If you ever need a stranger to sing at your wedding....
A tale of two Jens:
#1
While abroad my senior year of college I met a church musician whose name, I believed, was "Yes." He was Swedish, and took advantage of all that that implies. Clear blue eyes, white blond hair, pale ivory skin; he took his heritage rather seriously. He was a musician, and watching him play the piano at the small church I attended a few times was an experience in itself. He was very accomplished on keyboards of many different types, and he led the international crowd in hymns new and familiar.
*On an interesting side note, the building in which services were held had been school before communisim reigned supreme in Budapest. The communists, in their infinate and far-reaching wisdom, used the building as a horse stable. The Presbyterians signed a 99 year lease after an early 90's return to democracy and were in the midst of renovation when I was last there. It was a beautiful building.
To meet him, I agreed to sing at one of the church services. While I have been singing in churches much of my life, I had never done so in Swedish with a Swedish keyboardest/director, and this turned out to be not such a great idea as I'm not really familiar with Swedish or what to do when your voice breaks in the middle of a foreign parish... but that is neither here nor there, and not really the point of this story. So, I worked with him. We met 2 or 3 times before the "performance" and talked more than we sang (also not the best idea for Swedish singing success).
We met for coffee. We met to do some Christmas shopping. I attended a piano recital at one of the best music academies in Eastern Europe. He asked me out for drinks. I declined-- he was surrounded by students and teachers yammering at him in languages I didn't understand, and I had a final in molecular biology the next morning.
We met for espresso my last week in the country. He talked about teaching Swedish to Hungarian psycologists. I talked about American movie theatres. He told me he was fluent in 5 languages and when I asked how he explained that he had followed various girlfriends to various countries and picked them up much as one picks up suveniors.
I thought, "Oh, crap! I can't just bring him home! I don't want to bring him home! How do I always find the psychos? How is it possible that this seemingly well-rounded individual is this ridiculous? Well, he already speaks English so he probably doesn't need to come to America. Maybe I can make-up some excuse about having to pack....."
He then told me about his fiance. And while I was a bit put out that we had gone out for a month without this being something he thought was important to tell me, I was relieved. I have been imagining Jens knocking on my door, smiling with suitcase in hand... and I wasn't happy to see him.
Jens and I left each other exactly halfway between his destination and mine. Occasionally I get an email about a concert or recital he's giving. I always reply to say I'm unable to attend seeing as how I'm in America and he's an ocean and half a continent away.
He never writes back.
And really, that works for me.
#2
Jens Lekman has been voted one of the sexiest men in Sweden the past two years. He's a singer/song-writer inspired by Lawerence Welk. He's charming and funny and everything (in my experience) a Swede named Jens should be. He writes in English because when he started his career, he didn't think Swedish was a very sexy language (and really, "Jag älskar dig" sounds more like a sneeze then "I love you"). He's spectacular.
When people think of Sweden
I think they have the wrong idea
like Cliff Richards who thought
it was just porn and gonorrhea
And Lou Reed said
in the film "Blue in the face"
that compared to New York City
Sweden was a scary place
They seem to have a point
after meeting with this girl
maybe not Cliff Richards but
Lou has surely met her
The doubt in her eyes when
I said I wanted to kiss her
for the sake of liking her
and not because of the blizzard
She said "shhh please be quiet
I know you don't want to
but please deny it"
'Cause the cold Swedish winter
is right outside and I just want
somebody to hold me through the night.
And that works for me.
#1
While abroad my senior year of college I met a church musician whose name, I believed, was "Yes." He was Swedish, and took advantage of all that that implies. Clear blue eyes, white blond hair, pale ivory skin; he took his heritage rather seriously. He was a musician, and watching him play the piano at the small church I attended a few times was an experience in itself. He was very accomplished on keyboards of many different types, and he led the international crowd in hymns new and familiar.
*On an interesting side note, the building in which services were held had been school before communisim reigned supreme in Budapest. The communists, in their infinate and far-reaching wisdom, used the building as a horse stable. The Presbyterians signed a 99 year lease after an early 90's return to democracy and were in the midst of renovation when I was last there. It was a beautiful building.
To meet him, I agreed to sing at one of the church services. While I have been singing in churches much of my life, I had never done so in Swedish with a Swedish keyboardest/director, and this turned out to be not such a great idea as I'm not really familiar with Swedish or what to do when your voice breaks in the middle of a foreign parish... but that is neither here nor there, and not really the point of this story. So, I worked with him. We met 2 or 3 times before the "performance" and talked more than we sang (also not the best idea for Swedish singing success).
We met for coffee. We met to do some Christmas shopping. I attended a piano recital at one of the best music academies in Eastern Europe. He asked me out for drinks. I declined-- he was surrounded by students and teachers yammering at him in languages I didn't understand, and I had a final in molecular biology the next morning.
We met for espresso my last week in the country. He talked about teaching Swedish to Hungarian psycologists. I talked about American movie theatres. He told me he was fluent in 5 languages and when I asked how he explained that he had followed various girlfriends to various countries and picked them up much as one picks up suveniors.
I thought, "Oh, crap! I can't just bring him home! I don't want to bring him home! How do I always find the psychos? How is it possible that this seemingly well-rounded individual is this ridiculous? Well, he already speaks English so he probably doesn't need to come to America. Maybe I can make-up some excuse about having to pack....."
He then told me about his fiance. And while I was a bit put out that we had gone out for a month without this being something he thought was important to tell me, I was relieved. I have been imagining Jens knocking on my door, smiling with suitcase in hand... and I wasn't happy to see him.
Jens and I left each other exactly halfway between his destination and mine. Occasionally I get an email about a concert or recital he's giving. I always reply to say I'm unable to attend seeing as how I'm in America and he's an ocean and half a continent away.
He never writes back.
And really, that works for me.
#2
Jens Lekman has been voted one of the sexiest men in Sweden the past two years. He's a singer/song-writer inspired by Lawerence Welk. He's charming and funny and everything (in my experience) a Swede named Jens should be. He writes in English because when he started his career, he didn't think Swedish was a very sexy language (and really, "Jag älskar dig" sounds more like a sneeze then "I love you"). He's spectacular.
When people think of Sweden
I think they have the wrong idea
like Cliff Richards who thought
it was just porn and gonorrhea
And Lou Reed said
in the film "Blue in the face"
that compared to New York City
Sweden was a scary place
They seem to have a point
after meeting with this girl
maybe not Cliff Richards but
Lou has surely met her
The doubt in her eyes when
I said I wanted to kiss her
for the sake of liking her
and not because of the blizzard
She said "shhh please be quiet
I know you don't want to
but please deny it"
'Cause the cold Swedish winter
is right outside and I just want
somebody to hold me through the night.
And that works for me.
posted by Katharine at
5:26 AM
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