One of the "national musical instruments" in Norway is Hardingfele (Hardanger fiddle). It has an extremely distinct sound and I think it almost always does something to the listener. It has four strings like a normal fiddle or violin, but also 4 or 5 sympathetic strings, meaning the also make sound, though you don't play directly on them.
When I was a kid, I would hate it. I would literately put my fingers in my ears all the way up until I was far into my twenties. Then something changed. I started connecting it to my Norwegian identity, or maybe I had all along and just not realized. The last years I have realized there is something quintessential Norwegian about it. When ever there is a Hardanger fiddle starting and there are Norwegians around, you see them tap their fingers on the table or move their feet a little or clap. There is something that awakes in us. But more about that later. Let's get to the song.
In 2008 I discovered this amazing band, Valyrien Allstars, who play a kind of Norwegian quite modern folk-rock-pop using often old songs and Hardanger fiddles and other fiddles. It's just an amazing sound. The Norwegian music tv-program on NRK, Lydverket, did a great series with bands playing concerts in strange places. This is a part of the series. Valyrien Allstars is playing live at Valkyrien, a pub on the west side of Oslo. I wonder where they took their name from? Anywaaays.. Such an electric performance!
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Showing posts with label American folk music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label American folk music. Show all posts
Saturday, 2 July 2011
Tuesday, 11 January 2011
Great songs: Nickel Creek - The Lighthouse's Tale
A few years ago I wanted to explore a bit of American folk music style music and I found the great Nickel Creek thanks to a last.fm radio. I love they way they use the traditional instruments and the amazing mandolin playing of Chris Thile. Nickel Creek no longer exists as a band, but I have kept listening to them on my mp3 player. I always loved the feel and melody of the song "The Lighthouse's Tale", but in true style of me, I didn't really listen that closely to the lyrics until I was on the way to work a few months ago. It really hit a chord with me and I almost started crying on the bus. Today has been a day of talk about American singer/songwriter/folk music that tells good tales (since Fleet Foxes is coming to Norway's greatest music festival)and in that light I though I would share this great song with you. It's the story seen from the perspective of a lighthouse, and I like that. The video is quite horrible, so I think I would just listen to it without watching, if I were you.
These are the lyrics:
I am a lighthouse, worn by the weather and the waves.
I keep my lamp lit, to warn the sailors on their way.
I'll tell a story, paint you a picture from my past.
I was so happy, but joy in this life seldom lasts.
I had a keeper, he helped me warn the ships at sea.
We had grown closer, 'till his joy meant everything to me.
And he was to marry, a girl who shone with beauty and light.
And they loved each other, and with me watched the sunsets into night.
And the waves crashing around me, the sand slips out to sea.
And the winds that blow remind me, of what has been, and what can never be.
She'd had to leave us, my keeper he prayed for a safe return.
But when the night came, the weather to a raging storm had turned.
He watched her ship fight, but in vain against the wild and terrible wave.
In me so helpless, as dashed against the rock she met her end.
And the waves crashing around me, the sand slips out to sea.
And the winds that blow remind me, of what has been, and what can never be.
Then on the next day, my keeper found her washed up on the SHORE.
He kissed her cold face, that they'd be together soon he'd swore.
I saw him crying, watched as he buried her in the sand.
And then he climbed my tower, and off of the edge of me he ran.
And the waves crashing around me, the sand slips out to sea.
And the winds that blow remind me, of what has been, and what can never be.
I am a lighthouse, worn by the weather and the waves.
And though I am empty, I still warn the sailors on their way.
And this is the video:
These are the lyrics:
I am a lighthouse, worn by the weather and the waves.
I keep my lamp lit, to warn the sailors on their way.
I'll tell a story, paint you a picture from my past.
I was so happy, but joy in this life seldom lasts.
I had a keeper, he helped me warn the ships at sea.
We had grown closer, 'till his joy meant everything to me.
And he was to marry, a girl who shone with beauty and light.
And they loved each other, and with me watched the sunsets into night.
And the waves crashing around me, the sand slips out to sea.
And the winds that blow remind me, of what has been, and what can never be.
She'd had to leave us, my keeper he prayed for a safe return.
But when the night came, the weather to a raging storm had turned.
He watched her ship fight, but in vain against the wild and terrible wave.
In me so helpless, as dashed against the rock she met her end.
And the waves crashing around me, the sand slips out to sea.
And the winds that blow remind me, of what has been, and what can never be.
Then on the next day, my keeper found her washed up on the SHORE.
He kissed her cold face, that they'd be together soon he'd swore.
I saw him crying, watched as he buried her in the sand.
And then he climbed my tower, and off of the edge of me he ran.
And the waves crashing around me, the sand slips out to sea.
And the winds that blow remind me, of what has been, and what can never be.
I am a lighthouse, worn by the weather and the waves.
And though I am empty, I still warn the sailors on their way.
And this is the video:
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