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Now, I bought the full album of Kristina, in Swedish, way back when I went to the ABBA museum 3 years ago. I listened to the whole thing, the whole 4 hours of it, in one sitting. And then in popped it to one side, and kind of forgot about it. It was too big an album to rip onto my computer or put on my phone, so I just didn't listen to it a whole bunch. It wasn't bad, not by any means! Just extremely long.
It was also around this time that I watched Utvandrarna (1971), again, fully in Swedish. Although there wasn't much talking, so I kind of got it. And I started to realise that this story, the history of Swede's emegrating to America to escape famine, it's quite important. At least it felt that way, and when people talked about it they seemed to agree, this was quite a huge part of Swedish (and American) history. I have yet to read the books, or visit Lindström, but I'll get there one day.
Anyway, I would say I'm fairly familiar by now with the story, as familiar as I can be being from the UK, and I got more interested in it as the years went on, and then litereally earlier today I saw on Facebook that somewhere in Norway is performing Kristina från Duvemåla. And Björn is going to see it.
Oh my God, I think to myself, I must go! I'll take my mum, who is fluent in Norwegian and can translate! Ah, but, I don't think people from the UK can holiday in Norway yet. And so my dream was short lived, and I took to YouTube.
Now, I know about Du måste finnas. I have known about it for some time. I have listened to it by itself since hearing the full 4 hour long album. I know that Susan Boyle did a cover of the English Version "You Have to Be There". I also know that the English lyrics were butchered by Herbert Kretzmer, just like how he butchered Les Mis. And yet, and YET, I only watched this video for the first time today!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2idVI73ais&ab_channel=baflat
Watch it now.
Like, who did this? Why am I crying? I don't even know the exact lyrics. But her face. That's the face of a woman who has just lost a child and is begging, hoping against hope, that there is someone out there watching her. She is losing all of her faith in God, in herself, in living, and it just... it kills you. I'm an atheist, and it kills me. You must exist, I know those lyrics. Honestly, that's all I need to know. And you can see the way Björn looks at her too, how important this is for him.
The power in this song. In Helen Sjöholm. She's fully Kristina in this moment. I wish I could give a proper review, a researched review, but I simply cannot. Listen to it again, she just breaks.
Apparently the opening line, according to Google Translate, is "You drove me away, God". At this point, she's in a foreign country, her baby dead, and she feels totally abandoned. The last thing she's clinging to is her faith, and once that's gone she feels she will be nothing. It's heartbreaking.
Well done boys. You never fail to capture me.
The image is of Kristina and Karl Oskar. Karl Oskar is looking on to a better future, while Kristina looks back towards Sweden. It's in Lindström, Minnesota. I will go there one day.
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