Advent Calendar 2024

Since I have an international "audience", it's rare for me to include Swedish-language songs in the Advent Calendar, but sometimes I just have to make an exception. This fabulous 1952 recording is one of them.

Singer Anders Börje was quite a big star in the 1940s and 1950s, but as far as I can tell, his recording of 'Tiderna förändrar sig men jul är jul ändå' didn't live on after the Christmas season of 1952.

The title translates as "Times may change but Christmas is Christmas after all". As the title suggests, the lyrics are about how modern times may be rather hectic – and you as an individual may try to cultivate a gloomy image – but once Christmas comes around, most of us succumb to it.

The tune and the arrangement are great, the lyrics are clever, and the entire recording sounds like everyone involved expected this to become a Christmas perennial. But that just didn't happen. I first heard it on the fab 2005 triple-CD Jultoner från förr ("Christmas Songs From The Past"), which is still in print. Some of the tracks on it are not for the faint of heart, but it's rarely less than entertaining.

Listen to Tiderna förändrar sig men jul är jul ändå.

Or listen on Spotify, where I've created a playlist for this year's Advent Calendar.

The Spotify playlist for all the previous Advent Calendars is here. Note: The playlist is incomplete, as some of my calendar selections are just too obscure for Spotify.