Jocke's, Martin's and Sami's posts translated to English

[sakermanser]

Forgot to do a translation of this last week...

In the thread for 'Ensam lång väg hem' someone says that Sami's guitar solo is simple but really nice, Jocke responds:

Funny that everyone (journalists also) take it for granted that it is Sami who thought of and played the solo at the end.
It is not.

Who is he implying then? :S

[stjärnor]

I think he must mean that either he or Martin wrote it. I'd have guessed that Jocke then played it when it was recorded in the studio. Maybe he would like to tell us himself?

I've had a look at the video I have from the Stockholm show of this song, and I can't make out who's definitely playing that part (I'm too far away), but it looks like Sami is playing it live. I can't be 100% sure though.

(off topic...)
Although, about 3 quarters of the way through the song, Martin & Sami swap places on the stage, so Martin is left of Jocke and Sami is right of him. Anyone know why? Do they do that often when they play live? (or was it something to do with the sound issues for that concert?)

[utomjording]

(off topic...)
Although, about 3 quarters of the way through the song, Martin & Sami swap places on the stage, so Martin is left of Jocke and Sami is right of him. Anyone know why? Do they do that often when they play live? (or was it something to do with the sound issues for that concert?)

Yes, they often swap places on the stage. Maybe once or twice at every concert? I guess they like to say hello to the audience at the other side of the stage.

[stjärnor]

thanks utomjording!
It was nice to see Sami pop up on my video, especially since I hadn't seen it at the time.

[stjärnor]

In response to the 'black socks on kent's rider' post, someone asks who pays for the items on a band's rider. (ie if an expensive champagne like Krug 1996 was requested, would a festival pay for it?) Jocke responds:

The limit of what a band/artist can claim on their rider, is what the band/artist can afford.
In 98% of cases you pay for the Krug yourself if you want it on your rider.
I never cease to be amazed that people believe that artists get everything for free.
Newspapers, ice, water/soft drinks are often included on the contract, and some (American) big artists may only want to have certain colours in the hall and linen tableclothes and cutlery, but really special requests, like a white tiger cub, or extremely expensive wines/ food (foie gras, lobster, beluga caviar, tartufo bianco, etc.) are nice to pay for yourself.

(I'm struggling to translate the next line, if anyone wants to help?) Enda "nöjet" är i så fall att få folk på festivalen i Blåmåla att få tag på den exklusiva dieten. Vilket inte ska underskattas
...something about people at festivals in blue paint and an exclusive diet.... which shouldn't be under estimated

Our rider is usually extremely simple as I said, and any wine and spirits we bring with us ourselves.
In road (touring?) cases.

[Reina]

(I'm struggling to translate the next line, if anyone wants to help?) Enda "nöjet" är i så fall att få folk på festivalen i Blåmåla att få tag på den exklusiva dieten. Vilket inte ska underskattas
...something about people at festivals in blue paint and an exclusive diet.... which shouldn't be under estimated

"the only 'fun' is in that case to get people at the festival in Blåmåla (I guess he means a small and desolate place) to manage to find/get that exclusive diet. Which shouldn't be underestimated "

[stjärnor]

Thanks! I had originally thought that Blåmåla was a place, but google was no help, so I then thought it was blue paint (blå & måla)...!
So I guess, he's really trying to say that sometimes, they might have a little 'fun' with something on the rider that might be difficult to find when they're in a smaller, out of the way town?

[stjärnor]

A post from Sami (in relation to kent winning best live act at the Rockbjörn awards):

Thanks again to everyone who voted for us. The party was ok...if you didn't grab a hold of it yourself.
Now we must find the bear (the award) which Markus lost yesterday. It is probably in the mud on Djurgården in the meadow between Djurgårdsvägen and Biskopsvägen.
Who ever finds it may keep it.

[stjärnor]

This might get a bit long and complicated, but to translate the 2 recent postings from Jocke,
I need to explain the context in which they have been written.

A thread on the swedish board questions the lines in Ismael:

Jag föddes i en snöstorm
Jag antar det var kallt
Det finns inga vittnen från den dagen

I was born in a snowstorm
I assume it was cold
There are no witnesses from that day

Later in the thread, someone says that they think the song is about the band,
and in particular about Harri's departure, from these lines:

Du sa ”Jag längtar tillbaks till 1997"
Jag sa ”Vill du ge upp är det är ditt val"

You say "I long to return to 1997"
I say "If you want to give up, it's your own choice."

The same person also mentioned that Harri joined the band in 1997.


Jocke responds: (some translation help needed with parts marked * please!)

It is not obvious.
It is only you who dreams
"Ismael" is not about the band in any way.
The fact that the main character in disgust interrupts someone who wants to return to
his youthful happy days, is caused by the fact that our narrator doesn't care much for
something that he sees as a luxury problem
That it was 97 is because it sounds good to sing.

Regarding the text.
The line about birth isn't symbolic, but very literal.
Therefore, in the main character's own words, it could be told something like this:
"I came to Sweden from a country which was ravaged by civil war
When I researched my origin* (background?), the only detail which stood out
amongst all the documents was a storm/ a snowstorm on the day I was born.
I notice with a hint of irony every birthday that I guess I may have had... an
unnescessary chilly welcome.
But since my parents are dead and the country was in a mess, there is to my knowledge
no witnesses left from my big day.
I could count myself as a witness, but...
You remember every detail from your own birth.
I remember nothing."

You will surely understand that there not space for all that information in a text set to music.
You have to simply concentrate on what a: sounds best, b: works well in phrasings & c: gives
the best atmosphere you want to achieve.

The war and the main character's attitude to it comes from someone I know.
The rest is fiction.
My poor interpretation of a new start with unimagined possibilites and unimagined complications.
This is probably completely impossible to understand by just reading text, but it was what I had
in my thoughts when it was written.


On the forum someone replies: (shortened version for easier reading)

That the following lyrics from Ismael gives me the feeling of someone who had lost their home, or forced from it:

Jag växte upp snabbt från min barndom
Jag föddes redan slagen

I grew up fast from my childhood
I was born already beaten


Jocke responds:

Here the main character could add (with some irony):
"I was forced to grow up quickly, already beaten, and that, good people, was all there is to tell
about my childhood"

Furthermore, (even if it was someone else who wrote about the bands involvment in the text),
Harri began with the band in January/February 1996.

Corrections/translations/comments very much welcomed. This was a tricky one to translate. I don't doubt there's a few mistakes in there somewhere!

[Reina]

Great job! I can imagine that Jockes posts aren't too easy to understand. I'll try to correct some things as you asked for

I say "Will you give up, it's your choice"

I would write "If you want to give up, it's your own choice."

The main character in the song is contemptuously cut off by someone who wants to return to his youthful happy days because our narrator does not have much to spare* in something he feels is a luxury problem.

That one is hard to translate, I'd go with "The fact that the main character in disgust interrupts someone who wants to return to his youthful happy days, is caused by the fact that our narrator doesn't care much for something that he sees as a luxury problem". 'Att ha mycket till övers för något' is hard to translate.

The line about birth isn't symbolic, but not literal.

= The line about birth isn't symbolic, but very literal.

I notice with a hint of irony every birthday that I guess I may have been... an unnescessary chilly welcome.

been = had/gotten

You remember every detail from your own birth.
I remember nothing."

He's ironic here. 'Of course, you remember every detail'

It is certainly impossible to understand the text, but it was what I had in my thoughts when it was written.

"This is probably completely impossible to understand by just reading text, but it was what I had in my thoughts when it was written."

"I was forced to grow up quickly, already beaten, and the good people, were all there to tell from my childhood"

"I was forced to grow up quickly, already beaten, and that, good people, was all there is to tell about my childhood"

And för övrigt means furthermore. Not 'for the others'.

I just ended up correcting all I could now, just because I find it helpful myself to get corrected when I make mistakes, to improve. Again, you did a great job!

[stjärnor]

Thanks so much, koelkast! (and all those multiple quotes must've taken ages!)
Without any Swede here to help me with those tricky little words and phrases, I'm guessing sometimes. (and I know that's why I can't get everything correct).

Sometimes a 'translation' looks easy enough at first, then halfway through I'll get stuck! I'll go back to my post and make some corrections. Thanks again!

[Reina]

Thanks so much, koelkast! (and all those multiple quotes must've taken ages!)
Without any Swede here to help me with those tricky little words and phrases, I'm guessing sometimes. (and I know that's why I can't get everything correct).

Sometimes a 'translation' looks easy enough at first, then halfway through I'll get stuck! I'll go back to my post and make some corrections. Thanks again!

Multiple quotes is a case of some hardcore ctrl c, ctrl v, hehe. Takes two seconds

Guessing turns out good very often! And like I said, Jockes Swedish is often a little bit harder than the average Swede's swedish!

[stjärnor]

A couple of more posts from Jocke (in the same Ismael thread as the previous 2)

Someone asks:
'But why is Harri missing from the cover of 'Gravitation'?

Jocke responds:

If you exclude the single 'Gamla Ullevi/Skisser...' which was taken only 5 (!) days before it was released,
all band photographs of all the covers are taken long before release.
Harri began in the band after the recording of 'verkilgen'
He started simply just to reherse before the tour.
All pictures were already taken and on the way to print.
Also, he didn't play anything on the album, so even if we had time it would have been...misleading.


And someone had asked in reference to the earlier post about the song being about Harri:
"Jocke, I'm sure you've said/writen that you never write lyrics about the band or yourself...??
Then I wonder how you do it, do you make up small stories and write the song from that person's point of view?"

Jocke reponds:

I write a lot about myself.
79% actually. (has anyone got a better translation of 'typ'?)
A lot also happens to be about people around me, but on an emotional level.
I don't want to write about the bands' 'career'.
Boring, uninteresting and...a narrow subject for me.

[stjärnor]

There's a thread on the swedish board titled 'kent shoukd do a club tour'. It began with people listing the clubs they'd like kent to play,
and it then turned into should kent play smaller venues in smaller towns since some bigger venues aren't sold out and why aren't their tours promoted properly?

Jocke responds:

Welcome to the internet,
The self-proclaimed expert's paradise.

The last ice hall tours? (ice hall = ice hockey stadium/halls)
Promotion?
kent posters?
Interviews?
You must be a promo genius
The main reason that you never see any kent posters is...
Can you guess?
That's right.
You take them down and take them home.
It does not matter, but that is why you never see any kent posters around the city.
Not that posters, interviews and other advertising melp especially if people are not interested.
Often you can find that these (sometimes costly) marketing campaigns are only
noticed by those who are already converted.

The spring tour was seem by 100,000 people.
The summer tour even more.
It is as said, more than any other artist in Scandinavia draws
(possibly with the exception of the eminent Lars W, (winnerbäck) in Sweden)
We have played ice halls since 1999.
There are no other places you may play in Sweden.
Safety, you know.
1000-2000 capacity is extremely scarce in Sweden, my friend.
Believe me, we have really tried to look for good venues.
It was one of the reasons why we did the famous tent project in 2005.
A tour which was furthermore, sold out in Stockgolm, Gothenburg, Oslo & Helsinki.
In the other cities the audience was around 5000-6000...

I have explained this before, but since people persist in not thinking, so I will do it again:
When you decide on a gig in a city, you must also have an estimation of how many people who will think of coming.
For us it is between 3000-6000 in all the cities, except the largest, where more people will come.
There are no 'clubs' to play if you attract so many people like we do.
Therefore you do halls, knowing they will not sell out.
In Malmö, around 6000 people will typically come.
Arenas hold perhaps... 20,000 people, if you pack them in.
I don't believe that there are more than 5 artists in the world which would fill an arena in Malmö on a Tuesday...
Of course, you could have played 8 gigs in smaller clubs, so that all who want to see the gig will get a place, but you
may not realise it, but it is of course, much, much, much more expensive to pay a crew and hired technology 8 times than it is to pay once.
There is no economy to playing small clubs, if like us, you bring lots of technology and do something really nice.
We did 4 gigs in Stockholm and 4 in Gothenburg in 'smaller' venues (just to avoid an ice hall which is probably a boring
gig place), but it meant we lost lots of money on 3 nights hotel (26 rooms at 2000kr!) & 4 days pay to all the crew
(22 people at at least 3-4000kr per day!) + catering and the rental of all the equipment and busses and trucks.

It costs a lot to be at the top.

[JukkeBerry]

Thank you stjärnor for this translation.

A Kent club tour in Sweden would probably upset more than please. There's just too many fans who wouldn't be able to get tickets. Others would be ripped off by scalpers. And a handful would actually make it to the gigs.

I really enjoyed my six shows at the "Anti-Hockey-Rink" Annexet. Nonetheless, I would love to experience another tent tour. May is a great month to tour!

In addition to this I want another D&JD album. Please keep Stefan Boman on board & deliver the goods!