Scandinavian historians are divided about Carl Michael Bellman.
Some say he was of noble birth looking down from his lofty position
and writing about the lower classes. Others say he was born into
the very lowest strata of society and was lying in the gutters
looking up and writing about the upper classes of society from his
vantage point. It is known that Bellman had some college level education, and died broke fleeing his debts. None the less, the fact remains that Bellman's epistles
and songs are one of the treasures of Nordic literature. His songs
often had dozens of expressive verses rich with images of life, love
and mythology.
The Hootenanny Singers edited these (often quite lengthy) songs by
only singing this verse or that. The lyrics in my list are the Hootenanny Singers' versions.
While listening to the LP to check the lyrics for accuracy, I was
surprised at just how good the songs were. Bellman's melodies are very
tuneful and his lyrics very imaginative.
MÅLTIDSSÅNG (Fredmans sång nr 21)
RÖRANDE KORTSPELET PÅ KLUBBEN (Fredmans epistel nr 42)
ANGÅENDE ULLA WINBLADS LUSTRESA TILL FÖRSTA TORPET UTOM KATTRUMPSTULLEN (Fredmans epistel nr 80
TILL LOKATTEN (Fredmans epistel nr 59)
TILL GUMMAN PÅ THERMOPOLIUM BOREALE OCH HENNES JUNGFRUR (Fredmans epistel nr 9)
AFTONKVÄDE (Fredmans sång nr 32)
NOTA BENE (Fredmans sång nr 56)
TILL FADER BERG RÖRANDE FIOLEN (Fredmans epistel nr 2)
TILL EN OCH VAR AV SYSTRARNA,MEN ENKANNERLIGEN TILL ULLA WINBLAD (Fredmans epistel nr 3)
VARUTI AVMÅLAS ULLA WINBLADS HEMRESA FRÅN HESSINGEN I MÄLAREN EN SUMMARMORGON 1769 (Fredmans epistel nr 48)
KLINGAR VÄL VID FLÖJTTRAVER (Fredmans epistel nr 10)
For complete Bellman texts for all Epistels and Sånger, go to the Bellman
arkiv at B Musik. Bellmans Fredmans Epistlar & Sånger arkiv
Carl Michael Bellman
