Koppangen(ed.Arnest)

It is often difficult for new Christmas songs to establish themselves and become classics. One that has succeeded in this is Koppången.  In most Christmas carols one is taken to the stable, inside a church, or in the midst of other celebratory festivity. But lyricist Py Bäckman chooses to let us stand by with hope and longing in this Christmas song which has established itself as a new seasonal standard in Scandinavian and European countries. The lyrics to the song capture the search for modern man in the middle of nowhere – in the wild wall of life we suddenly stop and realize that there are other values than what everyday life fills.  Koppången, the largest Swedish nature preserve in the Dalarna region of central Sweden, lies some 250 miles NW of Stockholm. In summer the area attracts hikers; in winter there is snow. The Swedish composer Per-Erik Moraeus wrote Koppangen to reflect the wintery peace that falls with the snow and the tune was given lyrics by Py Backman.

Lyrics:

There is stillness and silence, as the ground is coloured white;  From the safe, old church the song is flowing out;  I have paused at the road to rest for a while, and was caught by the borderland that unites night and day.  And a ray of light behind the arched window frame has united those spirits that are here in time with us.  And I know that those who have left us have understood that we are like flickering flames as long as we are here.  And there among twinkling stars that fade one by one, life comes really close, like a glimpse of truth.   We are prisoners in time, like a palmprint on a frosty old window, given mercy by the passing of time. For a second I am eternal and then I know nothing more. Only this, that I live as fully as any other, I am here and in the middle of a frozen road there is still warmth.  Even as the snow starts falling and the sky turns grey, there is stillness and silence as the hymn fades out.  But I carry the old words in my heart just as before, and I sing to the heavens, maybe someone else listens. “Hosianna in the highest,” then I start to walk.  And I go to the others, I want to feel Christmas peace.  I want to believe that He was born and exists with us in time.                            It is Christmas and there is a child in me that wants to think that it happened, and that lights a candle every Advent Sunday.