Let’s recall that we've embarked on 12 days of Christmas songs (unranked) and on the second day I premiered some new lyrics for a Swedish tune that I first heard in a concert by Harald Haugaard and Helene Blum’s band. Here's the tune again in a remarkably fine performance by students at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland.
If you are the sort of person who has become wary about my suggestions because they seem too gloomy or ironic, this is your day to click without fear. This will be among the most joyful songs you hear all year.
Why Wouldn't I Know This Song? And What Does that Mean for Others?
I am amazed that I had never heard this song, despite being more steeped in Scandinavian tradition than most people in the US. Both my mother’s Swedish-American and father’s Norwegian-American families observe Scandinavian traditions, and I attended the ostentatiously Norwegian St. Olaf College. Lately I have participated in a fiddle camp led by Haugaard and sponsored by our local West Denmark Heritage Council. I attend mainly to study guitar with Antti Järvelä, who I believe is a cousin of the woman who produced the student’s version above. Harald and Antti fall somewhere between friendly acquaintances and gurus for me, and I tuned into the concert because I’ve heard them play many times. It is remarkable how they never fail to find the heart of any music they play and elevate it. Here is a favorite song featuring Antti on bass.
Beyond all that, I even have a daughter named Lucia—which naturally makes me pay attention to St. Lucia Day.
But none of this previously led me to the song. My beloved aunt married a Swede, but she tells me she only remembers the song from living in Sweden. So far she's the only person I've asked who remembers it at all, with the sole exception of her ex who grew up in Sweden and is even named Stefan.
Helping the Culturally-Deprived Understand the Song
Enough about me. The point is that if someone like me is in the dark, there must be many others equally in the dark about this wonderful music.
But it is the song that matters. Let’s try to appreciate it more. Although I am far from an expert, I have learned a few things from my aunt, her ex, and handful of websites including this one about St. Lucia Day, these Staffansvisa lyrics, and this wikipedia page. I urge my better informed readers to enlighten me further and correct my mistakes.
On St. Lucia Day, a solstice celebration especially in Sweden (and to a lesser extent elsewhere in Scandinavia, plus related Italian versions) young girls dress as Saint Lucia, who is associated with light. They enter a ritual space (a church procession or a household ceremony) wearing wreaths of candles and carrying foods like saffron buns and cookies. There is a lovely song associated with this which has some circulation in the US, but I’ve never heard it sung live in a ritual context.
Behind the Lucias with their candles may follow a procession of “star boys,” and “Staffansvisa” is a traditional song they sing. There are various tunes--we have been following the arrangement by Esjbörn Hazelius. And there are many possible lyrics, sprawling out in many directions. Often they culminate in feasting—so far, so good for new verses about a party, written as part of a folk process that is not controlled by anyone in particular.
Translating the Heart of the Song
Standard versions start out singing something like this—a crude stab at a rhymed paraphrase matching the tune and close to the literal meaning. This is based on comparing translations, since I don’t speak Swedish. And let's be clear--I know it's shitty poetry, which is why don't I go so literal in my version. The point is to get a handle on what it means.)
Staffan was a farmer’s son (We sing this song to thank him) He fed his horses, one by one (For following the bright star) Even though the world is dark We can find our way beneath the shining star
More literally, the Swedish states that “Staffan was a stable-boy,” he waters five horses, “we thank you very much,” and there are stars twinkling in the dark—all of which is better if you prefer precision that doesn’t fit the meter. I prefer rhymes that do fit and so my version doesn’t use this directly.
[Update: Stefan Sylvander suggested this—and he does speak Swedish after all, although he may be thinking of a slightly different tune.]
Ways to Multiply and Riff on the Verses
Following this first verse are others that discuss the colors of Staffan’s five horses, one of which he rides. Each time, we continue to “thank him very much” and sing about the twinkling stars in the dark of winter.
There are verses in which Staffan learns from the stars about Jesus’s birth, like the Magi do in the New Testament. Thus he may come into conflict with King Herod, who doesn’t like hearing about a rival king from Staffan any more than he likes hearing it from Magi.
In another version, a rooster cooking in a frying pan comes to life and flies away to prove that Staffan is telling Herod the truth. Alternatively, Staffan may hunt a big bad wolf and a bear, to ensure that the party can begin in safety. (Google’s translator helpfully offers “Now there is fire in every stove, with Christmas porridge and Christmas pig.”)
Singers can improvise as many verses they wish, somewhat like with the tune “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”— “Now bring us our figgy pudding,” “Now let’s open up our presents,” “Now let’s [fill in the blank],” etc.
All these lead back to a refrain about following stars even though it still is dark. I am glad that my first instinct for my own “Christmas Party” lyrics (written before I found any of the Swedish, even garbled by google) was “Later we can sing of pain/Come along with me and sing of joy today.”
I would like to get the winter night sky and the horses into a singable lyric that is on par with what I have so far. Meanwhile, I think my pain/joy idea resonates passably well with the “still is dark” and twinkling stars in the original. So I hope my version can help introduce the song to some people, advancing a folk process that surely can benefit from paying attention to this song.
Today, though, do not re-listen to my quick-and-dirty recording! Go for the virtuosic versions above.
MBE standard notice: The time I spend on this blog is not in addition to a Twitter and FaceBook presence, but an alternative to it. If you think anything here merits wider circulation, this will probably only happen if you circulate it.