Nationalteatern - "Livet är en fest" (1974)

The Swedish political 70s band Nationalteatern's (The National Theater) second album and their big breakthrough. Already in my youth / early adulthood, when the band's music was played in various party contexts, it was music from the past. Today even more so. The political and / or socially realistic music tends to age a faster than the standard rock n'roll about love and lust. At the same time, the songs become quite fun and interesting time documents, and today's young listeners can get a little insight into the political engagement of the 1970s in Sweden (which leaned heavily to the left).

On the album several of the band's classics are found, of course the title song Livet är en fest (Life's a party), but also others such as Hanna from Arlöv (Hanna from Arlöv), Bängen trålar (slang for the police are searching/watching), Speedy Gonzales and several other more or less known songs for the public. When I listened to this in my younger years, the political message was secondary. Instead, me and my friends heard songs about alcohol and drugs that in our ears were more like tributes to these substances. Somewhere in my mind, I knew there was probably some kind of societal criticism in the texts, but I chose to ignore that. Just like most others who listened to Nationalteatern a few decades after the creation of songs, in a new and different society with other issues and political ideologies.

A good example of selective listening was Bängen trålar. In the first verses it is sung about where to find weed in Gothenburg, and how you chill in the September sun smoking this. Cool. When later on they begin to sing about the societal system and how those who have money are protected and never convicted of crimes, well, then it became less interesting. Skip to the next song. Every time I visited Gothenburg in my younger years, I was very curious about Näckrosdammen, Vasaparken and Femman's square, where you would find weed, according to the song. Speedy Gonzales was another song, where every form of criticism of someone or something was completely missed, and the song's message instead was about turning on and smoking weed.

In the Swedish 70s political music scene I have always thought Nationalteatern were one of the better bands. They wrote good songs, and could play on their instruments. So I think this album is fairly good. A lot of groovy songs, where Plast's sång is one of the favorites today, although the lyrics in general are quite outdated. It's somewhat difficult to identify with much of what the songs explore. In the 1970s, the class struggle, the communist ideology and the anger against the bourgeoisie were a larger part of the debate than today, it seems. At the same time, it makes the music quite fun to listen to, a time capsule. It is with different ears I hear this today than when I was 20 years old. Both perspectives have their charm. The album is part of Swedish music history, and has its place in the collection.


Tracklist

Side A
1. "Jack the Ripper" 4:48
2. "Plast's sång" 3:44
3. "Stena Olssons Compagnie" 3:07
4. "Mr. John Carlos" 6:43
5. "Innerst Inne" 3:16

Side B
1. "Livet är en fest" 4:16
2. "Speedy Gonzales" 4: 9
3. "Paradisets berg" 2:01
4. "Lägg av!" 2:28
5. "Hanna från Arlöv" 3:41
6. "Bängen trålar" 4:15

Nationalteatern - "Barn av vår tid" (1978)
The National Theatre - "Children of our time"

Thinnertrasan vandrar mellan husen
Thinnertrasan tänder alla ljusen
Thinnertrasan tar mig till ett annat land...
(The cloth with Thinner Solution goes around the houses
The cloth with Thinner Solution lights up all the candles
The cloth with Thinner Solution takes me to another land...)

(Especially in the 70s in Sweden, teenagers uses to sniff on cloths with Thinner Solution to get high).

My 20s. The eternal pre-club party. Sing-alongs. Alcohol.

Vi slängde i oss varsin dubbeltripp och var påtända så det räckte
(Each of us took a double trip and were high enough)

My 20s. Drug romantic days. The desperate desire for women. The constant frustration of that lonely walk home.

Jag hamnade i en park
och levde på att sälja...
Haderadandadoopapa
Får man inte göra inte bra
(I ended up in a park
and survived by selling...
Haderadandadoopapa
That's not allowed, not good)

My 20s. An illusion of external security, the reality of inner chaos. The time when it was difficult to talk with strangers and women. Sober.

Jag skjuter en meter, pavar en öl
(I shoot up one meter, drinks a beer)

At this time in my life, Nationalteatern was a significant part in the soundtrack. They accompanied the parties, the drinking and the drug-induced ecstasy. Are you saying that there were political messages in the lyrics? That they were critical of society and how things were run? The 20-year-old Markus had little understanding of this (although, far away, I had heard of it). These were songs that called for drug use and which said that life was a party. That life was an adventure. I had friends who each took "a double trip" just because Nationalteatern sang about it. Their music wasn't the only thing I misunderstood at this time.

Nationalteatern began as a theater group and the band was formed as an offshoot to this (the theater group continued until 1993). The band must be defined as one of the greatest in the Swedish progressive scene. It must here be said that the 70s Swedish prog scene was something else than what we usually define as prog. In Sweden it was a politically colored (left) rock music and had nothing to do with bands like Gentle Giant or King Crimson. Why this is so, I don't know. It obviously hightens the risk of misunderstandings and leads to eternal clarifications on which kind of prog you're talking about, at least when you're in Sweden. Swedish 70s prog or the international prog? And since there are a lot of Swedish bands playing the international kind of prog it gets even more confusing.

Anyway, Barn Av Vår Tid is certainly a really good album and is absolutely on my top list on Swedish albums. The A-side consists of a trio of classics, it opens hard with Popens Mussolinis (The Mussolinis of Pop), and continues with Kolla kolla (Look Look) to finish with Spisa (a slang word, means eat or listen (to records)). All three Swedish masterpieces that I can still sing along to. The police criticism in Spisa is almost as brutal as in the NWA classic Fuck tha Police.

The B-side revolves around the epic diamond Barn Av Vår Tid, a little over seven minutes long exercise in creativity. Am I exaggerating when I say this is probably one of the best songs the Swedish music movement has created? The song consists of several parts, each part has its own character, and where the whole becomes greater than the individual parts (to resort to some clichés).

The B-side's first song Ingelas sång (Ingela's song) is mostly a warm up for the title track, and after Barn Av Vår Tid the rest of the album gets in the shadow. The Dylan cover Om Bara Min Älskade Väntar (If Only My Beloved Is Waiting) is pretty boring, but the last Ge Mig Mitt Liv Nu! (Give Me My Life Now!) deserves better, it's actually quite nice and melancholy. But after the experience of the title song, I had seldom any inspiration for the rest of the album. I was emotionally drained.

A short period I played in some sort of cover band, we made an attempt to play Barn Av Vår Tid, but we never got it as good as the original (of course). Perhaps it was my bass playing that was to blame.

Speaking of the drug romance I heard the music, Ulf Dageby, the main musical motor in Nationalteatern for a long time, says:

"The drugs will eat your soul, destroy your body and your soul, they become a beast that no one can defeat. No one can resist. No, many of the Nationalteatern's classics such as "Kolla Kolla" and "Spisa" journeys to the underworld, to the hell of unrealistic dreams."

Ulf Dageby

That's obviously quite different from the bawling singing on pre-parties in the company of friends and liquor, when we thought that Nationalteatern was on our side and approved of what we did. Anyway, a good album that I really don't listen to today. It is too closely linked to another part of my life.

Kom igen lilla Svensson sätta hårt mot hårt
Det är vår stil
Hatar du oss så hatar vi dig
Betongfeeling
(Come on little Svensson* meet tough with tough
That's our style
If you hate us, we hate you
Concrete feeling)

Unbeatable!

*Svensson = In Swedish, this name is used for describing the average, boring man, caught in the rat race.


Tracklist

Side A
1. Popens Mussolinis 4:30
2. Kolla kolla 4:42
3. Spisa 7:05

Side B
1. Ingelas sång 3:06
2. Barn av vår tid 7:20
3. Men bara om min älskade väntar 2:45
4. Ge mig mitt liv nu! 3:10