Should I Ever Be a Soldier in Swedish – Joe Hill song [Eng subs]

Om jag någonsin ska strida is a translation of Should I Ever Be a Soldier in Swedish, the native language of its author Joe Hill.

While it's not the original – Joe Hill (born Joel Emmanuel Hägglund in Gävle, Sweden in 1879) originally wrote Should I Ever Be a Soldier in English in 1913 – this Swedish translation is still a powerful socialist or communist folk song.

This Swedish socialist song criticizes the military industrial complex for spending money on weapons while people are starving, but it also points out how military violence and training might be necessary to bring down tyrants and change society.

It´s written and recorded by the revolutionary band Knutna Nävar (Clenched Fists), one of the best in the genre of Swedish communist music, and included on their album Internationalen och andra revolutionära arbetarsånger (The Internationale and other revolutionary workers' songs) from 1971.

Mentioned in the lyrics:

"People of high renown" / "Folk av frejdad stam":
This is a line from the lyrics of Kungssången (The King's Song), the Swedish royal anthem. It is used as an example of a patriotic and nationalist song that people should leave behind – in the original lyrics it is instead the American song "My Country, 'Tis of Thee".

On this channel, I translate Swedish socialist and communist music (most of it from the 70s). That includes anti-capitalist songs, worker songs and songs about Vietnam. Subscribe if you want to support the channel and not miss any upcoming videos!

00:00 Verse 1
00:23 Chorus 1
00:54 Verse 2
01:17 Chorus 2

#joehillmusic #socialistmusic #communistmusic