How do Norwegians respond to tragedy?
Yesterday 40,000 Norwegians gathered in the pouring rain and chilling wind outside the Oslo City Courthouse. Inside, Anders Behring Breivik was on trial for the murder of 69 people. Outside the people crowded together holding roses and singing Pete Seeger’s “My Rainbow Race”, translated into Norwegian as “Children of the Rainbow”.
See the article and video here: http://www.newsinenglish.no/2012/04/26/norwegians-pull-together-again/
Scroll to the bottom to see the video and, unless your Norwegian is very good, be sure to watch until they switch to English.
This is a picture of people reaching out for beauty, goodness, gentleness, truth, and light in the face of desperate darkness. We would do well to model ourselves after these Norwegians.
Here are Pete Seeger’s original lyrics:
Children of the Rainbow (Norwegian title)
My Rainbow Race (original, English)
by Pete Seeger
One blue sky above us
One ocean lapping all our shore
One earth so green and round
Who could ask for more
And because I love you
I’ll give it one more try
To show my rainbow race
It’s too soon to die.
Some folks want to be like an ostrich,
Bury their heads in the sand.
Some hope that plastic dreams
Can unclench all those greedy hands.
Some hope to take the easy way:
Poisons, bombs. They think we need ‘em.
Don’t you know you can’t kill all the unbelievers?
There’s no shortcut to freedom.
Go tell, go tell all the little children.
Tell all the mothers and fathers too.
Now’s our last chance to learn to share
What’s been given to me and you.
3 comments
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April 27, 2012 at 12:10 pm
joan
Thank you for sharing this important and meaningful use of song to enhance understanding. Pete Seeger was a friend of Sydney Carter who wrote Lord of the Dance and When I Needed a Neighbor Were You There? among many others. Unfortunately, these two aforementioned songs are no longer included in the Anglican hymnbook but are in the public consciousness. They are examples of lyrics which alter and deepen our awareness and understanding of the gospel message and make it tangible for the larger community. The people of Norway seem to have internalized this meaning and, in their despair, are offering a covenantal message to the world.
April 28, 2012 at 6:06 am
Christopher Page
thank you Joan. I love your insight about the power of music to enable us to respond from a deeper place.
April 27, 2012 at 5:42 pm
Tress
I WISH THAT i could believe that our country would respond as positively