Evert Taube, Rosa på bal / Rosa at the ball

Rosa på bal  / Rosa at the ball

Tänk att jag dansar med Andersson,
lilla jag, lilla jag, med Fritiof Andersson!
Tänk att bli uppbjuden av en så'n
populär person!

C F  E7  Am  F-G7-F-G7 F-C

C               C+         E   F          Dm
Here I am dancing with Andersson!
          G7                              C
Fancy that, little me, with Fritiof Andersson!
C               C+       E    F            Dm
Rather impressive that he chose me - 
          G7   C
this celebrity! 

Tänk vilket underbart liv de' Ni för!
Säj mej, hur känns det att vara charmör,
sjöman och cowboy, musiker, artist,
det kan väl aldrig bli trist.

C                C7            F
Oh, what a wonderful life you must lead!
G7                                              C
How does it feel to be so well received?
C               C7            F
Sailor and cowboy, musician, artiste:
G7                                  C
things can't be dull in the least!

Nei, aldrig trist, fröken Rosa,
har man som Er kavaljer,
vart jag än ställer min kosa,
aldrig förglömmer jag Er!

C              C/C#           G7
No, never dull, Fröken Rosa,
                                 C
life as your own cavalier.
C                 C/C#        G7
Whichever way my life goes, the
D7                            G
feeling for you is still here!

Ni är en sångmö från Helikons berg,
o, fröken Rosa, Er linje, Er färg -
skuldran, profilen med lockarnas krans,
ögonens värma glans!

Am            E7                     F            C                 
You are a song-Muse from Helicon's pines,
F                 C              Dm           Am
Oh, Fröken Rosa, your colours, your lines -
C                      F         E7               Am
shoulders and profile with hair piled up high,
F          G7 F    G7   F   C
warmth in your dancing eyes!

Tänk, inspirera herr Andersson,
lilla jag, inspirera Fritiof Andersson!
Får jag kanhända min egen sång,
lilla jag, en gång?

C            C+    E   F         Dm
So, I inspire Herr Andersson!
        G7                     C
little me, I inspire Fritiof Andersson!
C                 C+         E  F         Dm
Might I perhaps have a special song
          G7          C
of my own, this once?

"Rosa på bal", vackert namn eller hur?
Början i moll och finalen i dur.
När blir den färdig, herr Andersson säj,
visan Ni diktar till mej?

C                 C7         F
"Rosa at the Ball" the title shall be,
G7                                      C
start in A Minor but finish in C.
C                  C7               F
When shall I have it, Herr Andersson, say,
      G7                                    C
the song you're composing for me?

Visan om Er, fröken Rosa,
får Ni i kväll till Ert bord.
Medan vi tala på prosa,
diktar jag rimmade ord.

C                      C/C#           G7
The song about you, Fröken Rosa,
                                        C
you'll find on your table tonight.
C                   C/C#       G7
While we've been talking in prose the
D7                                  G
verses took shape in  my mind.

Tyss, ingen såg att jag kysste Er kind.
Känn hur det doftar från parken av lind,
Blommande linder kring månbelyst stig -
Rosa jag älskar dig!

Am              E7              F                 C
Shush,  so I kissed your cheek in the dark.
F                    C               Dm            Am
Ah, smell that smell of the limes in the park!
C                        F                  E7        Am
Limeflowers and moonlight in our avenue...
F  G7 F G7  F    C
Rosa, I do love you!


Another song by Evert Taube, from the collection Sjösalaboken (1942). Fritiof Andersson is an alter ego who appears in several of Taube's songs.

The protestation that ends this piece of gallantry need not be taken too seriously: both parties are enjoying playing a game. Nevertheless, the enchanting succession of four melodies builds a  profounder picture, perhaps about something larger than the two people in the scene.

I tried to match the rhyming and stress-patterns of the original, because I wanted to sing it. Of course this means that the translation isn't always very literal.

The chords are as Taube gave them. I simplify the first and third lines to C-E7-F. When I sing it I transpose it all into G  (so G-B7-C etc...), and then capo it up one fret to Ab.


Another English translation, from the site of the American Union of Swedish Singers.






Other songs by Evert Taube:


https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2018/04/evert-taube-sa-lange-skutan-kan-ga.html


http://michaelpeverett.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/dansen-pa-sunnano-dance-in-sunnano.html


http://michaelpeverett.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/evert-taube-sommarnatt.html


http://michaelpeverett.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/evert-taube-calle-schewens-vals.html


https://michaelpeverett.blogspot.com/2017/09/evert-taube-sjosala-vals.html