Karoline Hausted (Denmark) – Tak for dét (single/future album track)

Occasionally I take a punt on a translation, despite my ignorance of the Nordic languages. But this one was easy.

‘Tak for dét’ is clearly ‘Thanks for that’ but the background story to the song is probably stranger than you might anticipate.

The Danish string quartet Who Killed Bambi has featured here several times recently and they return once more, this time playing second fiddle to Karoline Hausted, who co-opted them to support her on this song which works a musical arrangement to a poem, Morten Nielsen’s ‘Tak for dét, which was written in the shadow of World War 2 and left for posterity in his only poetry collection ‘Krigereuden Vaaben’.

I suppose that might make him the Wilfred Owen of Denmark?

It is allegorical in nature, using the imagery of a tree as representative of strength and stability as well as longevity I suppose.

The poem is a reaction to the brutality of war as well as conversely to the human interactions of compassion that can arise out of it.

And as long as current wars drag on it is a reminder of the fact that they never go away.

While I can’t give you a word for word translation of the lyrics I was more keen to hear how the message in the song was translated musically, and it’s quite clever, a juxtaposition of the mournful strings we have come to expect of Who Killed Bambi, poignant rising and falling piano and, in the early part a lighter, even perhaps slightly more ‘poppy’ production.

The combination is suggestive of how war scenarios can create comradeship and friendships that are both lasting and might never have happened otherwise, as well as its manifest horrors.

Here in the UK one thinks of the nightly ‘sing-a-longs’ in Underground stations as a battery of bombs rained down during WW2, the locals exercising their larynxes to songs like ‘The Lambeth Walk’, ‘Maybe it’s because I’m a Londoner’ and ‘Who do you think you are kidding, Mr Hitler’?

It’s my practice to envisage scenarios where a piece might be played to maximum effect and in this particular case one came to mind straight away. As quiet, unobtrusive, but highly pertinent background music at the Anne Frank House and museum in Amsterdam.

Interesting fact: Karoline works as a church musician. Now why doesn’t that surprise me?

On October 3rd, the full album ‘Efterårssyn’ will be released both digitally and on vinyl.

At the time of writing, two release events are planned:

On October 1st: release event at Walthers Musikcafé in Skanderborg, where there will be both live music and a listening session with the entire album.

On the actual release day, October 3rd, you can meet her at a record reception at JungleRecords in Kolding.

Find her on:

Website: https://karolinehausted.com/