I have a bit of a soft spot for translated songs and may have posted about this before. However this is a new one. Following the sad death of Leonard Cohen a friend sent me this link which I felt I had to share here. It’s Hallelujah, but sung in Danish and, I think, it’s rather lovely.
Translated Songs Revisted
Enjoyed that. Never heard of him, but Tina Dico/Dickow is a name Iäve heard before. She has collaborated with Zero 7 and her own material sounds promising too.
Here’s the Dutch/Swedish troubadour Cornelis Vreeswijk doing a Swedish rendition of Tim Hardin’s “If I Were a Carpenter” called “Om jag vore arbetslös” (If I were unemployed).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5VKNHcGiD4
I read that as ‘If I Wore Asbestos.”
A free haircut to whoever can be bothered to name the original.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWj2sJJlpkw
Easy! Arrivederci Via del Moro.
Sort of, yes.
I’m very much looking forward to cutting your hair, KFD. Not something I’ve ever tried before. Please bring your own scissors.
Blackbird in Gaelic
Oh I heard this on Ali Smith’s Desert Island Discs! It’s beautiful and Julie Fowlis is ace…
Same here. What a fantastic selection by Ali Smith and this was a real discovery for me
Cheers for the tip.
Just listened to the Ali Smith Desert Island Discs.
Great song selection.
Interesting interview, too.
Italian
I was reminded by a mention on TV tonight that Olle Adolphsson translated “Ode To Billy Joe” into Swedish in the 60s, by the name of “Jon Andreas Visa”; and looking on YouTube I found this quite nice video that someone made for a 90s version sung by Rebecka Thörnqvist to pianist Anders Widmark’s jazzy arrangement:
I’m not a great fan of that song, but this is quite nice actually.