To What Ends

To what
ends does
one go,
to give
someone
a gift
like
no other
person
would or –
perhaps
even –
can?


Today I presented my husband with an interpretation of a pop song released in Norway in 1969. Dan remembered this song from his early-childhood visits to his grandparents' home. Over and over on the record player, his grandma would play this song – sung by an eight-year-old Norwegian girl. Dan remembered Grandma saying the song was about a little girl mourning her sailor father lost at sea.

Grandma's fascination with the song started during a trip she took to Norway. While visiting her son-in-law's relatives, Grandma listened to a little girl sing this song along with a 45-record. Grandma was so impressed, that the little girl gave her the record. Grandma took it home to Minnesota. In turn, she shared the gift with her visiting grandchildren.

The experience stuck with Dan. The Norwegian words did not. By the time he was old enough care, Dan discovered that nobody knew what happened to Grandma's record. Dan's own visit (in 1995) to those relatives in Norway produced no results in tracking down the song title. No one there remembered giving Grandma a record two decades earlier. And, Dan forgot about his song quest for more than a dozen years... until this past Easter Sunday.

We'd gathered at his parents' home along with his mother's sister's family. Their reminiscing about Grandma brought the song to Dan's mind. He asked about the record again. Eventually, his brother (via a phone call) remembered the "B-side" song: "Si si Albertino."

Back home Easter evening, I began an internet search for "Si si Albertino." Dan took over but called me to translate a Norwegian chatroom conversation that began "What irritating song do you have on your brain right now?" A Norwegian woman had written: "Si, si Albertino... But how I can have an Anita Hegerland-song I haven't heard in 28 years (given away to a Red Cross rummage sale in 1979) so deeply on the brain is a wonder."

The mystery began to unfold as we learned the recording artist. Googling "Anita Hegerland" eventually led us to a website of her song clips. None of her 25 childhood-song titles hinted at a sailor father lost at sea. After preview-listening to all but one, we tried "If I were a Bird." With those first bars, Dan said: "That's it. It sounds a little different than I remember – more Mitch Miller. But that's the one."

Googling "Hvis Jeg var en Fugl" took us to a Norwegian eBay-like site. There someone had posted a picture of the 45-record's jacket cover showing a young Anita Hegerland and the single's two songs: Hvis Jeg var en Fugl and Albertino. Now Dan was certain this was the 45-record his Grandma played for her grandchildren back in the early 1970s.

We goggled on. A Norwegian blog post of a woman reminiscing about the song – one her mother had ingrained into her little-girl head – gave us the text.

HVIS JEG VAR EN FUGL

Når jeg går til ro, og dagen er endt,
og tusen små stjerner på himmlen er tent.
Da sovner jeg inn og drømmer i fred,
om pappa der ute på havet et sted.

Hvis jeg var en fugl, med vinger og fjær,
jeg fløy over havet der pappa`n min er.

Han sa da han dro, min reise blir lang,
men jeg er tilbake til våren en gang.
Så fikk vi et brev, og jeg ble så lei.
For først neste sommer er pappa hos meg.

Hvis jeg var en fugl, med vinger og fjær,
jeg fløy over havet der pappa`n min er.

(Fredrik Friis / Anita Hegerland 1969)

Monday morning I began working on an interpretative translation: not a word-for-word breakdown, but one reflective and singable in Dan's native tongue. The result would be a gift for his birthday on Friday.

Monday after work, Dan went back to the music-clip site and downloaded the two songs featured on Grandma's record. He burned them onto a CD and played them for us. Boy O boy! Did our boys tire of it quickly. (The process may fuel their own future responses to "What irritating song do you have on your mind?") During the week, I refined the interpretation to fit the melody. This evening Dan opened his gift:

IF I WERE A BIRD

When I settle down, at the close of the day
and a thousand small stars light, up heaven's way
then I fall asleep, and dream in peace
of my pappa out there, on the ocean some place.

If I were a bird, with feathers and wings
I'd fly o'er the ocean where my pappa sings.

As he left he said: My trip will be long.
But I will be back when, Spring sings its song.
Then we got a note, and I felt so sad.
Now it will be summer, when I see my dad.

If I were a bird, with feathers and wings
I'd fly o'er the ocean, where my pappa sings.


Interpreted for Dan by Wendy 2008
Happy Birthday.


To What Ends...

***By popular request, lyrics to SI, SI ALBERTINO can be found by clicking here on the following post: To What Ends? Again! Hope this helps those in search!***