Speaking of Tom Waits... that cool and nifty country Sweden has had a couple of famous Tom Waits style baladeers. One of them being the immortal Cornelis Vreeswijk. And here, in the interest of cultural exchange, we present one of the most haunting songs of Scandinavia, including a rough English translation. Well, I found 3 or 4 translations online, and i kinda combined the best bits into something that hopefully just about works.
"The Ballad about Fredrik Åkare and the sweet miss Cecilia Lind"
From the Öckerö barn, hear the sounds of accordion and bass
The full moon shines as if made of glass
There dances Frederik Åkare, check against cheek
With little miss Cecilia Lind
Eyes shut, She dances so close
She follows in the dance wherever he goes.
He leads and she follows light as the breeze
but say why is she blushing, miss Cecilia Lind?
Was it because of what Fredrik Åkare said:
You smell so nice and you dance so well
You waist is so small and your bosom so round
Oh, you're such a beauty, Cecilia Lind
But then the dance was over and where could they go?
They both lived so close by anyway.
Finally they came to Cecilia's gate.
"-Now I want to be kissed", said Cecilia Lind.
Shame on you Fredrik Åkare, shame old man.
Cecilia Lind is only a child.
Pure as a flower, shy as a hind
"I'm almost seventeen", said Cecilia Lind.
And the stars wander and the hours fly by
And Fredrik is old, but the moon is new
Yes, Fredrik is old, but love is blind
"Oh, kiss me again", said Cecilia Lind
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