{"id":128450,"date":"2018-08-15T09:00:06","date_gmt":"2018-08-15T13:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=128450"},"modified":"2018-08-15T15:19:47","modified_gmt":"2018-08-15T19:19:47","slug":"pop-songs-in-english-written-by-native-speakers-of-swedish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/08\/15\/pop-songs-in-english-written-by-native-speakers-of-swedish\/","title":{"rendered":"Pop Songs in English, Written by Native Speakers of Swedish"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/a>

ABBA<\/small>.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

If you were in the land of the living in \u201993, you\u2019ll remember a song called \u201cAll That She Wants,\u201d by the Swedish band Ace of Base. I don\u2019t know anybody who resisted that song. I, who usually hate songs like that (porny-poppy, slick, computer-generated), bought the CD and sang along with it happily. I can still play it on the guitar twenty-five years later.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m about to say something that has been said many times. The power of that song resides in a mistranslation. Not a mistranslation\u2014better say a slippage. The chorus of the song goes (and I\u2019m doing this from memory):<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

All that she wants
\n<\/span>is another baby
\nshe\u2019s gone tomorrow, boy
\na-a-all that she wants
\nis another baby
\nuh-uh-huh<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

The intended meaning was \u201cAll that she wants is another lover\u201d (so watch out, you sensitive boy who might foolishly fall for her). But of course, no native speaker of English understood it that way. We all thought the song was taking this really surprising angle: \u201cAll that she wants is to get pregnant. She\u2019s done this many times, and it\u2019s what she\u2019s doing now \u2026\u2009\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It was a long time (long<\/i>, long time) before it occurred to anybody that those lyrics were simply a choice example of botched English idiom. Baby<\/em>\u00a0can indeed be used to mean \u201clover,\u201d but not here.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wait, why? These are song lyrics. Doesn\u2019t baby<\/em>\u00a0mean \u201clover\u201d in song lyrics?\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n
\n

Ever since my\u00a0baby\u00a0left me
\n<\/span>I found a new place to dwell<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

–<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n
\n

I love rock \u2019n\u2019 roll!
\n<\/span>so put another dime in the jukebox,\u00a0baby!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

–<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n
\n

Baby\u2019s good to me, you know
\n<\/span>she\u2019s happy as can be, you know
\nshe said so<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

And so on and so forth. Yes: it\u00a0usually<\/i>\u00a0means lover, but not when you say, \u201cAll that she wants is another baby.\u201d It doesn\u2019t work like that. If you say, \u201cAll that she wants is another baby,\u201d the meaning is she wants to get pregnant.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is the sorrow of idiom. This is why I keep saying nobody speaks more than one language. The only way someone speaks more than one language is if that person\u2019s parents speak different languages. Then\u00a0maybe<\/i>. My\u00a0parents spoke different languages; yet when I speak Spanish, I constantly say things exactly like \u201cAll that she wants is to get pregnant.\u201d (It\u2019s very impregnating. I mean embarrassing.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Now I don\u2019t know what they do to teach English to Swedish children, but whatever it is, anybody can see they do an excellent job. Part of the reason nobody spotted the boo-boo is that everything else in the song seemed like pure USA pop. I would have never guessed the band was Swedish. Somebody had to tell me.<\/span><\/p>\n

Or look at ABBA<\/small>. All the lyrics to all their songs were written by non-English speakers. Bj\u00f6rn wrote most of the stuff. Early on, Stig, their producer (with his blond biker mustache like something out of Mot\u00f6rhead) collaborated. Look, I have my ABBA<\/small> book right here\u2014541 pages, excluding the index. You wanna know where ABBA<\/small> learned their English? High school. That and Beatles records.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

You have to take a moment to grasp the craziness of this. Probably their principal access to living, real-time English was\u00a0song<\/i>\u00a0English. They were very, very fluent in that. Indeed, they were much better at song English than most native speakers could ever hope to be. Think about the cleverness of the rhyme here: \u201c<\/span>Waterloo! \/ I couldn\u2019t escape if I\u00a0wanted to.\u201d You wouldn\u2019t think foreigners would be able to come up with that. Or look closely at something like this:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

If you change your mind
\n<\/span>I\u2019m the first in line
\nhoney, I\u2019m still free
\ntake a chance on me<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n
\n

If you need me
\n<\/span>let me know
\ngonna be around
\nif you\u2019ve got no
\n<\/span>place to go
\nif you\u2019re feeling down<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That\u2019s\u00a0expert<\/i>\u00a0stuff. It doesn\u2019t mean much, fine\u2014that\u2019s not important. The genius is in the management of the vowel quantities and the way the lyrics work as an exquisite medium for those two female voices. Here\u2019s how it actually rolls out:<\/p>\n

\n
\n

ifyouchangeyour MIND
\n<\/span>I\u2019mthefirstin LINE
\nhoneyI\u2019mstill FREE
\nt\u2019k\u2019achanceon ME<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Listening to the song develop is like watching the soft-serve ice cream come out of the machine: it\u2019s not just vanilla ice cream; it\u2019s\u00a0sculpted\u00a0into that pleasing whatever-it-is, and when you shut off that lever, the end just naturally takes this tiny, teasing curl.<\/span><\/p>\n

Look, that\u2019s a\u00a0good\u00a0metaphor. If that doesn\u2019t do it for you, I give up. Or how \u2019bout listening to the\u00a0song<\/span><\/a>\u00a0itself (lip-synched on Swiss TV in 1979). Then you won\u2019t need any metaphors. You won\u2019t need anything.<\/span><\/p>\n

Anyway, for all their genius, they\u00a0weren\u2019t<\/i>\u00a0native speakers, so there were going to be idiomatic boo-boos. There\u2019s a delicious mistake in the bridge of \u201cTake a Chance on Me,\u201d where the song slows down and the words are just \u201cTake a chance on meeee,\u201d and Agnetha breathes into the mic: \u201cThat\u2019s all I ask of you, honey.\u201d That\u2019s what she says the\u00a0first\u00a0time. The\u00a0second\u00a0time, she goes: \u201cGimme a break, will ya?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Now that is\u00a0definitely<\/em>\u00a0not what ABBA<\/small> meant. They meant \u201cGive me an opportunity to prove myself\u201d (which is what the whole song means). And you can see how they would think \u201cgimme a break\u201d means \u201cgimme an opportunity.\u201d (Wait,\u00a0doesn\u2019t<\/i>\u00a0it mean that? No.) But see, like with the Ace of Base thing above, the song is actually enriched by the error.<\/i>\u00a0Suddenly, in this song full of pleading goo, you get this aside in the tone of oh-for-fuck\u2019s-sake\u2014as if to say, with a weary eye roll, I can\u2019t buh-lieve you\u2019re making me beg like this.<\/span><\/p>\n

Couple other specimens. From the very beginning of \u201cThe Name of the Game\u201d:<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

I\u2019ve seen you twice
\n<\/span>in a short time
\nonly a week since we started<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n
\n

It seems to me
\n<\/span>for every time
\nI\u2019m getting more open-hearted<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

\u201cFor every time\u201d is not correct English, but don\u2019t look at that. Look at \u201cI\u2019m getting more open-hearted.\u201d Bj\u00f6rn and Benny and Stig thought that meant \u201cI\u2019m exposing my heart more, becoming more candid, more vulnerable.\u201d The context makes that intention clear. But the sentence in fact (or in English anyway) means something more like \u201cI\u2019m becoming more kind and warm and generous,\u201d which is not the same thing. \u201cI\u2019m becoming more\u00a0vulnerable<\/i>\u201d\u00a0versus \u201cI\u2019m becoming more\u00a0generous<\/i>\u201d\u2014it\u2019s different. Yet no one cares; it\u2019s at the beginning of the song; it runs right by you.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The following case is more complex (from the last verse in \u201cFernando\u201d): \u201c<\/span>Now we\u2019re old and gray, Fernando \/ since many years I haven\u2019t seen a rifle in your hand.\u201d Here I pause. Is it possible they were\u00a0deliberately<\/i>\u00a0channeling foreigner English there to fit the atmosphere of the song?\u00a0I searched the rest of the lyrics to find anything else like that, and\u00a0maybe (?) there\u2019s a little Spanglish here in the chorus:<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

There was something in the air that night
\n<\/span>the stars were bright, Fernando
\nthey were shining there for you and me<\/p>\n

for liberty, Fernando<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n
\n

Though we never thought that we could lose
\n<\/span>there\u2019s no regret
\n<\/b>if I had to do the same again
\nI would, my friend, Fernando<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no regret\u201d is not what an English speaker would say there, but the speaker of the poem is not supposed to\u00a0be<\/i>\u00a0an English speaker. I\u2019m sitting here translating it back into Spanish:\u00a0n<\/em>o hay pesar.<\/i>\u00a0But is that what people would say in Spanish? Is that what my father would say? I\u2019m out of my depth.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now if there are any major ABBA<\/small> psychopaths reading this, I know what you\u2019re thinking: They recorded the song in Spanish, too, y\u2019know. They were huge in Latin America. So what do the lyrics say in the Spanish version?<\/span><\/p>\n

Way ahead o\u2019 ya, Marge. Here\u2019s what they\u00a0say<\/span><\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Algo hab\u00eda alrededor quiz\u00e1
\n<\/span>de claridad, Fernando<\/em>
\nque brillaba por nosotros dos<\/em>
\nen protecci\u00f3n, Fernando<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n
\n

No pens\u00e1bamos jam\u00e1s perder
\n<\/span>ni echar atr\u00e1s<\/em>
\nsi tuviera que volverlo a hacer,<\/em>
\nlo har\u00eda ya, Fernando<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\n

Nothing there about regret at all. \u201cWe never thought we\u2019d lose or back out.\u201d And anyhow, the Spanish lyrics don\u2019t have any authority! Who knows who wrote that stuff. <\/span><\/p>\n

But it\u2019s getting late. Before I wrap this up, I want to note that there are millions of videos on YouTube of the people from ABBA<\/small> being interviewed in English. If you look at ones from the last, say, ten or fifteen years, it\u2019s delightful to check out the more or less current state of Bj\u00f6rn\u2019s English in particular. He sounds\u2014and even looks!\u2014like Rex Harrison in\u00a0My Fair Lady<\/i>. That\u2019s right: the guy who wrote the words to \u201cGimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)\u201d\u00a0has become Professor Higgins. Oh, and another thing: as of this year, apparently ABBA<\/small>\u2019s back together, and they\u2019re going on tour as holograms or something. Higgins and Pickering and the two Elizas \u2026\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

End times a-comin\u2019. Horsemen, saddle up. The rest of y\u2019all, take care of yourselves.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Anthony Madrid lives in Victoria, Texas. His second book is\u00a0<\/em>Try Never<\/a>. He is a correspondent for the\u00a0<\/em>Daily.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  If you were in the land of the living in \u201993, you\u2019ll remember a song called \u201cAll That She Wants,\u201d by the Swedish band Ace of Base. I don\u2019t know anybody who resisted that song. I, who usually hate songs like that (porny-poppy, slick, computer-generated), bought the CD and sang along with it happily. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1005,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[419],"tags":[35045,35044,35047,35046,3406,27830,35048],"class_list":["post-128450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts-culture","tag-abba","tag-ace-of-base","tag-all-that-she-wants","tag-bjorn","tag-motorhead","tag-swedish","tag-the-name-of-the-game"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPop Songs Written by Native Speakers of Swedish<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Now I don\u2019t know what they do to teach English to Swedish children, but whatever it is, anybody can see they do an excellent job.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/08\/15\/pop-songs-in-english-written-by-native-speakers-of-swedish\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pop Songs in English, Written by Native Speakers of Swedish by Anthony Madrid\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"August 15, 2018 \u2013   If you were in the land of the living in \u201993, you\u2019ll remember a song called \u201cAll That She Wants,\u201d by the Swedish band Ace of Base. I don\u2019t know\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2018\/08\/15\/pop-songs-in-english-written-by-native-speakers-of-swedish\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Paris Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/parisreview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-08-15T13:00:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-08-15T19:19:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/1524909902117697494.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1140\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"750\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anthony Madrid\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" 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