A-ha
"Minor Earth/Major Sky" (2000).
Here you can find "To let you win" with the lyrics by Håvard
Rem. The verse was created more than five years ago and the song was
supposed to form Morten Harkets's solo album, but there was found a
place for it in this one.
" - There is no secret here! "I wasn't
strong enough to let you win" is the Gospel's text…" (Aftenposten,
October 2000)
Morten
Harket "Vogts Villa" (1996). Morten… Yes, they are friends, and after "Poetenes Evangelium" it is not hard to guess what makes them close. I think, they together create fabulous things…
There are many spiteful critics of "Vogts Villa", which was recorded in 12 days only on the deserted island of Dvergsøya, but I consider this album their the most successful work. At least because it is in Norwegian and with elements of folk music.
The songs with texts by Rem are: "Jeg kjenner ingen fremtid", "Herre I drømmen" (together with O.S. Olsen), "Fremmed her", "Søndag morgen", "Gammel og vis", "Taksameteret går", "Vuggevise".
A discovery that shocked me: "Jeg kjenner ingen fremtid" and "Herre I drømmen" were written in 1977, and "Vuggevise" - in 1985! Fantastically beautiful and wise verse.
In general, Rem doesn't stop to surprise. Example? His vocal part in "Gammel og vis" and "Fremmed her". And there is really something in it!
All the lyrics are taken from the collection "Taksameteret går".
Morten
Harket "Wild Seed" (1995). There`s no need to retell here the information that can be found on any of A-ha-sites. I want only to mark out the songs of album, which Rem wrote the texts for: "A kind of Christmas card", "Spanish steps" (together with M.Harket & T.Flakne), "Los Angeles", "East Timor" (together with M.Harket & H.K.Dahl), "Lord", "Lay me down tonight", "Tell me what you see" and "Stay" (three last songs with M.Harket).
They won a pile of prices for the whole album in Norway (and not only there!) by the end of 1995, and the song "Los Angeles" was pronounced the best song of the year.
Morten
Harket "Poetenes Evangelium" (1993).
"The Gospel of the Poet. Jesus's Life in a Norwegian poetry"
is the complete name of the work. The anthology of intercrossing of
Norwegian poets' verse with the Gospel text made by Håvard Rem and
scored for sound by Morten Harket.
The album was released in parallel with re-edition of a book
with same title, and it differs from the later significantly. The book
contains three poems by Rem: "Disippelen", "Morgen"
and "Engelen".
But only "Engelen"
was represented on the CD.
Two videos were filmed for the album: "Natten" and "Salome".
"When Morten is singing my songs, I think that I have achieved
my aim as a poet. Because he knows how to bring the lyrics to audience
without any part of it being lost..." (from the interview)
"Cohen
på norsk" (1993)."Leonard Cohen in Norwegian" performed by Norwegian singers: Kristin Solli, Liz-Tove Vespestad, Tine Valand, Sidsel Endersen, Kirsten Bråten Berg, Kari Bremnes and Claudia Scott. A music band "CC Cowboys" performed instrumental. Texts' translations and commentaries, naturally, are by H. Rem. Here play such songs as: "Dance me to the end of love", "Everybody knows", "Bird on the wire", "Suzanne", "Joan of Arc", "Sisters of mercy", "The Captain", "There is a war", "Famous blue raincoat", "Who by fire", "So long, Marianne" and "You know who I am".
At the same time there was published a book
named "Hadde månen en søster" containing Norwegian texts of the
songs. "Leonard Cohen was the first whom I met in art. For me, 15 years old beginning poet, it was him who lit up with vital light the biblical history, which, I realized it, I couldn't find on Western Norway through the last thousand years. As I understood it, I translated the poems of the North-American Jew with Russian roots, opposing him to a Norwegian, standing in the middle of new ideology. But the origin of magic is in singing, in the voice, which was speaking not with me, but to me."
""The translation was made first of all for the songs, not for publishing it like a book."
Of course, Håvard met Leonard Cohen and interviewed him (together with Håkon Harket) in Grand Hotel in Oslo in 1992. The interview is published in this book.
"Dylan
på norsk" (1997).
"Dylan in Norwegian". Translation of all the texts and commentaries to
them are made by Håvard Rem. Vocal performance - Åge Aleksandersen
with his music band. The songs are: "I want you", "It
ain't me, babe", "Is your love in vain", "All over
you", "Forever young", "Mr.Tambourine man", "Desolation
row", "Bob Dylan's New Orleans rag", "One more cup
of coffee", "The Times they are-a-changin", "Positively
4th street", "Just like a woman", "It's all over now,
baby blue", "Shelter from the storm" and "Every
grain of sand".
Let me confess here, that this CD caused my personal interest towards
Dylan.
"I
am the one of those, who studied Dylan and rewrote him. In fact, we are
quite numerous. I got interested with him when I was 20, and it can hardly
come to an end some day. A part of my translations I've already published,
but I hope to gather the best of them and to release them in a separate
collection. When making a translation, it 's necessary to pay enough attention
to different parts of life and their diversity: English and Norwegian
languages, Norway and America, 1960-ties and 1990-ties, rhythm and rhyme,
new trends of language and traditions, form and content, semantics and
melody, etc.
The original texts were taken from Bob Dylan's book "1962-1985" (Knopf).
The literary texts of translated songs themselves were published as a
small album. My gratitude, with any skepticism thrown away, should have
Tor Egil Førland and Johnny Borgan, who through the translation process
acted as devil's advocates towards everything I knew about Dylan."
Two years later (in 1999) Rem's book about Bob Dylan was published.
"Kom
Ut og Lek!" (1995).
The benefit
from it's sales was directed to the Fond of help to Pakistan children.
The action was organized by famous in Norway LO (the Norwegian Confederation
of Trade Unions) in cooperation with APFOL (All Pakistan Federation of
Labour). Here one may read an appeal of prime minister of Norway Mrs.
Gro Harlem Brundtland dated 01 May 1995. Financial and statistic services
figured out, that one sold CD will cover a cost of one week studying at
school of one child.
There are 7 songs of 10, where H.Rem as an author:
1. Steinar Albrigtsen - "Vil du være med...". Original
text by Woody Guthrie "Riding in my car". Norwegian text by
H.Rem and S.Albrigtsen.
2. Liz-Tove Vespestad - "Å, så heldig jeg er".
Original text by Lee Clayton "Oh, how lucky I am". Norwegian
text by H.Rem.
3. Jørn Hoel - "Hjerte av is". Text by H.Rem.
4. Magnus Grønneberg - "Drømmeskogen". Text
by H.Rem.
5. Tine Valand - "Mammas suppe spesial". Original text
by John & Nancy Cassidy "Chicken Lips & Lizard Hips".
Norwegian text by H.Rem.
6. Morten Harket - "Evig ung". Original text by Bob Dylan
"Forever young". Norwegian text by H.Rem.
7. Vinderen Barnekor - "Kom ut og lek!" (with Rohini
Sahajpal and Jai Shankar). Text by H.Rem.
Morten
Harket "Heaven's not for saints (Let it go)" (1996). Doubletrack CD-single with Morten Harket's song that hadn't gone into any of his solo albums. There is also its instrumental version here. However there is on need to present the song. Exactly with this song Morten opened "The International Music Competition Eurovision" ("Eurosong' 96") in 1996 in Oslo.
Words and music by Morten Harket. Additional words - Håvard Rem and Ole Sverre Olsen.
Morten
Harket "Spanish steps" (1995). One more CD-single. Two songs from it ("Spanish steps" and "Lord") found their place at Morten's solo album "Wild Seed". The third one "Girl" is presented at this single only.
Håvard Rem is the author of all these songs (but "Spanish steps" together with M.Harket & T.Flakne).