Christmas Gift to You from SwedesPlease and Me

I have mentioned before I like the music blog SwedesPlease written by an American about Swedish music. They have a fun playlist you can download for free of Christmas music by indie Swedish bands like Hello, Saferide and The Hives.

Merry Christmas!

You can call me ManBoy

Or another thing about Swedish Music...

The lilacs that blanket my front walkway are in bloom. They are pretty, but their real glory is in how they fill the air with an indescribable sweet fragrance. And since that is an unbloggable experience (at least until Apple invents the iSmell), I shall instead return to the topic of pop music.

When I see the previous post title 'Swedish Music' I am reminded that the Melodifestival deserved a blog post, but never got one. Sweden goes crazy for a few weeks watching the song contest that made ABBA famous. Facebook posts, television, newspapers and even preschools conversations were all dedicated to this national song contest that determines which Swede will go on to the Eurovision song contest.

The song that won was sweet. The singer Anna was a bit plain, and she reminded me of Jewel. But the contest had fascinating contestants like tall hot swedish blondes with wind blown hair and accordions and baton twirling europop stars , singing in ways we would make fun of in the states.

The whole idea of a song contest is quaint. Times have changed- now we have American Idol- but in Florida I would have an inner chuckle every time my Swede would reverently mention a song as the winner of The Eurovision song contest. I had never heard of any of them. It seemed so, European, and in a weird Nena's '99 Luft Balloons' kinda way and not a hip Run Lola Run Franka Potente sorta way. (Must add: I want to be Franka Potente when I grow up. Besides being beautiful and cool, my job would be to make action movies with Matt Damon). Those singers are not Swedish by the way, they are both German, but you know, they are all Euro-.......as heard in the USA. The Eurovision contest does not make it to the USA.

It was fascinating to watch the passion the Melodifestival brought to Sweden. Even the preschoolers at Swedegirls schools were discussing it, and just the other day her neighborhood friend asked if she had gone to any performances. She occasionally mopes that she did not. Already at 5 she has her first case of keeping up with the Jones, or the Funkqvuists, or whatever....

The trickle down Melodifestival hit that stuck with our family cracks me up. The song Swedegirl was singing after school? The one SwedeDaddy and I happened to catch on TV?

It makes me think of Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore everytime.

If I wrote for Saturday Night Live, you would see a skit with Ashton Kutcher singing this, in his undies ala Tom Cruise in Risky Business, with the 'Sprockets'-y back up dancers like in the video doing the wave and acting out 'halo on my head', and he would get that inexplicable gush of water, ala Flashdance, dumped on his head at the end. And of course, there would be the fake lightening, too.

The Eurovision contest concluded just yesterday. Sweden did not win, 19 year old Lena Meyer from Germany did with her song Satellite. She was so cute about it. German may not be the prettiest sounding language to the American ear, but English spoken with a German accent always sounds cool to me.

No one can say Finland did not try, or that Greece did not make a showing....or that Latvia did anything but try to get to the bottom of the deep questions in life. Or that UK did not put up a good fight in the back up dancer category.

As for me, you can call me ManBoy. I don't care, I'll show you how to love.

Swedish Music

I really like this blog SwedesPlease about Swedish Music.

I always find something fun there like these songs 'Aeroboy' by Brotherhood of Broken Hearts and Bear Pilot 'The Bravest Year'.

I feel more connected to this country when I know what is being done here creatively.

And speaking of the swedish music scene, my 17 year old punk rock drummer niece and her band Va!!?? just spent a weekend at a 5 start hotel participating in music clinics with bands from around Sweden after winning a regional music competition by Musik Direkt. I am so proud, these girls rock! My niece and her best friend decided to teach themselves instruments and form a band when they were 11, and have been playing together ever since.

This is their recording 'Du är inte min Hitler'/'You are not my Hitler' from last year.
In June they will be playing for their third year at Mossagård Festivalen in Veberöd, an eco- music festival held at an organic farm.

Getting Ready for Halloween!

We are preparing for Halloween today and are keeping it simple, as overall most of my energy is focused on trip planning for our upcoming 3 month 'Escape the Winter and Take Swedish Parent Leave Trip' to the USA and Florida.

But that's okay. One great thing about 4 year olds is they are all for the simple things. Swedegirl woke up ready to carve pumpkins first thing, but we are waiting for her dad to get home from work, so we had to fill the day with other Halloween-y things. I was going to see what was out there by searching the internet, but there so many choices and complex crafts to find , it's easy to get overwhelmed and just not do anything at all. So we reached for the paper and paint and kept it real simple, doing what was in our minds instead of looking for some fancy craft instructions. And it was super fun, she was more than happy to just play with creating paper pumpkins. I feel a need to enculturate her with certain American things associated with Halloween she is not exposed to here. I got on youtube to try to play her the Monster Mash Song, but the visuals were too scary. She started asking for "Princess Halloween' stuff- code for not scary, please! So I found tamer, more appropriate things to offer her...

Instead of Monster Mash with pictures of scary monster lab pictures, KidSongs One Eyed One Horned Flying Purple People eater was more up our alley this year.

And while SwedeGirl also finds Charlie Brown and The Great Pumpkin too scary and weird, this part is okay:

We decided on our costumes late in the game. I thought we were simply going to raid the princess dress up costumes and leave it at that. But inspired by the creepy crawly baby, we thought SwedeBaby should be the Itsy Bitsy Spider. Soon the copy cat SwedeGirl wanted to be a spider too, and then she wanted us to be a WHOLE SPIDER FAMILY... so alas I got sewing, and sacrificed every pair on black panty hose or tights in the house to make spider legs. I have to say I felt almost virtuous making a homemade costume when I had expected to throw a store made on the kid and not dress up myself.

Getting into The Spirit of Things, we decided to make magic wands/ power sticks/ dream catchers. To keep away the evil spirits, ward of bad dreams, channel good ones, and use our spide-y talents as weavers of the web. SwedeGirl got into this...I used a birch we had recently cut down and made a base, and she wove pink and purple thread through hers while I covered mine in red thread. We talked about the Day of the Dead and our ancestors as we did this.  I told her about all the people who came before us that make our life possible, and talked some dead relatives. She even was able to think of a few to honor I had forgotten to mention.

“If I can't dance - I don't want to be part of your revolution”
- Emma Goldman (link)







What thoughts will you finance with your energy?



“Ultimately, we have just one moral duty: to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves, more and more peace, and to reflect it towards others. And the more peace there is in us, the more peace there will be in our troubled world.”- Etty Hillesum (link)

Happy Birthday to Me!

I am feeling Thankful for the small things today.

When I grow up, I want to be an old woman.

It's the least I can do,
I do it cause I learned it from you,
and because I want to.

The Swedish National Anthem:
Dancing Queen

July 4th may have been for the USA, but July 5th was for Sweden. We went to see ABBA. Or at least the ABBA cover band "Waterloo". Swedes really, really, really love ABBA. Who does not love ABBA, with their matching outfits and coordinated dance moves?

The love runs so deep, it can be banked on. In Sweden at Christmas in the big box electronic stores, there were video game X-Boxes piled high in the aisles for sale, just like in the USA. But on the packaging was none other than ABBA. While the US Christmas edition of the game player was released with "Kung-Fu Panda"- a game that combines the appeal of an animated blockbuster movie with street fighting, the Swedish x-Box was sold with ABBA Karaoke, so you can sing along with all your favorite ABBA hits. This pretty much sums up the difference in Swedish culture and American culture.

USA: animated street fight starring Angelina Jolie. Bomb Iraq.
Sweden: sing-a-long, and imagine you are the girl with golden hair. Remain politically neutral, accept refugees from all over the world.

My husband imparted this Swedish love of ABBA to our daughter, who was thrilled when one year ago, just before we moved to Sweden, we were able to see the ABBA cover band Waterloo on their American tour in the USA. She was even more delighted when last week, almost one year to the day after her first "Waterloo" show, we were given free tickets to go see them locally in an outdoor amphitheater. Bad weather did not stop the fun.

Here is the crowd doing the 'Swedish finger dance' to Mama Mia..See how they suddenly lose control, with the fire that is in their soul?

We sat enjoying the show with our friends from Australia and Ireland. It was fun to realize that all three of us, from different parts of the world, could still share in this common experience of growing up knowing ABBA songs. The Australian recounted how in her school, you were either an ABBA fan or a KISS fan, the camps were very clearly defined. That at six, she had gone to see ABBA, and now, at 6 her daughter was able to see this show, coming full circle. The girls had a blast, and at just age 4 and 6, both of the girls have the box set of ABBA songs in their homes, and know every word of every song. It was great to them mouth along to the words from their seats, and share their glee with one another when they recognised the first few bars of a favorite song. Soon the excitement over took them, and with out any adult help, they walked down the stands, made their way to the front row, and like true groupies, sang, danced, and waved at the band from the front row. Swedegirl got at least three special, right-at-her waves from the band during the performance. One was caught here on film!

When we saw Waterloo last year, Swedgirl was so mesmerized she asked if she could meet them. We stayed afterwards, and met Ulf Peterson, an original ABBA member, the drummer, and the blond lead singer and her little baby. For months Swedegirl would pretend I was "the ABBA lady", as in "Ok, you be the ABBA lady, and I...." "ABBA Lady" is right up there with Cinderella for her, and having met her before, Swedegirl hoped for such luck once again. She managed to get backstage, with little buddy, to say hi this time too.

You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life! See that girl, watch that scene, digging the Dancing Queen:
And when Dancing Queen came on, all those poncho clad Swedes stood up, and started dancing, and I was sure that that 'seeing ABBA live' like this was truly a cultural experience, and that Dancing Queen must in fact be the Swedish National Anthem.

I recall declaring one day when standing in the impossibility long school lunch line that I was going to marry a man named ABBA. Since my maiden name starts with 'S' and I was forever at the end of the line. I reasoned with that as a last name I'd always be the first in line. Perhaps, in someway, I did marry a man named ABBA, when I married a Swede.

Midsommar SwedeGirl and I were newbies to Midsommar in Sweden this year, and you'd think we were trying to make up for lost time. We went to no less than three midsommar pole raisings, and saw the local fiddle troupe four times. I can attest repetition is helpful for learning, as we all have the frog dance song stuck in our head now and can be caught whistling songs about fiddling and mischievous rabbits. So, for those who have never experienced the Swedish midsommar let me give you the run down. First, just look at the Swedish flag, it is like a sun in the bright blue sky. The nation worships the sun, which is kind enough to come out long and strong for half the year.

Birch branches are harvested and put in pots to decorate doors ways,

and even the gas pumps at the local store/ fill station!

The old stone rune carvings tell of sun worship, and its no wonder the life force energy that send the green cereal grasses shooting up to the sky and fills the fields with flowers raging in all colors is honored with a big pole, with balls. The sun has always been considered the male aspect of the life force, and the gentler, cyclical moon associated with the feminine. And it is no wonder the sun is honored in Sweden- it's seasonal appearance and disappearance are so marked. In November, it was twilight by 3:30 pm. Now, it is twilight at midnight for a few hours before the sun dips back up from the horizon and the birds begin singing at 3 am.

Our first Midsommar pole was in the local village, and there was rain- but inclement weather would never stop those fiddling, frog dancing, coffee drinking Swedes from having a good time!!

SwedeDaddy helped raise the second MidSommar pole, at the larger village festival.

Solstice, or Midsommar, falls shortly after school is out and a week after most of the pools open. In Sweden, it is the beginning of a short but valued season where maybe, just maybe, you can comfortably wear shorts, short sleeves, and go swimming. Most Swedes take the whole month of July off, so it is the kick off to summer vacation time for school kids and workers alike. The festivities of the day are partly private, and partly a community affair. It reminds me of how we are about 4th of July in the USA- in that it is the middle of summer holiday, you eat with your family but then go to a community event- on the 4th its the fireworks, in Sweden it is the midsommar pole raising and dances.

Here is the Swedish version of Fireworks- the clapping and stomping that concludes the midsommar pole dancing!



In the area we were visiting my husband's dad this year, we were lucky to enjoy a great troupe of musicians that play the traditional midsommar songs on the traditional instruments. One of the musicians was participating in his 61st consecutive midsommar as a fiddler in his village!



There are sacred midsommar dances, but the usual dances are for children, and are songs with easy to follow along movements, like a hopping frog, rabbit hiding in a burrow, fiddling, or washing/hanging/ ironing your clothes.

The pole is decorated with a garland of birch branches, and the wreaths with some of the many wild flowers are hung from it.

There are wildflowers everywhere at midsommar- it's just gorgeous!

(Now for some gratuitous kid shots!) The men raise the pole, a speech is made, then the music and children's dancing begins. And if there is one thing Swedes love more than the sun it is coffee, so it ends with coffee and a cinnamon buns, the standard Swedish fika fare.

At the last pole we went to, which was at a historical site and was combined with a church service, the priest concluded by saying "In the name of Jesus, go drink coffee!"

The midsommar dinner meal is usually lax/salmon, new potatoes boiled with dill, sour cream with fresh chives, sill/pickled herring, and strawberries.

Thank you for a grand initiation to Swedish Midsommar!

Happy MidSummer!
More later, we are too busy celebrating the big Swedish Holiday of MidSummer by weaving flower garlands, dancing around midsummer poles to fiddle music, and eating strawberries at Farfar's to blog much for now!

A New Day !!!

'What I Want for You — and Every Child in America'
By President-elect Barack Obama
Dear Malia and Sasha,

I know that you've both had a lot of fun these last two years on the campaign trail, going to picnics and parades and state fairs, eating all sorts of junk food your mother and I probably shouldn't have let you have. But I also know that it hasn't always been easy for you and Mom, and that as excited as you both are about that new puppy, it doesn't make up for all the time we've been apart. I know how much I've missed these past two years, and today I want to tell you a little more about why I decided to take our family on this journey.

When I was a young man, I thought life was all about me-about how I'd make my way in the world, become successful, and get the things I want. But then the two of you came into my world with all your curiosity and mischief and those smiles that never fail to fill my heart and light up my day. And suddenly, all my big plans for myself didn't seem so important anymore. I soon found that the greatest joy in my life was the joy I saw in yours. And I realized that my own life wouldn't count for much unless I was able to ensure that you had every opportunity for happiness and fulfillment in yours. In the end, girls, that's why I ran for President: because of what I want for you and for every child in this nation.

I want all our children to go to schools worthy of their potential-schools that challenge them, inspire them, and instill in them a sense of wonder about the world around them. I want them to have the chance to go to college-even if their parents aren't rich. And I want them to get good jobs: jobs that pay well and give them benefits like health care, jobs that let them spend time with their own kids and retire with dignity.

I want us to push the boundaries of discovery so that you'll live to see new technologies and inventions that improve our lives and make our planet cleaner and safer. And I want us to push our own human boundaries to reach beyond the divides of race and region, gender and religion that keep us from seeing the best in each other. Sometimes we have to send our young men and women into war and other dangerous situations to protect our country-but when we do, I want to make sure that it is only for a very good reason, that we try our best to settle our differences with others peacefully, and that we do everything possible to keep our servicemen and women safe. And I want every child to understand that the blessings these brave Americans fight for are not free-that with the great privilege of being a citizen of this nation comes great responsibility.

That was the lesson your grandmother tried to teach me when I was your age, reading me the opening lines of the Declaration of Independence and telling me about the men and women who marched for equality because they believed those words put to paper two centuries ago should mean something.

She helped me understand that America is great not because it is perfect but because it can always be made better-and that the unfinished work of perfecting our union falls to each of us. It's a charge we pass on to our children, coming closer with each new generation to what we know America should be.

I hope both of you will take up that work, righting the wrongs that you see and working to give others the chances you've had. Not just because you have an obligation to give something back to this country that has given our family so much-although you do have that obligation. But because you have an obligation to yourself. Because it is only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you will realize your true potential.

These are the things I want for you-to grow up in a world with no limits on your dreams and no achievements beyond your reach, and to grow into compassionate, committed women who will help build that world. And I want every child to have the same chances to learn and dream and grow and thrive that you girls have. That's why I've taken our family on this great adventure.

I am so proud of both of you. I love you more than you can ever know. And I am grateful every day for your patience, poise, grace, and humor as we prepare to start our new life together in the White House.

Love, Dad

Do a Happy Dance, a New Day has come!

The only good thing about the last 8 years is it got so bad, we were courageous enough to elect:Of Torture in America's Name.

Of 'Preemptive Strikes' in War that bring Terror and Destruction to the homelands of Children and Families far away.

Of Domestic Policies that lead to homelessness, sickness, and poverty in the USA.

Of International Policies that mean 1:16 African Women die in birth while we with hold family planning money to teach them about 'abstinence'.

Of the Denial of Global Climate Change.

Let it be the beginning of energy Independence for the USA- let there be windmills in Iowa, and solar panels on the roof tops of Florida, instead of drilling in the Arctic Wild Life Refuge.

Let Real Scientists return to the Federal Agencies and replace the political pawns and their pseudoscience and policies based on lies for the benefits of special interests.

Let it be the restoration of integrity and true pride in my country.

Let us work together to be a country that is actually a compassionate, smart leader that is worthy of world wide respect.

More New Years' Count Downs!
The Music We Loved in 2008.

I am no media maven, no pirate busy downloading music all night, and our budget for such things is slim. We are like many folks who have kids, who find their CD collection kind of freezes in time. For us it froze even a bit before kids, due to crazy busy work lives. There were a few musicians I always, always got the new album for no matter what, but I am even behind on those. Still, I love music and good creative work that makes the world a more fun place to be, so in the spirit of 'end of year lists' I thought I would compile my own 'Best of 2008', or our family's greatest hits this year. It will be as lame as we actually are, but well, that's the fun of it. If you want cool lists of hip new artists, go somewhere more Indie on the web!

My categories will be:
1) Best Live Show for Grown Ups
2) Best Live show for the Family
3) Best album to Play when the SwedeGirl isn't in the Car
4)Best Album to Play when the SwedeGirl is in the Car
5) Best Swedish Musician
6) Best Non-Swede on Swede Radio

I am an American in Sweden, and last year I was an American in America, mostly. So this post reflects that....it also reflects that I finally figured how to embed YouTube videos, so ugh, I went a bit crazy here sharing the love. Hopefully it does not making loading the page really slow or something.

(Meanwhile, just thinking of all this reminds me of the one resolution (or dream) I have for 2009- which is to get networked enough, have memory enough, and some system so we can easily have music on the computer, and a decent system to play it down stairs. The fact that I am writing here about how CDs, and not Mp3 players or itunes, are still our primary source of music is starting making me feel like I use 8-tracks or something.)

With out further delay!!!

1) Best Live Show I got to go to with Grown Ups: Ani diFranco March 2008 Tampa Theater
First, I gladly got at least one night out with no kids in before I ended up pregnant this June. The friend I went with is one who I got to know because I helped her have her two babies, I was her midwife. In gratitude she has made it her personal mission to give back to me the gifts she found as she descended on the underworld journey of labor to meet the souls of her kids. This makes for a very deep, and fun, friend to have. We are both longtime Ani fans, and were excited to make it out together for Ani's first stop off in town since she gave birth at home to her daughter. So we got to hear her musician turned mother songs, which seemed appropriate for two mom friends, bonded over births.

(Plus at the show, I saw several old clients, and was in the beer line next to one for a long time. She and her husband clearly were having that type of experience you have when you are 7 years old, and you see your first grade teacher at the store- like Whoa- Ms. H, whatcha doin' here!? Like when you are a kid and you think your teacher inhabits another world, these clients were thinking it was super weird to be at a show buying beer with the midwife that helped them birth their baby. )

Here is "Landing Gear" recorded from that show, which is about the (home) birth of her daughter. A someone currently gestating, I have a hard time not getting weepy at the line "for someone who ain't even here yet, look how much the world loves you....."

I love it when musicians grow with me. Ani was there to sing '32 flavors' and 'Joyful Girl' in my teens and 20's, "Dilate' when I was in midwife school, and now 'Red Letter Year' plays in my car when my daughter allows it...

2)Best Live show for the Family: Waterloo (ABBA the Show) June 2008 at Mahaffey Theater in St. Petersburg, Florida

In tribute to the SwedeDaddy's cultural heritage, he often played ABBA in the car while driving with our daughter in Florida. He never made pickled fish, or lussekatt buns, or papparkakor, or read Astrid Lindgren stories to her to uphold his cultural traditions- but he did play ABBA. Our girl knows all the words to the songs on "ABBA" gold,and it KILLS me when she starts the song "Thank you for the Music" by singing along in her little voice "I'm nothing special....In fact, I am bit of a bore....."

So for father's day last year, I surprised them both with tickets to see the ABBA cover band "Waterloo" (touring as ABBA: THE SHOW) billed as the "absolutely best ABBA since ABBA!" They do tour with the original band member Benny, at least. Oh.Mi.Gosh. did Swedegirl ever love it. She wanted to stay after the show to meet the "Abba Lady" and we actually did hang out, letting my three year old be an ABBA (cover band) groupie, and she met the original band member and the beautiful blonde singer with her baby at an after party! For weeks, my daughter would set up pretending by saying "you be The-ABBA-Lady and....."

3)Best Album to Play when SwedeGirl is Not in the Car: Ani DiFranco's Red Letter Year. I made the live show, the album had just come out when I moved to Sweden, and it saved me. A favorite, and opens with a great New Years Song, the title track. And "Present/ Infant" is also an amazing song, if you want a new mantra take a tip from her and use "don't forget to have a good time..."

4) Best Albums to Play when SwedeGirl is in the Car: Our Most Played Kids Albums of 2008. So try not to notice how lame I am that I have whole list of the most played kids music of this year, and just a few albums of my own. But, one reason for this is the public libraries in Florida. They have a pretty great selection of kids music, which we borrowed and burned before we left so we would have English language entertainment abroad. Don't worry, I copied them but paid for them several times over in late fees, which is just me doing my part to make sure the library collection keeps growing! Right?

1) Faerie Elaine - Faeries, Dreams, and Other Friends

I still can not believe "Faerie" Elaine Silver has not made it bigger on the kids scene. She is the undiscovered treasure of the Waldorf crowds. She is a time transplanted traveling ministerial from long ago. She makes goddess-y music, with great new thought positive messages, and the sweetest faerie sings ever. This CD is always my daughters very favorite and first choice. The song "A House Full of Faeries" is darling- she tells about going around her house and finding little faeries like "Emily, the keeper of the tinctures and teas" and opening up the freezer to find "Jeremy of the Deep, Deep Freeze". Gentle, magic, and sweet. If you are reading this from Florida, she lives in Arlington Park neighborhood and you can find out where she is playing by looking at her website http://www.elainesilver.com/. She needs to be having regular concerts at the Children's Garden there!!!

2) Elizabeth Mitchell- You are my Little Bird Again, I love it when musicians grow with you. I last heard from Elizabeth Mitchell she was making music with her band 'Ida'. Now, she is making beautiful kids music. This is a sweet little CD wegot as a going away present. We love "Liza Jane" as a way to remember far away friends, and the Bob Marley cover of "Three Little Birds" will convince you every little thing really actually will be alright. I love the gentle mother's prodding of the baby (or mother?) to "lady be good, do what you should, and you know it will be alright" when she covers Velvet Underground's "What Goes on in Your Mind", a question every parent has asked! She reframes this classic in a new way, through the eyes of a parent soothing a baby- "I think I am upside down......"

3) The Sippy Cups: Electric Storyland

First off, the album title reminds me of a Butthole Surfers Album called 'Electric Larryland'. This is not quite the Butthole Surfers, but it is as close to Emo for kids as it gets. The album is a funky rock-n-roll change of pace, with totally benign, creative, wacky kids lyrics. There is a fun song that starts with a call from 'Superguy', who smells like patchouli and can balance chakras with a single words (you guessed it, OM), who implores young ones to use their super powers by calling on them to 'USE YOUR WORDS'!!! I personally love the melodic 'Magic Toast' that sounds a bit like Syd Barret, with the line "you are so right mother, this toast has really given me a lift.... you are so right mother, this toast is such a special gift!". The SwedeGirl likes to request the 'Snail Song' off this album, which she refers to as "the rock out song" cause it has a really great guitar break. And like the Elizabeth Mitchell album, this one also has a cover of a Velvet Underground song, but this time it is "Rock-N-Roll". Sippy Cups bring new meaning to the line "when Janie was just about 8 years old there was nothing going on at all" till she turned on the radio station and her life was changed by rock-n -roll. And it was alright. ALRIGHT.

4)Barney Saltzberg: Crazy Hair Day Barney Saltzberg was first known to me as the author of children's books, but this album is a gem. It has him telling the story of Crazy Hair Day, which my daughter just loves. It helped me realize the power of stories for kids to relate to others experiences' of strong emotions- in the case of Crazy Hair Day- of extreme embarrassment followed by a sense of inclusion. The songs I love most on this are "Be with Me" and "Home" which are gentle reminders to parents that there is no where on earth your children want to be, and noone on eart they would rather be with than you. It's a good simple heart felt reminder to be present, couched in some great songs that capture the spirit of childhood. The sock song is quite alot of fun, too. Again, this is one of the most requested albums by the Swedegirl.

5)Raffi: Let's Play

There are so many really cool new kids musicians, that I was not going to include Raffi in this list because he is such the old standby in children's music. I used to play 'Baby Beluga' to the kids I babysat for when I was 13. But this one album is just so great, and shows what a positive force in the world Raffi is- he's a gentle, pro-child voice of peace, that it had to be mentioned. Songs on this album are particularly environmentally oriented. "Raining like Magic'" has beautiful imagery, and thanks to "Jane, Jane" my three year old knows about the work of Jane Goodall with the chimpanzees. When searching for images to include in the blog, I found a beautiful manifesto for Childhood Raffi authored, that can be viewed on YouTube, read by him with Nelson Mandela and Jane Goodall. I'm just saying, Raffi is good guy, and this album is far from the banal children's music you may expect from such a standby old favorite in children's music.

5)Best Swedish Musican (that I've found!): Hello, SafeRide Annika Norlin's band Hello, Saferide is my new favorite. This is in english, but her solo work is in Swedish. It's almost enough to make me want to learn swedish sooner than later. This artist gives me great hope, because when I first arrived in Sweden, every song on the radio sounded like euro pop, or 'The Cure' circa 1980 something. But alas, the swedish modernity in design and the hipness seen in other areas of swedish life does in fact carry over into music. The current release is "More Modern Short Stories" is full of honest lyrical songs. She reminds me of Ani Difranco, who obviously, I love. And of Dar Williams.

This single 'Anna' absolutely stopped me the first time I heard it. As a midwife, I know about all the grief and longing that goes with the loss of a child- be it in abortion, miscarriage, mid pregnancy loss, term loss, or even in just choosing to be childless, or deciding to not have one more.... and always 'wondering what if?'. This song captures the longing (the heartbreak?) I see when I take a health history and bump into that loss....it might have been 'Anna.'

In line with her other lyrics that capture deep experiences in women's lives, the song "X, Telling Me about the Loss of Something Dear, at Age 16" details a girl's rather mechanical loss of virginity, and her sense of loss, if more a hope or expectation than of her girlhood....She does what she thinks she ought to, then goes back to work at the mall and sells someone some red shoes. Red shoes....like Christina Pinkola Estes, like Dorothy, like something scarlet....

I am excited Hello, SafeRide is touring Sweden, and will make to my town before I go into labor. One more show before I am back in New BabyLand.

6) Best Non- Swedish Song on Swedish Radio: Noah and The Whale "5 Years Time"

I have to include this link for the 'Fun, Fun, Fun' song, as the SwedeGirl calls it, because it holds the special place of being the first song we really liked when we got here that we had never heard before. The group is British, Noah and the Whale. They sound a bit like Lambchop at times, and Belle and Sebastian at others. This song captures the love, love , love I have for all the years spent with old friends, who now, in five years time or ten, are just friends on Facebook. So, in five years time, where will we be? I don't know, but it's been fun fun fun.....

Noah and the Whale - 5 Years Time - Funny bloopers are a click away

And this is just gratuitous YouTube play, as I remember there is more to the world than kids music. This is music about childhood with lots of images that could have come from a dream about my family photo album. It's the "La la la song" by The Bird and The Bee. So I put it here. Cause it is cool. If I had an editor, they would have stopped me.

I promise to stop now.