This is a reposting of a guest blog post I did for Dos Family five years ago. I regularly receive emails asking for the link to download the Swedish Christmas record, so I will repost it here yearly!
In the United States, it’s not uncommon to hear Christmas music wafting from shop speakers as early as the beginning of November, but it’s not “Here Comes Santa Claus” or “Jingle Bell Rock” that puts me in the holiday spirit. For me, it’s not Christmastime until I put on the recording of Swedish Christmas music that I grew up listening to each and every year: Christmas in Sweden, recorded in 1962 by Åke Jelving and a chorus of parents and children.
This is jovial, happy music, sung with energy and enthusiasm…and with audible gasping and stomping!
Our mother may be Swedish, but my siblings and I haven’t got a clue what the lyrics mean. I suspect that they, like me, sing along phonetically (and badly) in the privacy of their own homes. On Christmas day, we put the record on and leave the singing to Mommy as we all hold hands and dance in a circle, usually around the spread of snacks and glögg on the kitchen island.
My gift to you is a download of Christmas in Sweden. Evan made the MP3s directly from the record, so you’ll hear all the same snaps and crackles that I do when I listen to the original. I think that just adds to the appeal! Unless you’re a Swede, this may not sound like Christmas music to you at first, but give it time. (And maybe enjoy it with a little glögg.)
To download the album, you’ll need to visit this link. No need to create an account, just click on “download.” Easy!
Grab a new link here!
God Jul! (& Happy December 16th!)
18 Comments
I can’t wait to listen to this. My grandma passed away in August and she was Swedish. She was raised in Illinois, but her parents were born / grew up in Sweden. Christmas was always her favorite holiday and it was also her birthday 🙂
The summer is wonderful but we Swedes love Christmas. Then we turn our adventsljus in the windows (all with Advent candlesticks or advetnsstjärnor) See the link; And here u can se the stars that everyone have in ther windows.And we begin to decorate our house so it’s nice to Lucia. And bake lots of gingerbread and saffron buns. (Called Saffron-Cats)
(Here you can see what Lucia is – it has all Swedes experienced in school) and Lucia are celebrated in the Church so that all citizens can celebrate Lucia.
This years in Gothenburg;
Come and visit even on Christmas, so you may eat a real Swedish Christmas dinner (as buffet) with a lot of different herrings, bunch of salmon, sweets, sausages (called prince sausages) and ham! ( In this clip you se all the food, but also Lucia, gingerbread man, “stjärngosse” ( Star boy)
You’ve got your roots here – welcome! 🙂
I love love love this!
Yes! My deceased Swedish grandma would thank you. Merry Christmas! I will listen to this along side watching our Swedish Angel Chimes 🙂
That’s true I love this! our mom used to always put on this but on tape, when we were baking gingerbreads!
Thank you so much for sharing it and giving me the christmas feeling again! 🙂
I’m actually danish and understand swedish language, so I will look forward to hearing the album:-)
Anna – You have your own Gingerbread in sweden. 🙂
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=annas+pepparkakor&FORM=HDRSC2
Yes, we have it here too! Delicious. 🙂
That’s great!
Found it on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/album/6JESHCylTds6kZY7agGJ2d
This download made my day here in Shanghai! Thanks dear for sharing. Wish you a wonderful christmas and new year,
Though of Dutch extraction I adore all things Scandinavian, so thanks for this God Jul music. In 2014, you posted about the brilliant Swedish/Danish TV series Bron/Broen — The Bridge — and I’ve been captivated by the Nordic Noir genre ever since.
This site is a fun resource, and reports that season 3 of The Bridge has just completed its showing in the UK, so it’ll be coming to our screens soon: http://nordicnoir.tv/
Merry Christmas, Anna!
I think you would enjoy this: What if Wookiees sounded like Pee-wee Herman? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FPyn34QUDY&feature=youtu.be
Tweet-worthy more than comment-worthy but I’m not on Twitter 🙂
Happy New Year Anna
I am notorisously **it at sending cards, am really, really bad and always have been. In fact I now actively discourage people from sending them to me. What I prefer to do is to send people a random postcard during the year with goodwill messages.
Anyway, hope you had a good holiday and new year, looking forward to seeing what you are doing over the current year. Can’t wait to see how it’s going with your new place.
I am currently doing more pottery, drawing commissions and some sewing projects, oh…and I gave my website a big new year make-over.
Bliadhna Mhath Ùr
Lorrie x
Just noticed my ‘notoriously’ typo! Grrrrr…
What doing? How’s that laundry room?
Nothing yet, Mother Mary! Just busy working on work.
I just tried to download from this link and got blocked by chrome – apparently the site has malicious stuff on it? Is there any other download option? Thank you so much, and Merry December. – Suzy.