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CHRISTMAS

Ten Swedish Christmas hits for the festive season

With Christmas just around the corner, why not add a couple of traditional Swedish tunes to your playlist?

Published: 19 December 2016 13:38 CET
Updated: 23 December 2019 21:04 CET
Ten Swedish Christmas hits for the festive season
Here are the tunes that will make you want to dance. Photo: Carolina Romare/imagebank.sweden.se

1. Mer Jul

'Mer jul' (More Christmas) by Adolphson & Falk is a modern classic in Sweden, and it is almost impossible to avoid during Christmas time. If you are a big fan of the holidays, this song will have you humming along, as it is about wanting more Christmas (as if the hype wasn't enough to start with).

2. Tänd ett ljus

Triad's 'Tänd ett ljus' (Light a candle) is a must-have on your Swedish Christmas songs list. It is about hope for the world and the lyrics “light a candle for everything you believe in, for the planet we live on. Light a candle for the children of the world” are well known by Swedes.

3. Jul igen

This song, about being happy that Christmas is back ('jul igen' means 'Christmas again'), is so annoyingly repetitive it is even good — it might even make you bust a move or two. It is perfect to listen to when decorating the tree or doing your Christmas baking.

4. Jul, jul strålande jul

After listening to 'Jul igen' you might want to slow the tempo down a little bit and 'Jul, jul strålande jul' is the perfect song for that. This classic song has been recorded by several Swedish artists, but is actually a cover of a tune by US composer Norman Luboff called 'Wonderful Christmas'.

5. Julen är här

'Julen är här' is about the joy of Christmas and is popular among the Swedes around Christmas. It means: 'Christmas is here and shines a light on Earth'.

6. Hej mitt vinterland

This is what Swedes sound like on the first day of snow. “Hello my winter wonderland, I'm here now,” is the first sentence of this joyful song. It sounds very upbeat, even if you don't speak Swedish.

7. Nu tändas tusen juleljus

This classic Christmas song is about how Earth will light up during Christmas, the message of Jesus and the love of God. It's one of the most popular hymns in a generally very secular Sweden.

8. Jag kommer hem igen till jul

Peter Jöback's 'Jag kommer hem igen till jul' (I will be home for Christmas) reminds us Christmas is about love and not about Christmas gifts. Remember that, you shopaholics out there!

9. När det lider mot jul

'När det lider mot jul' is another about song the joy and expectations surrounding Christmas. This calming melody might suit the end of a stressful day spent making Christmas food or buying gifts.

10. Vår julskinka har rymt

This might not be the most serious song on the list, but it is one of Sweden's favourites. 'Vår julskinka har rymt' translates to “Our Christmas ham has escaped” and that is basically what the song is about. Enough said.

Listen to the spotify playlist here. 

Article written in 2015 by The Local's intern Emma Lidman.

CULTURE

New songs mark sixth anniversary of French star Johnny Hallyday’s death

Fans of the late Johnny Hallyday, "the French Elvis Presley", will be able to commemorate the sixth anniversary of his death with two songs never released before.

Published: 17 November 2023 09:05 CET
New songs mark sixth anniversary of French star Johnny Hallyday's death

Hallyday, blessed with a powerful husky voice and seemingly boundless energy, died in December 2017, aged 74, of lung cancer after a long music and acting career.

After an estimated 110 million records sold during his lifetime – making him one of the world’s best-selling singers -Hallyday’s success has continued unabated beyond his death.

Almost half of his current listeners on Spotify are under the age of 35, according to the streaming service, and a posthumous greatest hits collection of “France’s favourite rock’n’roller”, whose real name was Jean-Philippe Leo
Smet, sold more than half a million copies.

The two new songs, Un cri (A cry) and Grave-moi le coeur (Engrave my heart), are featured on two albums published by different labels which also contain already-known hits in remastered or symphonic versions.

Un cri was written in 2017 by guitarist and producer Maxim Nucci – better known as Yodelice – who worked with Hallyday during the singer’s final years.

At the time Hallyday had just learned that his cancer had returned, and he “felt the need to make music outside the framework of an album,” Yodelice told reporters this week.

Hallyday recorded a demo version of the song, accompanied only by an acoustic blues guitar, but never brought it to full production.

Sensing the fans’ unbroken love for Hallyday, Yodelice decided to finish the job.

He separated the voice track from the guitar which he felt was too tame, and arranged a rockier, full-band accompaniment.

“It felt like I was playing with my buddy,” he said.

The second song, Grave-moi le coeur, is to be published in December under the artistic responsibility of another of the singer’s close collaborators, the arranger Yvan Cassar.

Hallyday recorded the song – a French version of Elvis’s Love Me Tender – with a view to performing it at a 1996 show in Las Vegas.

But in the end he did not play it live, opting instead for the original English-language version, and did not include it in any album.

“This may sound crazy, but the song was on a rehearsal tape that had never been digitalised,” Cassar told AFP.

The new songs are unlikely to be the last of new Hallyday tunes to delight fans, a source with knowledge of his work said. “There’s still a huge mass of recordings out there spanning his whole career,” the source said.

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