Oleanna (song)
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Oleanna is a Norwegian folk song which was translated into English and popularized in the United States by Weavers member Pete Seeger. Pete Seeger's version is not just a translation, but contain verses that are not present in the original.
The song is a critic of Ole Bull's vision of a perfect society in America. Oleanna is actually the name of one of Ole Bull's communities in his colony New Norway. His society failed, and all the immigrants moved to other areas, because the dense forest made it hard to settle. The lyrics concerns the singer's desire to leave Norway, and escape to Oleanna, a land where "wheat and corn just plant themselves/Then grow a good four feet a day/While on your bed you rest yourself"; compare the song "Big Rock Candy Mountain".
The Kingston Trio recorded a version of the song with a rewritten lyric on their 1959 album "Here We Go Again!". That group also rerecorded a shortened version of the song with another set of lyrics as a radio advertisement for 7-up.
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[edit] Lyrics
[edit] Original NorwegianI Ole-Oleanna, der er det godt at være, (Chorus):
Ja, der er det bayerøl som bare Ytterborg kan brygge (Chorus) Og brunstekte griser, de løper om så flinke (Chorus) Og laksen, så lystig, den svømmer rundt i bekker (Chorus) Men kjerringa må styre og base og stelle, (Chorus) Ja, Ole Bull ble millionær av å spille fele, |
[edit] An English VersionOh, to be in Oleanna, that is where I'd like to be (Chorus):
In Oleanna land is free, the wheat and corn just plant themselves, (Chorus) Little roasted piggies roam around the city streets, (Chorus) Beer as sweet as Muenchner springs from the ground and flows away; (Chorus) |