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Knäpp guitarren, strängen slå, hvem är narren, hvem är narren av oss två? Jag är narren, du är kung, knäpp guitarren, knäpp guitarren, sjung! Rör på strängen, det är vår, glad på ängen, glad på ängen blomman står. Öfver ljungen står en tall högst i dungen, högst i dungen all. Hög på hästen red en kung upp till festen, sprang af hästen ung, Tog, du dansens giga hör, kyss af landsens, kyss af landsens mör. Hör du strängens hårda skorr, nu är ängens, nu är ängens blomma torr. Storm kring branten, tallen brast, hör diskanten, hör diskanten hviner hvasst. Knäpp guitarren, vildt i ring hvirfla barren, hvirfla barren kring. Trött och sprungen är guitarrn, nu är kungen, nu är kungen narrn. Hör guitarrens brustna röst, det är narrens, det är narrens tröst.
Confirmed with Gustaf Fröding, Stänk och Flikar. Dikter, Tredje Samlingen, Stockholm, Albert Bonniers Förlag, pages 121-124.
Text Authorship:
- by Gustaf Fröding (1860 - 1911), "En visa om mig och narren Herkules", appears in Stänk och flikar, in Ur kung Eriks visor, no. 2 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by (Johan) Andreas Hallén (1846 - 1925), "En visa om mig och narren Herkules" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Algot Haquinius (1886 - 1966), "En visa om mig och narren Herkules", 1915-1918 [ voice and piano ], from Kung Eriks visor, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ture Rangström (1884 - 1947), "En visa om mig och narren Herkules", published 1918 [ voice and piano ], from Ur Kung Eriks visor, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Laura Prichard) , "A song about me and the fool Hercules", copyright © 2018, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Erkki Pullinen) , "Laulu minusta ja Herkules-narrista", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-01-10
Line count: 55
Word count: 132
Pluck the guitar, the strings slap, who’s the fool, who’s the fool between us two? I’m the fool, you’re the king, pluck the guitar, pluck the guitar, sing! Touch the string, move it’s spring, glad in the meadow, glad in the meadow the flowers stand. Over the heather stands a Scots pine the highest in the grove, the highest in the grove of all trees. High on his horse rode a king up to the celebration, sprang off the horse young, caught, the dance’s fiddle you hear, a kiss from the earth, a kiss from the earth tender. Do you hear the strings’ harsh distortion, jarring sounds now the meadow’s, now the meadow’s bloom is withered. Storm around the precipice, the pine cracks, hear its descant, hear its descant whine sharply. Pluck the guitar, wildly in a ring needles whirl, needles whirl around. Tired and broken is the guitar, now the king is, now the king is the fool. Hear the guitar’s broken tone, now it’s the fool’s, now it’s the fool’s comfort.
Text Authorship:
- Translation from Swedish (Svenska) to English copyright © 2018 by Laura Prichard, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:
- a text in Swedish (Svenska) by Gustaf Fröding (1860 - 1911), "En visa om mig och narren Herkules", appears in Stänk och flikar, in Ur kung Eriks visor, no. 2
This text was added to the website: 2018-12-16
Line count: 55
Word count: 173