Doing a little survey here:

[frualeydis]

A recent post about the swedish poet Dan Andersson in ginger_dragon's journal made me remember my astonishment when armillary said he had never heard of Joe Hill (or about Dan andersson). So now I'm doing a little survey:

How many of you have heard of Joe Hill?

song writer, swede living in the US, early 20th century


You can always google on his name. He's a part of an interesting part of american history.

Comments

[guyelfkin.livejournal.com]

Nope, never heard of him

Teddy

[frualeydis.livejournal.com]

Well, since your neither swedish nor american I wouldn't have thought so.

Eva

[azpapillion.livejournal.com]

Me either, never heard of him... Sorry! :)

[m-nivalis.livejournal.com]

Have heard of Joe Hill. Have heard of Dan Andersson. Have not heard them in any form of connection, though.

[frualeydis.livejournal.com]

They aren't connected. Or maybe that's not what you meant?

Eva

[(Anonymous)]

"Don't mourn -- organize!"

He was a trade unionist, born in Sweden as Joel Hägglund, but emigrated to the USA in the early 20th century. He was active in the Idustrial Workers of the World, and was framed for a robbery and murder and conveniently executed by the State of Utah. Nobody believes he was guilty. He wrote lots of political songs. I believe he coined the expression "You'll get pie in the sky when you die". When in prison awaiting his execution, he is reported to have said the words I wrote at the top.

[therru.livejournal.com]

And that was me, being anonymous...

[frualeydis.livejournal.com]

I knew I could trust you ;)


Eva

[therru.livejournal.com]

He was very clever actually; he used popular songs of the day (e.g. several Salvation Army melodies) and set new lyrics to them. That way, everybody knew the melodies already and could sing along.

Dan Andersson was contemporary with him, but is chiefly known as one of our greatest working class poets. He actually went to America the same year as Joe Hill, but returned home again. A lot of his poems have been set to music by others.

He, too, died young. Just the other day, actually, someone told me that he died because a hotel he stayed in had sprayed the room with some poison against bugs, and not aired the room properly afterwards. He was found dead in the morning.

[therru.livejournal.com]

"...så ta mig till den värld där man får göra som man vill..."
:)

[chigrima.livejournal.com]

Can't say I've heard of him, no. But I know who Dan Andersson was.

[ginger-dragon.livejournal.com]

Yes, I know about him. :-)

[(Anonymous)]

I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night,
Alive as you and me
Says I "But Joe, you're ten years dead"
"I never died" says he.

yes, I heard of him. But I didn't know he was Swedish.

[frualeydis.livejournal.com]

His real name was Joel Emanuel Hägglund.

Eva

[seamstrix.livejournal.com]

Well, I am both American and raised in a Swedish-American family, but my parents are some of the least political people on the planet and not at all into folk music so I've never heard of him either. *hangs her head in embarassment*

[liadethornegge.livejournal.com]

Nope, both names have stayed under my radar.

[amonik.livejournal.com]

Those are typical examples of the kind of people I've heard of a thousand times but never quite learned who they were. Well, I knew Dan Andersson was a poet and Joe Hill a union activist, but no more. All that time hanging around with my commie friends and i don't pick up more... so sad.

[haugtussa.livejournal.com]

Never heard of any of them, sorry.

[helwig.livejournal.com]

I have heard of the both.
Being raised in a family with left-wing political views in the 70s their songs also bring back some fond memories.
As for Joe Hill, he was executed in Utah in 1912 if I rembember correctly. This fact has been pointed out to me by my husband , a former Utah resident.

[armillary.livejournal.com]

I did *too* know Dan Andersson. It just took me a little while to place him, since I hadn't heard the name since high school swedish lit. class.