"Gubben Noak" | |
---|---|
Drinking song | |
English | Old Man Noah |
Written | 1766, probably earlier |
Text | poem by Carl Michael Bellman |
Language | Swedish |
Melody | Bellman |
Composed | 1766 |
Published | 1791 in Fredman's Songs |
Scoring | voice and cittern |
"Gubben Noak" ("Old Man Noah", originally "Om gubben Noach och hans fru" or just "Gubben Noach", and since 1791 also "Fredmans sång n:o 35") is a traditional Swedish song, a drinking song and bible travesty written in 1766 or earlier by Carl Michael Bellman. The song is possibly the best known of all Bellman's works. The song was initially published anonymously for fear of the church. In 1768 the Lund chapter attempted to have all copies of the song and other biblical travesties destroyed. It was included in the 1936 Songs for the Philologists by J. R. R. Tolkien and E. V. Gordon. Simplified and more innocent versions of the song are widely sung by children around the world. English versions have been recorded by Adam McNaughtan and the Linköping University Male Voice Choir.