Christmas in Sweden Duration: 5’02’’

Inserts: Reporter: Sten Winquist Photographer/-editor: Kim Isaksson

Translator's note:

Many of the lyrics in this programme are deliberate parodies of traditional Swedish texts associated with Christmas. In places, the parodies contain references meaningful to anyone familiar with the originals but largely impenetrable by others. Since these lyrics are translated here to convey gist, not underpin performance, the more esoteric, "Easter-egg"-type references have not been glossed, nor have rhythms, metre and rhyme been rigidly adhered to.

Text:

Lyrics: Here it is Yule again, in fancy mansion and in cabin. Throughout the land, the people have gone mad. They're decorating, singing songs, and sending idiotic cards. Oh, Jesus! Just look at what you've done!

Here it is Yule again, Yoo-boo-doo Yule again. Here it is Yule again, Yoo-boo-doo Yule again.

Narrator We're out on a quest, looking for what Swedish Christmas tradition really is.

1 Lyrics Here it is Yule again, Yoo-boo-doo Yule again.

Synch, Alf Pettersson Well, I guess it's Father Christmases and trees and that.

Synch, Angelica Littkvist Being with your family and loved ones.

Synch, Jenny Lundberg Candles! There've got to be candles all over the place!

Synch, Anne Kyllenstjerna A Christmas tree's got to be mandatory, yeah!

Synch, Göte Julin But they're plastic now. That way, there're no needles to sweep up.

Narrator Father Christmas and the tree. Yep, those feel totally ultra-Swedish. But according to ethnologists, those things, like most (Swedish) Christmas traditions, are genuine imports!

Synch, Karin Nilsson, ethnologist Yes, most of them — oddly enough, almost all of them, come from Germany. And that can be partly because we've had labour migrations: (Swedish) journeymen went to Germany to continue their training and brought some of the (German) traditions back with them. Then, too, there's the wealthy bourgeois class that's starting to travel more and more.

Narrator And the food! Oh, the food's important to many people! The Swedish Christmas dinner table!

Synch, Göte Julin Yes, ham and porridge.

Synch, Ulrika Sterner Christmas food, naturally, is what we want.

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Bernt-Olof Pettersson Oh, yes, above all, you have to have that good Christmas food in front of you.

Lyrics Always all the terror, year after year. And your only comfort is grabbing a snort. So you have snaps after snaps And you stagger home And you're drunk as a lord On December twenty-third.

Synch, Henrik Briggler Gingerbread biscuits and Christmas ham.

Narrator And now we mustn't forget the tradition of Lucia, she who comes with her handmaidens and star-boys — all bearing candles — and serves us coffee in the darkness of an early December morning.

Lyrics ... spread in our winter's night gleam of your beauty! Dreams with their wingèd sweep wonders foretell ....

Synch, Ulrika Sterner Well, of course, Lucia is important since I have young children who practise for (the) Lucia (procession), which makes it important.

Synch, Helene Lindqvist Not all that super-important — but, sure, since I have children in day-care, I go and watch them there.

Lyrics Santa Lucia, shimmering vision. Spread in our winter's night

3 glow of your beauty!

Narrator Lucia is a mixture of Catholic saint myth and old Swedish folk tradition.

Synch, Karin Nilsson, ethnologist In old (Swedish) peasant society, she used to be called “the light troll”. And it was said she was Adam's first wife, who was expelled from Paradise. Then she gave birth to lots of children, and they're brownies and gnomes. And she's usually seen with imps, too. And she'd be out on Lucia Night (13 December) making trouble.

Lyrics Twinkle, twinkle, little star ....

Narrator But nowadays, Lucia represents light and hope.

Yet Sweden's possibly commonest Christmas tradition — if one can call it that — must be shopping for presents. Sometimes, far too many.

Lyrics I want a roomier sack, chewier toffee, fatter pork from the pig, knickier knacks, longer long-dancing, and a fleeter fox on the ice. I want more Yuletide. Give me more Yule!

Synch, Helene Lindqvist There're lots of Christmas presents and there's lots of food ... and, well, it's all just too expensive, I think.

Dan Lennartsson Christmas has just about had its day. It's all over-commercialised.

4 Narrator But regardless of what they say — there really is something extra-special about Christmas — at its best, tranquillity and calm.

So a very Happy Christmas to you all!

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