Today's song is simply the most perfect song about loss and grief I can remember having heard. That does mean that there might be other songs that I am not remembering at the moment, but the simple imagery of death as a magpie stealing the apple of one's eye is so poignant in this song. It was written shortly after the singer, Prepple, lost his daughter, after she was admitted to the hospital with meningitis. Prepple and guitarist Kjartan Kristiansen were frequently sitting together in sessions fuelled by grief, loss, and alcohol, and out of this immeasurable tragedy came this incredibly beautiful and moving song. My feeble translation is just that - a translation of the imagery used throughout. Kjartan Kristiansen is a very visual lyricist - he prefers to write in images and evoke emotions that way, and I am nowhere near him, but I find it important for English speaking readers to get a glimpse into what this song is all about.
Asks no one, not a soul
Swishing steely scythe
Tears open clear blue skies
Nobody's safe in the fields
Cuts autumn without sleep
Without rest, blind and dumb
Soon there then here as lightning
Stealing the apple of your eye
Thief, thief
Does a string exist
That mends hearts torn apart
No pardon, mercy for non
Slicing down all for one
Thief, thief
We are all the same
For the scythe
If it had a soul, it'd be a magpie's
Stealing those who shine the most
Thief, thief
Thief, thief
robbed the apple of my eye
Sneaks in the shadows
Only us two remain
Thief thief
Took what he found
All we have hidden
Will never be forgotten
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