Songs (Protest and Otherwise)

Last Saturday, at the Annual Scout Jamboree Day, there was karaoke action on the PS2 and one of the available songs was A-ha's seminal pop hit, "Take On Me". Surprisingly, I had to push for its first play (probably not a song from the average scout's era, to be fair), but once they'd heard the music that will surely one day become their national anthem, they knew they'd struck oil. Rich, eighties oil with a then-groundbreaking video and still-hyperactive synth solo. The tune endured numerous plays that day. What a coincidence then, that when I took the train to Bergen on Wednesday evening I was shown a sculpture and sometime fountain designed by Morten Harket, lead singer of A-ha!

Marthe did quite well to hide her immense pride as she pointed it out. Scandinavian cool. At the time I was queuing up with a few of the youth from Arna to get into a free Kings of Convenience gig. Kings of Convenience are probably Norway's most successful indie duo, sound very much like Simon and Garfunkle and are comprised of Napoleon Dynamite and Frodo Baggins, as this picture goes some way to prove.

The gig was free because it was being held in protest against the infamous Clear Channel Outdoor's recent attempts to have adverts allowed at Norwegian bus stops. However, the Ringbearer said that the Kings of Convenience weren't there to protest, but to celebrate in anticipation of it not going ahead. Norway is hilarious.