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På mäster Olofs tid

Björn Afzelius
Language: Swedish


Björn Afzelius

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[1986]
Lyrics and music / Text och musik
Testo e musica / Paroles et musique /
Sanat ja sävel: Björn Afzelius
Album : Tankar vid 50

Olof Palme, the Prime Minister of Sweden was assassinated in 1986. This song was written by Björn Afzelius in his honor.

Olof Palme


It is on his "Tankar vid 50" album. [Ceil Herman]
På mäster Olofs tid
Pappa, hur var det förr?
Berätta hur allt var förr.
Det säjs ingenting, det skrivs ingenting;
Hur var det egentligen förr?

Då hade vi ett respekterad namn.
Då var jag stolt över mitt fosterland.
Man kände till oss vida omkring;
Snart vet man ingenting.
När Sverige talade så lyssna man,
för alla visste att det vi sa var sant.
Att säja ifrån var en filosofi
på mäster Olofs tid.

Då var vi tredje världens store vän,
en ständig förkämpe för friheten.
Vi sände pengar vida omkring;
Snart ger vi ingenting.
Det vackra ordet solidaritet
fick då en innebörd som var konkret.
Att hjälpa till var en filosofi
på mäster Olofs tid.

Då krävde folket av ministrarna
att hålla löftena till väljarna.
Att värna ordet demokrati;
Snart värnas ingenting.
Den gången såg man som en självklarhet
att ansvar förutsätter ärlighet.
Att hålla ord var en filosofi
på mäster Olofs tid.

Den gången drog sej inte medierna
för att ta upp dom stora frågorna.
Dom ville vara ett med sin tid;
Snart vill dom ingenting.
Den gången tilläts journalisterna
gå ut och engagera männskorna.
En hög nivå var en filosofi
på mäster Olofs tid.

Då blev man uppmanad att tänka stort,
och att förstå att allting hör ihop.
Att se att världen är som en ring;
Snart ser man ingenting.
Den gången eldades miljonerna
till att förverkliga visionerna.
Att ha en dröm var en filosofi
på mäster Olofs tid.

Den nya tiden kom en kylig natt.
Ingen har nånsin sett en natt så svart.
En natt som alla människor minns;
Sen minns dom ingenting.
Så låt mej säja till dej, lilla vän:
En kula drev oss in i tystnaden.
Med det var aldrig filosofin
på mäster Olofs tid.

Contributed by Ceil Herman - 2018/10/13 - 19:56




Language: English

English translation / Engelsk översättning / Traduzione inglese / Traduction anglaise / Englanninkielinen käännös :
Ceil Herman
IN MASTER OLOF'S TIME

In Master Olof's time
Pappa, how was it before?
Tell how everything was before
Nothing is said, nothing is written;
How was it actually before?

Then we had a respected name.
Then I was proud of my country.
One knew us widely around;
Soon one knew nothing.
When Sweden spoke, one listened,
because everyone knew that it was true
To say something was a philosophy
in Master Olof's time.

Then we were the Third World's greatest friend,
a constant battle for freedom.
We sent money widely around;
Soon we gave nothing.
The beautiful word solidarity
then had a meaning which was concrete.
To serve everyone was a philosophy
in Master Olof's time.

That's when the people demanded the secretaries
keep the promises to the electorate.
to keep the word of democracy;
Soon nothing will be cherished
This time one took for granted
that responsibility assumes honesty.
to keep a word was a philosophy
in Master Olof's time.

That time the media didn't hesitate
to bring up the large questions.
They want to be with their time;
Soon they want nothing.
At the time the journalists were allowed
to go out and engage people.
A high level was a philosophy
in Master Olof's time.

Then one was called upon to think big
and to understand that everything is connected.
To see the world is like a ring;
Soon one sees nothing.
At the time the millions were spent
to realize the visions.
To have a dream was a philosophy
In Master Olof's time.

The new time came on a chilly night.
No one had ever seen a night so dark.
A night which all the people remember;
Then they remember nothing.
So let me say to you, little friend:
A bullet drew us into silence.
But that was never a philosophy
in Master Olof's time.

Contributed by Ceil Herman - 2018/10/13 - 23:44




Language: Finnish

Traduzione finlandese / Finnish translation / Traduction finnoise / Finsk översättning / Suomennos: Juha Rämö
MESTARI PALMEN AIKAAN

Isä, millaista oli ennen?
Kerro, miten asiat olivat ennen.
Niistä ei sanota mitään, ei kirjoiteta mitään.
Millaista ennen oli oikeasti?

Silloin nimeämme kunnioitettiin.
Silloin olin ylpeä isänmaastani.
Meidät tunnettiin laajalti.
Pian ei kukaan enää tunne.
Kun me puhuimme, muut kuuntelivat,
sillä kaikki tiesivät, että me puhuimme totta.
Vastaan sanominen oli filosofiamme
mestari Palmen aikaan.

Silloin me olimme kolmannen maailman hyviä ystäviä,
vapauden ainaisia esitaistelijoita.
Me lähetimme rahaa joka puolelle maailmaa.
Pian ei kukaan enää anna mitään.
Solidaarisuus, tuo kaunis sana,
sai silloin kouraantuntuvan sisällön.
Auttaminen oli filosofiamme
mestari Palmen aikaan.

Silloin kansa vaati ministereitä
pitämään äänestäjille antamansa lupaukset,
puolustamaan demokratiaa.
Pian ei kukaan enää puolusta mitään.
Siihen aikaan pidettiin itsestäänselvyytenä,
että vastuu edellyttää rehellisyyttä.
Sanansa pitäminen oli filosofiamme
mestari Palmen aikaan.

Siihen aikaan tiedotusvälineet eivät epäröineet
nostaa esiin suuria kysymyksiä.
Ne halusivat elää ajassa.
Pian ne eivät enää halua mitään.
Siihen aikaan toimittajilla oli lupa
mennä kaduille innostamaan ihmisiä.
Korkea taso oli filosofiamme
mestari Palmen aikaan.

Silloin ihmisiä kannustettiin suuriin ajatuksiin,
ymmärtämään, että kaikki riippuu kaikesta,
näkemään, että maailma on kuin rengas.
Pian ei kukaan enää näe mitään.
Siihen aikaan käytettiin miljoonia
näkemysten toteuttamiseen.
Unelmien vaaliminen oli filosofiamme
mestari Palmen aikaan.

Uusi aika saapui eräänä kylmänä yönä.
Kukaan ei ole koskaan nähnyt yhtä mustaa yötä,
yötä, jonka kaikki ihmiset muistavat.
Sen jälkeen he eivät muista mitään.
Siksi sanon sinulle tämän, pieni ystäväni:
Luoti tempaisi meidät hiljaisuuteen.
Mutta se ei koskaan ollut filosofiamme
mestari Palmen aikaan.

Contributed by Juha Rämö - 2018/10/15 - 10:49


Hi Ceil,

Can you please ask the Administrator to correct the title (not Måster but mäster). You'll find the E-mail address at the bottom of the start page.

Juha Rämö - 2018/10/14 - 00:04


Of course. Thanks for catching that!

Ceil Herman - 2018/10/14 - 01:36


I don’t see where it is Måster. It says Mäster above.

Ceil Herman - 2018/10/14 - 01:41


There was Måster, but the Admin must have corrected it without you asking. Anyway, it should actually be mäster instead of Mäster.

Juha Rämö - 2018/10/14 - 10:27


Hi!

Looks like Administration fixed that in the Swedish too. I think it is appropriate to capitalize Master Olof in the English translation, because it is a title.

By the way Admlnistration also fixed Sång till friheten which had been listed as Sången till friheten. So you might want to change your English title to Song rather than A Song. Very small point!

Thanks for all your hard work on behalf of Björn. Have you translated other Swedish songs to English?

Ceil Herman - 2018/10/14 - 19:28


Hi Ceil,

Most of my translations on this webpage are from English, German and Swedish into Finnish (English --> Finnish). These are the ones I've done from Swedish and Norwegian into English:

- De mördades fria republik
- Det gäller
- Folkens kamp är folkens hopp
- Fred på jord
- För alla namn vi inte får använda
- Hur länge ska vi vänta
- När småfåglar dör
- Säg mig du lilla kula
- Varför låter de
- Frihetens forpost (from Norwegian)
- Oppskrift for herrefolk (from Norwegian)
- Verden er vår (from Norwegian)

Juha Rämö - 2018/10/14 - 23:16


Dear Ceil,

Our website observes a number of simple rules for including / contributing new songs and/or translations.

1) Only English and German titles should be capitalized (Masters of War, Sagt mir wo die Blumen sind). Titles in other languages should be capitalized only where required (Les guerres de Napoléon, På mäster Olofs tid etc). Anyway, a song title should be always stated in the form it appears on its album.

2) Please never transcribe song titles and lyrics in alphabets other than Latin. A Russian song should be in Cyrillic, a Yiddish song in Hebrew &c. Transcriptions are shown only in footnotes.

3) Song lyrics (including choruses) should always be given in full form, without (Chorus) or (x2) or stuff like this. The song title should never be repeated in the lyrics box: one is enough.

4) Any new song should be preceded by a brief discography / authorship introduction according to the following pattern:

[1970] ← (year of composition / release of the song, if known)
Lyrics / Testo / Paroles / Sanat : Mary Jones ← (author of song lyrics, or “Anonymous”)
Music / Musica / Musique / Sävel: John Smith ← (composer, or “Folk tune” &c.), or:
Lyrics and music / Testo e musica / Paroles et musique / Sanat ja sävel: Mary Jones
Album : War is a Filthy Thing ← (title of the album where the song appears, or “Single”, or “Unreleased” &c.)

Translations:

1) Any translation should be introduced according to the following pattern:

English translation / Traduzione inglese / Traduction anglaise / Englanninkielinen käännös : Ceil Herman

(You may also state translation's date, and even hour)

2) Please never leave the song title untranslated. The translated title should be given in full capitals: IN MASTER OLOF'S TIME.

3) Footnotes are always welcome to explain difficult points &c. There's a special box for footnotes.

The website staff is always pleased to help you in case of doubt.

Thank you!

AWS/CCG Staff - 2018/10/15 - 08:53


Dear AWS/CCG Staff,

Thank you very much for the instructions on posting new songs and translations. I think they are very useful not only to newcomers but also to people like myself who have been doing this for years.

I also think that it might be a good idea to put them on your main page as a hyperlink titled "Instructions to contributors".

There's one important thing that could also be addressed in those instructions. Anglo-American songwriters have their own way to write lyrics, i.e. with every new line starting with a capital letter and little or no punctuation. The result is that on lyrics pages song texts written in languages other than English have often been reproduced in this Anglo-American way. This, however, is not how lyrics are written in Swedish or Finnish or French or German or...

Here's for instance how "Medan bomberna faller" by Björn Afzelius looks like at genius.com. I'm 100 percent sure that Afzelius would never have written his lyrics in this way.

Juha Rämö - 2018/10/15 - 12:18


Dear Juha,

You are absolutely right. This is a very good idea and we'll put it in practice as soon as possible. Of course, the instructions will be translated into the site's languages (Italian, French, Finnish) and we kindly ask you for help as regards Finnish.

The way of writing and showing lyrics has always been a serious problem since the very first day of this website. The result is, of course, great lack of conformity: our website is approaching 30,000 songs and the "CCG/AWS Staff" (now CCG/AWS/SVL Staff, including Finnish), or "Admins", consists in 6 (six) people scattered here and there. This may be seen as a bit of a joke, because we sometimes have received messages or e-mails asking us where are the headquarters of our foundation or institution, if in London, Rome or New York. We are not kidding.

What we have always done, or tried to do, is editing song lyrics often submitted in barbarous forms: full capitals, no division between verses and lines, tons of "chorus", "x2", ":||", not to count misspellings, typos, bad grammar &c even in the most renowned lyrics sites. Now, what we can do is trying to do our best in the languages we more or less know, but we can do nothing, say, for Bengali or Chippewa lyrics, unless we meet a Bengali Juha Rämö.

There are still lots of pages not even including a single piece of information on the relevant song, and we are afraid this will be the task of our "Nachgeborene", if any.

CCG/AWS/SVL Staff - 2018/10/15 - 13:17


Dear AWS/CCG Staff,

Of course, I'm glad to help you with the Finnish version of the instructions. And of course, I'm thrilled and most of all flattered that my tiny, curious, weird and difficult language has been granted a status on this webpage. On the other hand, I seem to be the only living soul from Finland contributing to this page and as such I don't need any Finnish instructions. Surely, I'd be more than glad if there were other contributors, a lot of them, from my country. I just don't have a clue how to make that happen. I know that I would find them lost and buried in social media (I wonder what's social about them), but that, my friends, is a gloomy, scary, dangerous world I simply refuse to have anything whatsoever to do with.

Juha Rämö - 2018/10/15 - 15:07


By the way, I have always realized that there is no Antiwarsongs Headquarters, but still I like to think of you as a bunch of enthusiastic people working passionately under one roof and shouting hellos, comments and ideas from one corner of the office to another. But surely you meet each other every now and then, don't you?

Juha Rämö - 2018/10/15 - 15:15


Dear Juha, I'd like to share with you an exclusive picture of one of the AWS offices, located in Little Island, Florence.

Lorenzo - 2018/10/15 - 19:30


A huge thanks to Juha, Lorenzo, and Riccardo for your help. I think I am starting to get the hang of putting my tranlations on the website. Only the occasional typo! I feel so welcome on this site. I don’t think the AWS staff ever sleeps.

Ceil Herman - 2018/10/15 - 20:55


Big things grow from humble beginnings, Lorenzo.

Juha Rämö - 2018/10/16 - 00:02


Indeed, Ceil. It's a bunch of night owls who never sleep.

Juha Rämö - 2018/10/16 - 00:07




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