some thought about Scandinavia

Bigmouth

Scandinavian
I was just listening to a live version of the, probably, album-to-be song "Scandinavia", and got quite strong associations to a kind of nationalistic theme. It starts with this dysantropic view against us northern europeans, but "then You came along" etc.
Especially I find these parts interesting:

"I kiss the soil/I hug the soil/I eat the soil"
and
"Un-protesting I'll die in Scandinavia [...] I'll be happy to die in Scandinavia"

Of course, you would reject this view claiming Morrissey being british (irish etc. etc.) but nevertheless these are connections to a romantic picture - the Soil of Scandinavia - depending on wheter you choose to interpret those parts of the song or not. I agree it definitely would be a bit heavy to call it Blut und Boden, but as we have seen in the past Morrissey tend to write about several different things, so I wouldn't rule it out.
And Im sure that this site have been through a thousand of discussions about those kinds of nationalistic aspects of Morrisseys works, but I haven't seen a specific discussion about "Scandinavia" - maybe rather reasonable since it hasn't been released yet.

Just some thoughts from a scandinavian.
Do reply and tell me if I'm insane, or if there is a chance that Morrissey describes this fascination with the Northern Soil in terms that (at least in a scared country like mine) would be seen as Patriotic (that is in a negative sense).

[I havn't been here for a while, If this topic has already been discussed, then do ignore this post - or delete it.]
 
I was just listening to a live version of the, probably, album-to-be song "Scandinavia", and got quite strong associations to a kind of nationalistic theme. It starts with this dysantropic view against us northern europeans, but "then You came along" etc.
Especially I find these parts interesting:

"I kiss the soil/I hug the soil/I eat the soil"
and
"Un-protesting I'll die in Scandinavia [...] I'll be happy to die in Scandinavia"

Of course, you would reject this view claiming Morrissey being british (irish etc. etc.) but nevertheless these are connections to a romantic picture - the Soil of Scandinavia - depending on wheter you choose to interpret those parts of the song or not. I agree it definitely would be a bit heavy to call it Blut und Boden, but as we have seen in the past Morrissey tend to write about several different things, so I wouldn't rule it out.
And Im sure that this site have been through a thousand of discussions about those kinds of nationalistic aspects of Morrisseys works, but I haven't seen a specific discussion about "Scandinavia" - maybe rather reasonable since it hasn't been released yet.

Just some thoughts from a scandinavian.
Do reply and tell me if I'm insane, or if there is a chance that Morrissey describes this fascination with the Northern Soil in terms that (at least in a scared country like mine) would be seen as Patriotic (that is in a negative sense).

[I havn't been here for a while, If this topic has already been discussed, then do ignore this post - or delete it.]


Love your avatar pic "Choozy cherry"
 
I can't help but think the subject matter of the song is linked to the Norway Masacre of last year
 
I can't help but think the subject matter of the song is linked to the Norway Masacre of last year

Not unless Morrissey can see the future, because "Scandinavia" was written before the killings.
 
Absolutely love this song. This is the best quality version I've seen so far:

 
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"I was bored in a fjord"? "Born in fjords"?
 
Not unless Morrissey can see the future, because "Scandinavia" was written before the killings.

Oh well my theories out then
 
This is the only song in his entire canon that I not only genuinely dislike but actually think is downright irredeemably awful. Tuneless, overbearing dreck.
 
I think the song is fantastic. Musically it's like an eerie Brel or Brecht torch ballad, yet the lyrics are modern, disquieting and oblique. An entire album in this vein would be an incredible artistic statement, although he'd never do that, of course.
 
I feel the song would easily fit in with the sound of the Ringleader Of The Tormentors album. Imagine those production values on Scandinavia.
 
Never heard this song before. It's certainly more interesting than the other recent songs. I can't help but think that the bands clunky arrangement does the song no favours.
 
Never heard this song before. It's certainly more interesting than the other recent songs. I can't help but think that the bands clunky arrangement does the song no favours.

Well, nothing new there - the music is more suited to a funeral dirge than a pop song, but I think that's what makes Morrissey's vocal melody for this one particularly commendable. He's carrying the band like a dead weight, but that voice rises above the noise and works the magic :thumb: Plus, as I said about Scandinavia before - at least it's not the same thrashing, sub-Green Day pop-punk-by-numbers crap that we've been fed for the last five years. I hope to see more like this on the album.
 
No, the best quality version (ever) was here, in Chile :)



Thankyou for that clip count_pipe, the voice is sounding strong - but dear God, is his hair fully white now? Makes me feel old.

Edit: I can hear the lyrics very clearly in this one too. "Pinned to a crime in Trondheim"...nice.
 
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Thankyou for that clip count_pipe, the voice is sounding strong - but dear God, is his hair fully white now? Makes me feel old.

I like this song, a lot.
It's certainly different to most of his recent output and it took some getting used to, but of all the 'new' songs this is the one I play most often.

By the way, the clip above from Vina del Mar is from my youtube channel.
Feel free to browse around, you will find some rather nice clips there (even if I say so). ;)
 
Scandinavia is look like paris it not about city , it is about someone ,maybe one saint woman , die = reborn
 
Never heard this song before. It's certainly more interesting than the other recent songs. I can't help but think that the bands clunky arrangement does the song no favours.

How did you go so long without hearing this song? Especially for someone like you who has said your interest in Morrissey only extends to the music.
 
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"Oscar Wilde's mother, Speranza, wrote a book called Driftwood from Scandinavia which was published in 1884. It arose from her travels with her husband, Sir William Wilde, to Sweden, Denmark, and Germany, and is "a melange of Scandinavian history and legend with the author's personal observations on that society and her sustained attacks on British society in contrast". William died in 1876 so there was quite a gap in getting the finished work out. She was very often short of money after his death, in debt, though her works were popular enough. This book is still just about available, but very little information is out there about contents. Has anyone read it, and could it possibly have fed into Morrissey's song?"

Is this, what I wrote elsewhere, of relevance? http://allyouneedismorrissey.com/single/?p=583570&t=4416798
 
How did you go so long without hearing this song? Especially for someone like you who has said your interest in Morrissey only extends to the music.
It's not been recorded as far as I know and I don't particularly like listening to music on my PC, the speakers are useless.
 
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