Vissångarvisa

Annotation — European Songs

Vissångarvisa (Åkerström, Fred) Swedish. chorus: "But who pays a heavy price for my success and my song? It’s people fighting against starvation in their countries While I walk around belly-fat and burp you a song About Spain, Belfast, Greece, and Vietnam" article on Swedish anti-war songs:1Sources1University of Michigan Library↩

Annotation by Justin A. Brummer

Lyrics

English: I live on this earth, I live, I exist / I booze, sing, eat whenever I like / And the tables have mostly groaned / Albeit with simple food / In every country where I've shouted out / But who pays dearly for my success and my song / Why, people fighting hunger in their country / While I walk around with a bloated belly / And belch up a song / About Spain, Belfast, Greece and Vietnam / A good-time lad with feelings / A self-made nothing / A cocky little shit, pretty bad on guitar / But it's easy to swallow / Everyone needs some life-lie / And the devil take whoever complains about my playing... / My nerves are so weak / Neurosis upon neurosis / For all my kilos I'm rather fragile / With exaggerated gestures and a hysterical face / I rush around smelling of alcohol... / My conscience is bad / It always has been / For the world out there is so cruel / But the Internationale, it's good to have sometimes / I reach for it when the shame feels too heavy / But who pays dearly / For my shame and my song / Why, people fighting hunger in their country / While I walk around with a bloated belly and belch up a song / About Spain, Belfast, Greece and Vietnam __________ Swedish: Jag bor på denna jorden, jag lever, jag finns till / Jag super, sjunger, äter när jag vill / Och dingnat mest har borden / Om än med enkel mat / I alla länder där jag skrikit till / Men vem får dyrt betala min framgång och min sång / Jo folk som slåss mot svälten i sitt land / Men's jag går runt med svullbuk…

About the artist

Swedish singer, born 27 January 1937 in Stockholm; died 9 August 1985. [Source: Wikipedia]

Themes

Anti-War

In collections

European Songs · Peace, Protest, & Anti-War Songs [War Years]