His first Swedish album, Ballader och oförskämdheter (Ballads and rudenesses), was released in 1964. His first Dutch album was released in 1972, after ten successful Swedish albums.
He emigrated to Sweden with his parents in 1949 at the age of twelve. He was educated as a social worker and hoped to become a journalist, but became increasingly involved in music, performing at events for students. His idiosyncratic humor and social engagement is still gaining him new fans. Cornelis Vreeswijk is often considered as one of the most influential and successful troubadours in Sweden. In 2010 a Swedish drama film, called Cornelis, was made about his life. It was directed by Amir Chamdin.
Cornelis Vreeswijk explained in one of his few interviews that he had taught himself to sing and play in the fifties by imitating his first idols Josh White and Lead Belly. His first album, Ballader och oförskämdheter (Ballads and rudenesses, 1964), was a hit which immediately gained him a large following among the emerging radical student generation. In this period he also played with Swedish jazz pianist Jan Johansson and his trio. His songs "Ångbåtsblues" ("Steam Boat Blues") and "Jubelvisa för Fiffiga Nanette" ("Joyful song for Clever Nanette") are classics from these recordings. His abrasive, frequently political lyrics and unconventional delivery were a deliberate break with what he was later to describe as a Swedish song tradition of pretty singing and harmless lyrics, "a hobby for the upper classes". Influenced by jazz and blues and especially by the singing style and social criticism of Georges Brassens, Vreeswijk "speak-sings" his "insults", and compels his listeners to pay close attention to the words.
His 1965 loose translation of Allan Sherman's masterpiece "Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh" remains beloved to Swedes as "Brev från kolonien" (Letter from the summer camp) decades later, and could be said to have passed into folklore.
A political singer with a bohemian lifestyle, Vreeswijk remained controversial in the sixties and early seventies, idolized by his fans but disapproved of by many others for his "rude" language and persistent interest in "unsuitable" people like prostitutes and criminals. Some of his records were blacklisted by the public broadcasting company Sveriges Radio. During this period, he not only wrote and recorded songs now considered classics, such as "Sportiga Marie" ("Athletic Marie") and several affectionate salutes to the ever less employable "Polaren Pär" ("My Buddy Pär"), but he was an actor on the stage, receiving considerable critical acclaim, most notably as Pilate in the Swedish version of Jesus Christ Superstar, and as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof. He participated in Melodifestivalen (the Swedish preselection for the Eurovision Song Contest) in 1972 with "Önskar du mej, så önskar jag dej", which finished sixth. He also appeared in movies, including Svarta Palmkronor (Black Palm Trees, 1968), which was filmed on location in Brazil. Spending four months in Brazil began Vreeswijk's lifelong interest in Latin American music and social and political conditions, later seen for example in his Victor Jara album of 1978.
Later in his career, Vreeswijk was to gain increasing fame and a wider audience both for his songs and his other work. He published several volumes of poetry in his lifetime and left a considerable manuscript legacy of poems which have been published since. He also became an important musical interpreter of the works of other people, recording the songs of Carl Michael Bellman, Evert Taube, and Lars Forssell. His fresh, bluesy renderings of Bellman and Taube, who had up to then been classics belonging to the "harmless" tradition that Vreeswijk despised, were artistic and commercial successes which extended his fanbase. The choice of Bellman was significant: Bellman's lively, romantic, pastoral, drinking and sometimes bawdy songs have gained him the somewhat undeserved reputation of being a drunken womaniser. Vreeswijk may have enjoyed the association of being "something of a Bellman himself".
Vreeswijk's own best-known songs of the later seventies and early eighties tend to be dark in tone, like "Sist jag åkte jumbojet blues" ("Last time I Went by Jumbojet Blues", a metaphorical bad trip) and "Blues för Fatumeh", both addressing heavy drug addiction. Even though in this period Vreeswijk was a prey of tabloid scandal and was in the news for his drinking problem and his debts (about both of which he spoke with frankness) rather than for his achievements, he remained highly creative and productive and he is also known as the co-writer of the Hep Stars song "Speleman" which was released for their album Songs We Sang 68'
Towards the end of Vreeswijk's life his reputation soared again, aided by the televising of some highly regarded nightclub shows, and by Agneta Brunius' TV documentary Balladen om den flygande holländaren (The Ballad of the Flying Dutchman) in 1986. By the time of his death from liver cancer at the age of fifty, Cornelis Vreeswijk had become an icon of the Swedish music scene, and he was honored with burial at the cemetery of Katarina kyrka, a national cemetery in Stockholm. In 2010, Cornelis, a movie about his life, premiered in Swedish cinemas. Norwegian singer Hans Erik Dyvik Husby (previously in Turbonegro) played the role of Vreeswijk.
In 1966, the Dutch broadcasting organisation VARA invited Vreeswijk to the Netherlands. He translated several of his songs into Dutch, and wrote a couple of new ones. One of his songs, "De nozem en de non" ("The Greaser and the Nun"), was released as a single, without much popular success. His first Dutch album was only released in 1972, after ten successful Swedish albums. 100,000 copies of Cornelis Vreeswijk were sold, and the single "Veronica" became a big hit after it was picked up by the pirate radio station Veronica. His old song "De nozem en de non" was then re-released with much success. His later albums could not match the success of the first one, and Vreeswijk never achieved the fame in the Netherlands that he did in Sweden.
Nowadays, only "De nozem en de non" is still known by the general Dutch public. Vreeswijk still has some fans in the Netherlands, however, and in 2000 the Cornelis Vreeswijk society was founded.
One reason for his lack of popularity in the Netherlands was the impression that Cornelis Vreeswijk was a bit old-fashioned. Because of his long stay in Sweden, the Dutch pronunciation and idiom that he had learned to speak in his youth were out-of-date in the seventies and eighties.
Although he was fluent in both Dutch and Swedish, the latter became his primary language. His Stockholm-accented Swedish was famously witty and expressive, and in an interview he once suggested that the process of learning the language in his teens might have energized his use of it: "It doesn't just fall over you like when you're a baby and fed daily with words and food. You become freer, less respectful. ... Swedish is such a different language. Pure, distinct, beautiful. It has few synonyms. But they're many enough for me".
Hönan Agda
Cornelis Vreeswijk Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Med en visa om en tupp,
Som var gammal och utsliten,
Impotent och väderbiten.
Hönsen klagade och gnällde
För han dem ej tillfredställde.
Dom skrev på en petition:
Ge vår tupp förtidspension!
Vi vill ha en tupp med sting.
Den vi har han är ju ding,
Saknar lust och energi,
Saknar allt vi är förtjusta i.
Skaffa oss en ny bemanning
Annars fixar vi äggstanning.
Se nu till att det sätts fart
Ty vi blir desperata snart.
Gammeltuppen fick nog och for
Dit där inga hönor bor.
Ingen grät när han for hädan,
En ny tupp var ordnad redan.
Hönsen var så nyfikna så, men
Det var lång leveranstid på den.
Men dom fann sig I sin lott,
För dom vänta' på nåt gott.
Tänk, när tuppen äntligen kom
Hönsen blev som galna dom!
Vilken kam han har - nu står den!
Vilken näbb - den e' nog hård den!
Hönsen flängde kring I yran,
Tuppen hade ett bestyr, han
Men som han var frisk och sund
Fick vart höns en kärleksstund.
Men lilla söta hönan Agda
Hon blev blåst på ovansagda.
Tuppen skulle just hoppa på'na,
Agda titta you're ögonvrårna
Men det blev ej som Agda trodde.
Tuppen bara stod och glodde
Tills han plötsligt med en snärt
Slet en fjäder you're hennes stjärt.
Agdas blod I pulsen brände,
Hon stod still, men inget hände.
Flera veckor efter den dagen
Var hon den enda oskulden I hagen.
Varje dag I alla väder
Ryckte tuppen ut en fjäder
Och en dag - det är synd och skam
Titta' Agdas rumpa fram.
Agda skämdes och grät och tjöt
Var gång tuppen en fjäder snöt
Och en dag blev det för mycket.
Agda svek för det inre trycket,
För sorgen och kärlekskvalen.
Nästa gång han kom, blev Agda galen
Och hon skrek ut I falsett
Hörru do din jädra sprätt! sa hon.
Nu vill jag ha ett ärligt svar
Varför do mina fjädrar tar.
Varför nobbar do mig I ett kör
Det do med dom andra hönsen gör.
Tuppen svarade smått generat:
Do, jag älskar dig passionerat.
Allt do ber om det skall do få
Men jag vill ha dig naken då!
The song Hönan Agda by Cornelis Vreeswijk tells the story of a disgruntled group of hens who are dissatisfied with their old and impotent rooster. The hens write a petition to have him retired, and a new rooster is eventually brought in. When he finally arrives, the hens are ecstatic and immediately start to show him affection. However, one hen named Agda is constantly overlooked by the new rooster and becomes increasingly frustrated. When she confronts him about it, he reveals that he loves her but wants her to be naked during their encounters.
The lyrics of the song serve as a commentary on the societal norms regarding sexual relationships and the expectations placed on individuals to perform sexually. The story highlights the pressures placed on individuals to conform to these standards and the consequences that may arise when they do not. The song also touches upon the themes of power dynamics, jealousy, and consent.
Line by Line Meaning
Jag ska be att få ställa upp
Med en visa om en tupp,
Som var gammal och utsliten,
Impotent och väderbiten.
I will request to present a song about a rooster who was old, worn out, impotent, and weather-beaten.
Hönsen klagade och gnällde
För han dem ej tillfredställde.
Dom skrev på en petition:
Ge vår tupp förtidspension!
The hens complained and whined because the rooster did not satisfy them. They wrote a petition asking for early retirement for their rooster.
Vi vill ha en tupp med sting.
Den vi har han är ju ding,
Saknar lust och energi,
Saknar allt vi är förtjusta i.
We want a rooster with vigour. The one we have is useless, lacks zeal and energy, and lacks everything we are fond of.
Skaffa oss en ny bemanning
Annars fixar vi äggstanning.
Se nu till att det sätts fart
Ty vi blir desperata snart.
Get us a new roster, or else we will stop laying eggs. Act quickly because we will become desperate soon.
Gammeltuppen fick nog och for
Dit där inga hönor bor.
Ingen grät när han for hädan,
En ny tupp var ordnad redan.
The old rooster left because he had enough and went to a place where there were no hens. Nobody cried when he left because a new rooster was already arranged.
Hönsen var så nyfikna så, men
Det var lång leveranstid på den.
Men dom fann sig I sin lott,
För dom vänta' på nåt gott.
The hens were so curious, but there was a long delivery time for the new rooster. However, they accepted their fate because they were waiting for something good.
Tänk, när tuppen äntligen kom
Hönsen blev som galna dom!
Vilken kam han har - nu står den!
Vilken näbb - den e' nog hård den!
When the rooster finally arrived, the hens went crazy! Look at his comb, it's standing now! Look at his beak, it's probably hard!
Hönsen flängde kring I yran,
Tuppen hade ett bestyr, han
Men som han var frisk och sund
Fick vart höns en kärleksstund.
The hens were frantic, and the rooster was busy. However, since he was healthy, every hen got some lovemaking time with him.
Men lilla söta hönan Agda
Hon blev blåst på ovansagda.
Tuppen skulle just hoppa på'na,
Agda titta you're ögonvrårna
But little sweet hen Agda missed out. The rooster was about to mate with her, but Agda looked him in the eyes.
Men det blev ej som Agda trodde.
Tuppen bara stod och glodde
Tills han plötsligt med en snärt
Slet en fjäder you're hennes stjärt.
But it did not go as Agda thought. The rooster just stood and stared until he suddenly jerked and ripped a feather from her tail.
Agdas blod I pulsen brände,
Hon stod still, men inget hände.
Flera veckor efter den dagen
Var hon den enda oskulden I hagen.
Agda's blood was boiling in her veins, but nothing happened. Several weeks after that day, she was the only virgin in the pen.
Varje dag I alla väder
Ryckte tuppen ut en fjäder
Och en dag - det är synd och skam
Titta' Agdas rumpa fram.
Every day, in all weather, the rooster plucked a feather. And one day - it's a shame to say - Agda's butt was exposed.
Agda skämdes och grät och tjöt
Var gång tuppen en fjäder snöt
Och en dag blev det för mycket.
Agda svek för det inre trycket,
Agda was ashamed, cried, and screamed every time the rooster plucked a feather. And one day, it became too much. Agda succumbed to the internal pressure.
För sorgen och kärlekskvalen.
Nästa gång han kom, blev Agda galen
Och hon skrek ut I falsett
Hörru do din jädra sprätt! sa hon.
For the grief and love agony, the next time he came, Agda went crazy and screamed in falsetto, 'Hey, you damn plucker!'
Nu vill jag ha ett ärligt svar
Varför do mina fjädrar tar.
Varför nobbar do mig I ett kör
Det do med dom andra hönsen gör.
Now I want an honest answer about why you pluck my feathers. Why do you ignore me while you mate with the other hens?
Tuppen svarade smått generat:
Do, jag älskar dig passionerat.
Allt do ber om det skall do få
Men jag vill ha dig naken då!
The rooster answered somewhat embarrassed, 'Agda, I love you passionately. You will get everything you ask for, but I want you naked then!'
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: CORNELIS VREESWIJK
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@snowleopard1934
My Swedish friend just explained the story of this song. It is hilarious!! Thank you for posting.
@TheGermanFabian
Reminder to relisten to the song :)
@Snuttis75
Jag ÄLSKAR denna 🥰
Sitter och ler och fnissar här 🥰😂
Du har gett mig, jaa såå många andra också så mycket glädje och underbara visor❣️❤️
Vila i frid, Cornelis 🙏🏻❤️
@allendupras
A programming language brought me here, the world is a place!
@teslazhang9246
Same
@peertop
Bästa denna månaden : ) Fem stars med råge
@lavense4ever
Underbara bilder, rolig sång och skönt ljud. Med andra ord perfekt!
@bellmankaggen1337
fan vilken skön låt synd att han e borta R.I.P cornelis (L) :D
@noelmeijer8095
Vad betyder (L)? Kaggeeeen! :D
@bellmankaggen1337
@@noelmeijer8095 love