love. I have it on one of my many garage compilations, it's one of the best songs on there. Don't ever feel bad about garage band music, I love the stuff and I am black myself. Of course, a lot of garage bands were influenced by black musicians, especially the great Bo Diddley.
this song rocks! i really love it. ella kicks ass on this smokey robinson cover. find it on the mod jazz or right on! comps. along with some other great stuff...
