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Help with a song - När jag var fem

Darren844127
Australia

Help with a song - När jag var fem

Post by Darren844127 »

Hoping folks can clarify a few translation questions I have.

I'll just post the bits that I am up to atm,

När jag var fem höll jag i mammas kjol
Och levde i en vänlig värld
Skolan kom sen och jag var tio år
Och blev övervakad, visad och lärd.

Vid femton år var jag en del av ett gäng
Där ingen nånsin tänkte för sig
Men nu är det dags, jag skall göra mig fri
Och bli mig själv, nu är leken förbi
Nu vill jag ha ett liv för mig.

Refräng:

Jag vill se mig runt
och lära mig om världen
Se vad kärlek är
och vad jag, bara vad jag.

1) I have a question about the line "Skolan kom sen" - I understand that sen can mean late, later, and next (among several other possibilities). I have seen people translate this line as "school came late" which doesn't seem right to me. I guess they see the line that she was 10 yo and assume she started school late... but my take on it would be "school came later" or "school came next".

Can someone explain the correct option. Also, I understand that context is a big thing in choosing the right meaning, but in this song based on context alone one could argue that she was a late starter based on the age of 10 (although I see 10 yo as a lyrical device and not intending to say she started late). But the point I am trying to make is perhaps context is not enough in this case, and therefore is there some other way the correct choice is made in this instance? Or not...

2) The line "Där ingen nånsin tänkte för sig" - I read it as "WHERE no one ever though for themselves", but I see the most common interpretation of Där is THERE. Am I correct in my choice?

3) Lastly

och vad jag, bara vad jag.

"and what I,only what I"... I assume this is meant to mean something like "and who I am, who I am" as in discovering herself, finding out who she really is (as a mature person and no longer a psychologically unformed crowd follower). Would this interpretation be correct? And if so, if someone could briefly explain why it is expressed like it is in Swedish I'd be very grateful!


Here's the song for those who are interested. Her voice is beautiful and well worth a listen if you haven't heard the song.

User avatar
Crahdol
Japan

Re: Help with a song - När jag var fem

Post by Crahdol »

Darren844127 wrote: Wed Apr 13, 2022 11:23 am

1) I have a question about the line "Skolan kom sen" - I understand that sen can mean late, later, and next (among several other possibilities). [...] but my take on it would be "school came later" or "school came next".

I'd say 'next' would carry the same meaning as the original text in this case. It refers to 'after whatever was mentioned before'.

Darren844127 wrote: Wed Apr 13, 2022 11:23 am

based on context alone one could argue that she was a late starter based on the age of 10 (although I see 10 yo as a lyrical device and not intending to say she started late).

It's more of a lyrical device here. See it more as separate statements. First; she's 5 years old, next; she's starting school. More time passes; she's now 10 years old.

Darren844127 wrote: Wed Apr 13, 2022 11:23 am

2) The line "Där ingen nånsin tänkte för sig" - I read it as "WHERE no one ever though for themselves", but I see the most common interpretation of Där is THERE. Am I correct in my choice?

Yes, you are correct in using 'where' in this case. The dictionary translation of där is, indeed, 'there'. This is kind of a special case. If you in English were to say 'a place WHERE a thing happens', the equivalent way to say it in Swedish would be en plats DÄR en händelse inträffar'.

Darren844127 wrote: Wed Apr 13, 2022 11:23 am

3) Lastly

och vad jag, bara vad jag.

I'm like 99% sure this line is

och va' jag, bara va' jag

va' (pronounced with a long a: sound) is short for vara (Eng: be). I'd say it's more common nowadays to say va' rather than vara, unless you want to sound quite formal or overly specific.

FYI:
Agneta Fälthskog is very famous in Sweden, as she is one of the singers in ABBA.
I think your citizenship gets revoked if you don't know who she is. /s

Vänliga hälsningar/Best Regards/よろしくお願いします
Crahdol
| 🇸🇪: Native | 🇬🇧: Fluent | 🇯🇵: N5 |

Darren844127
Australia

Re: Help with a song - När jag var fem

Post by Darren844127 »

Thank you for the excellent response Crahdol :-)

Crahdol wrote: Thu Apr 14, 2022 6:21 pm

I'd say 'next' would carry the same meaning as the original text in this case. It refers to 'after whatever was mentioned before'.

This was my original interpretation so I'm very pleased to hear you confirm it!

Crahdol wrote: Thu Apr 14, 2022 6:21 pm

I'm like 99% sure this line is

och va' jag, bara va' jag

va' (pronounced with a long a: sound) is short for vara (Eng: be). I'd say it's more common nowadays to say va' rather than vara, unless you want to sound quite formal or overly specific.

Yes on a re-listen I think you are probably correct. The online lyric sites have it as vad and I thought she was just dropping the D but your analysis sounds more feasible. And I noticed that she does shorten some other words in the song, namely någonsin to nånsin.

So in conclusion a good interpretation would be "and be myself, only be myself" ?

Crahdol wrote: Thu Apr 14, 2022 6:21 pm

FYI:
Agneta Fälthskog is very famous in Sweden, as she is one of the singers in ABBA.
I think your citizenship gets revoked if you don't know who she is. /s

As a very young child in Australia in the mid 1970's some of my earliest memories are of the ABBA records on display through the glass cabinet door under our record player. Mainly the one in the helicopter, and a few others. My mother still has them!

I bought her their new album for Christmas!

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