In a plaza in Oslo today some 40,000 Norwegians gathered in to sing a song, "Barn av Regnbuen," Children of the Rainbow. The song celebrates the tolerant, multicultural society that most people in the country revere. It's also the kind of society that Anders Behring Breivik, now on trial for killing 77 people last July, openly hates, a sentiment that apparently motivated his murderous rampage.
Here are the words to the song with my translation:
En himmel full av stjerner.
Blått hav så langt du ser.
En jord der blomster gror.
Kan du ønske mer ?
Sammen skal vi leve
hver søster og hver bror.
Små barn av regnbuen
og en frodig jord.
Blått hav så langt du ser.
En jord der blomster gror.
Kan du ønske mer ?
Sammen skal vi leve
hver søster og hver bror.
Små barn av regnbuen
og en frodig jord.
A sky full of stars.
Blue sea as far as you can see.
A land where flowers grow.
Can you wish for more?
Together we will live
each sister and each brother.
Small children of the rainbow
and a fertile soil.
The song is an adaptation of Pete Seeger's classic "Rainbow Race" (1917), embraced by Norwegians as a national favorite. Here's Pete's original version on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxXzD0eQQBg
Blue sea as far as you can see.
A land where flowers grow.
Can you wish for more?
Together we will live
each sister and each brother.
Small children of the rainbow
and a fertile soil.
The song is an adaptation of Pete Seeger's classic "Rainbow Race" (1917), embraced by Norwegians as a national favorite. Here's Pete's original version on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxXzD0eQQBg
Twenty years ago I lived with my family for a year in Norway and came to love the place and its people. I applaud them for joining together in the face of great tragedy to raise their voices in song, affirming the simple truth that unites them.