Min soldat

Last updated

"Min soldat" (English: "My Soldier") is a Swedish song written by Nils Perne (Jokern). It was recorded by Ulla Billquist in 1940 and became one of the most popular Swedish songs during World War II.

Contents

Carroll Loveday wrote new English lyrics for the song, which became "The Shrine of St. Cecilia". It was recorded by numerous artists.

Origins

The song was written for and first performed by Naemi Briese in Gosta Jonsson’s revue Det kommer en vår at the Folkan theatre in Stockholm. In the song, a woman is thinking of her fiance who is a soldier "somewhere in Sweden" ("någonstans i Sverige"). She recalls how fashionable he was in comparison to the photograph of him in an ill-fitting uniform. He has told her that they cannot afford to get married this year, and when he arrived yesterday on leave and took her to a dance, he was so tired that he fell asleep at the table. She says she does not mind because he is her "soldier somewhere in Sweden".

Hans skor är för stora och hans mössa för trång
hans byxor för smala och hans rock är för lång
men det gör detsamma för han är min soldat
någonstans i Sverige

Translated to English:

His shoes are too large and his cap too tight
his pants too small and his coat is too long
but it does not matter for he is my soldier
somewhere in Sweden

Ulla Billquist version

"Min soldat"
Single by Ulla Billquist
Released1940
Recorded8 May 1940
Genre Schlager
Length3:16
Label Sonora
Songwriter(s) Nils Perne (Jokern)

Ulla Billquist recorded the song for Swedish record company Sonora on 8 May 1940. The recording was Billquist's first for Sonora after she was lured from Sonora's competitor Columbia for a monthly salary of US$700. [1] Sven Arefeldt was the arranger and led the orchestra. The song became Billquist's most popular recording in Sweden.

Several recordings was made with other female singers for other record companies. Among them were Karin Juel and Siv Ericks. [2]

Revival

The song was revived again in 1973 when the author Jan Olof Olsson ("Jolo") used a line from the song as title for his TV-series Någonstans i Sverige about World War II. Billquist's recording was used as theme song.

Other versions

Related Research Articles

Bob Hund Swedish rock band

bob hund is an indie rock band from Sweden. Their music, hard to classify, has been described as "what you might expect if you managed to merge Pere Ubu and Pixies with a touch of Kraftwerk". bob hund have performed mostly in Scandinavia as well as in Poland and England. Some of their performances include Roskilde, Hultsfred, Ruisrock and Quart music festivals.

Lill-Babs

Barbro Margareta Svensson, known by her stage name Lill-Babs, was a Swedish singer, actress and television host. From the early 1950s until her death in 2018, she was one of Sweden's best-known and popular singers. She represented Sweden in the 1961 Eurovision Song Contest in Cannes with the song "April, april". She was also well known for the song "Är du kär i mej ännu Klas-Göran?".

Mikael Wiehe Musical artist

Mikael Christian Wiehe is a Swedish singer, multi-instrumentalist and composer. As the main songwriter and driving force of Hoola Bandoola Band he was also one of the most important people in the progg movement.

Grammis Swedish music award

The Grammis are music awards presented annually to musicians and songwriters in Sweden. The oldest Swedish music awards, they were instituted as a local equivalent of the Grammy Awards given in the United States. The awards ceremony is generally held each year in February in Stockholm. The awards were established in 1969 and awarded until 1972 when they were cancelled, then revived in 1987.

Nanne Grönvall Musical artist

Marianne Elisabeth Grönwall, known by her stage name Nanne, is a Swedish singer-songwriter, radio hostess, actress and musical artist.

<i>Frida 1967–1972</i> 1997 compilation album by Anni-Frid Lyngstad

Frida 1967–1972 is a compilation album by Swedish singer Anni-Frid Lyngstad, released in 1997 by EMI Sweden. The album features Lyngstad's anthology of her solo recordings prior to ABBA, which includes the A and B sides of ten 7" singles, and rare television and radio performances from this period, as well as her debut album, Frida.

Anders Glenmark Swedish pop and rock singer (born 1953)

Gert Anders Glenmark is a Swedish singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. He is the brother of singer Karin Glenmark and nephew of band leader Bruno Glenmark.

<i>Godmorgon Sverige</i> 1996 studio album by Mauro Scocco

Godmorgon Sverige is the sixth studio album by Swedish pop music artist Mauro Scocco. It was released in 1996 on Scocco's own record label Diesel Music. The album consists mainly of soul ballads, comparable to an R. Kelly with Swedish lyrics. The lyrics revolve mostly around love, more often than not in a dark way. Three singles were released from the album: "Om Det Är O.K.", "Det Är Dags", and "Kärleken Var Här". The album peaked at number one on the Swedish Albums Chart, marking Scocco's third number one album in the country.

Sanna Nielsen Swedish singer and television presenter (born 1984)

Sanna Viktoria Nielsen is a Swedish singer and television presenter. On her seventh attempt, she won Melodifestivalen in 2014 with the song "Undo" and so represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark, finishing in 3rd place overall. Sanna was one of the Eurovision Song Contest 2015 commentators for Sweden and hosted Melodifestivalen 2015 along with comedian Robin Paulsson. She was announced as the new presenter for the sing-along show Allsång på Skansen for the summer of 2016. She hosted Eurovision The Party at the Tele2 Arena for the Eurovision Song Contest 2016.

Svante Thuresson Swedish jazz musician

Svante Thuresson was a Swedish jazz musician. He started his career as a drummer before joining the band Gals and Pals in 1963. Svante won the national selection and represented Sweden in the Eurovision song contest in 1966 with Nygammal vals and came in second place; he performed with Lill Lindfors.

Molly Sandén Swedish singer and voice actress

Molly My Marianne Sandén, also known by her middle name My Marianne, is a Swedish pop singer and voice actress. As a teenager, she represented Sweden in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2006 and participated in Melodifestivalen in 2009, 2012, and 2016. Her sisters Frida and Mimmi are also singers. In 2018, Sandén released her third studio album, Större. Her fourth studio album was released in early 2019, called Det bästa kanske inte hänt än.

Brita Borg

Brita Kerstin Gunvor Borg was a Swedish singer, actress, and variety show artist. Her variety show career spanned from 1943 into the 1970s, while her singing career trailed away at the end of the 1960s. However, she was still an active actress in the 1980s. Borg represented Sweden in the Eurovision Song Contest 1959 in Cannes.

Sofia Källgren Musical artist

Anna Sofia Helena Källgren, known as Sofia Källgren, is a Swedish singer. She sings in two other languages, English and Mandarin Chinese, in addition to in Swedish.

Jazzgossen is a 1958 Swedish musical film directed by Hasse Ekman. The film was an attempt to make a nostalgical cavalcade of the Swedish entertainment scene of the 1920s and 1930s, and featured many songs from that era.

Kerstin Thorvall was an influential Swedish novelist.

Martin Svensson also known as Martin is a Swedish singer, author and musician.

<i>De första åren</i> 2004 box set by Agnetha Fältskog

'De första åren' is a box set by Swedish pop singer and ABBA member Agnetha Fältskog, released in 2004.

Kristian Gidlund

Kristian Olof Erik Gidlund was a Swedish musician and author. He played drums in the rock band Sugarplum Fairy. He hosted Sommar i P1 on Swedish radio and released one book. In 2011 Gidlund was diagnosed with stomach cancer, and died from the disease in 2013 four days short of his 30th birthday.

Britt Lindeborg was a Swedish lyricist.

Koppången is a Swedish song, with music composed originally for violin in 1998 by Per-Erik Moraeus for his folk music group Orsa Spelmän, which includes his brothers Kalle Moraeus and Olle Moraeus. The name and the inspiration for the song come from the wetlands and nature preserve Koppången, near the Moraeus family home in Orsa Municipality, Dalarna, Sweden.

References

  1. 1 2 Swedish Radio show Da Capo, Sveriges Radio P4 on 19 January 2008.
  2. Audio Lab Stockholm
  3. The Shrine of Saint Cecilia - The Andrews Sisters
  4. Whitburn, Joel (2013). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 14th Edition: 1955-2012. Record Research. p. 934.