Can we Swedes pride ourselves of having the world's most bold, daring and sexually liberated state television management?

Claes Britton | Sep 30, 2009 | 2 comments

For weeks now, I've been brooding over this trailer for the "Web Joker" challenge to the upcoming, unbelievably popular Eurovision Song Contest competition that has been pumping on heavy rotation on prime time, before the seven-thirty and nine o'clock news in our Swedish state television.

Two young girls, of the age of shall we say fifteen or so, are sitting on a sofa, lightly dressed, nietly pierced and quite "challenging", singing a song with these lyrics:

"I like girls
I like boys
it's our life
it's not a choice
F-U-C-K
every day
it's a game we like to play
F-F-U-U-C-C-K-K
Gonna eat you alive
Gonna go insane"

Nowhere, in our media or elsewhere, have I seen or heard a single reaction to this rather blunt and straightforward message. I see two possible explanations to this:

1. We are not becoming like the good ol' US of A in every sense after all. The concept of Swedish Sin is still alive and kicking. Nobody in our state selevision, in the media or in the general television audience sees anything out of the ordinary in two underage girls singing in prime time that they like to play the game of f---king every day, with boys and girls, eating eachother alive and going insane - a message I doubt would be allowed to run for long on prime time on state-owned, tax-financed television in the United States, if there were such a thing.

2. Our understanding of the English language and capacity of understanding song lyrics, in the television management, in the media and in the general audience, is not quite as advanced as we like to think.

My experience tells me that the second of these alternative explanations is likely to be correct. Say what do you think?

Comments

2009-10-13 skrev Oskar
Having just returned to Sweden after a almost a decade working in Great Britain, I too was taken back by this clip.

A friend, with English as her first language turned round and asked me - 'do these kids actually know what they're singing?'

I think you are right in your second point - in this case, with the lyrics being sung in English, I think the 'foreign' language takes the edge of the message to the audience. It sounds less challenging and you might not pay much attention to what they are actually singing as a whole, even though you understand the words.

There is obviously an eagerness to be challenging - but I very much doubt this trailer had been allowed, or as an idea even realized - had it been sung in Swedish.
2009-10-13 skrev Claes
Yes, it is indeed a very intersting proof that English language skills in Sweden is not quite as inpressive as some like to think.

Can we Swedes pride ourselves of having the world's most bold, daring and sexually liberated state television management?

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