Lillebjørn Nilsen (nonfiction)

Lillebjørn Nilsen.

Bjørn "Lillebjørn" Falk Nilsen (born 21 December 1950) is a Norwegian singer-songwriter and folk musician. He was born in Oslo, and is considered by some to be the leading "voice of Oslo", thanks to numerous classic songs about the city from the 1970s and onwards[citation needed].

He also makes up the Norwegian supergroup Gitarkameratene with Jan Eggum, Halvdan Sivertsen and Øystein Sunde.

In 1987 he received the Fritt Ord Honorary Award.

Public mass performance of "Barn av regnbuen" during Norway terror trial

Nilsen adapted Pete Seeger's song My Rainbow Race into Norwegian as Barn av regnbuen ("Children of the Rainbow"), after asking and receiving Seeger's permission.

On April 26, 2012, Nilsen and a crowd of more than 40,000 people sang Barn av regnbuen in Oslo, as a protest against statements given in court by mass murderer [Anders Behring Breivik Anders Behring Breivik], the perpetrator of the 22 July 2011 attacks. The performance was inspired by Facebook reactions after Breivik claimed in his trial testimony that the song was an example of Marxist propaganda and that it was being used to "brainwash" Norwegian children. Organization was made at the level of Norwegian Minister of Culture, and other Ministers of Culture from Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands were also present. The song was thus performed a few days later, in the midst of the ongoing trial. In Oslo the sing-along was followed by a march up to the site of the trial, where the crowd laid down flowers. The song was performed both in Norwegian and English.

Psychiatrist Thor Kvakkestad criticized this public outpouring of emotions during an ongoing trial and called for a focused discussion about the hate that seems to be building in the Norwegian populace. He also compared the rally to a pillory.

Discography

Albums

with The Young Norwegians

• 1967: Things on Our Mind
• 1969: Music

with Ballade!

• 1978: Ballade! På turné
• 1980: Ballade! Ekstranummer
• 2005: Ballade!s samlede (compilation)

with Gitarkameratene

• 1989: Gitarkameratene
• 1990: Typisk norsk
• 2010: Kanon

with Andy Irvine

• 2010: Abocurragh [Nilsen plays on one track.]

Solo

• 1971: Tilbake
• 1973: Portrett
• 1974: Haba Haba
• 1974: Hei fara! Norske folkeviser
• 1975: Byen med det store hjertet
• 1979: Oslo 3
• 1980: Live at Sioux Falls (USA)
• 1980: Ballade! Ekstranummer
• 1982: Original Nilsen
• 1985: Hilsen Nilsen
• 1988: Sanger
• 1993: Nære Nilsen

Re-released albums

• 1995: Haba Haba
• 2001: Portrett
• 2003: Byen med det store hjertet (Re-release)
• 2003: Tilbake (Re-release)
• 2003: Portrett (Re-release)

Compilation albums

• 1978: Lillebjørn Nilsens beste
• 1984: Lillebjørn Nilsens utvalgte
• 1986: Tekst og musikk: Lillebjørn Nilsen
• 1996: 40 spor: Nilsens 40 beste
• 2010: Stilleste gutt på sovesal 1 (10 CDs and a DVD)

Singles

with The Young Norwegians

• 1966: "Plenty Nothingness and Love" / "Det står ein friar uti garde"
• 1966: "Joys of Love" / "Jug of Punch"
• 1967: "Vuggevise for André" / "Goodbye to Your Sparkling Blue Eyes"
• 1968: "Nightingale" / "Grannie" with Kari Svendsen

with Gitarkameratene

• 1990: "Barn av regnbuen"

Solo

• 1973: "Barn av regnbuen" / "Alle duene"
• 1974: "Haba Haba" / "Kirsebærtreet"
• 1982: "Tanta til Beate"
• 1988: "Se deg aldri tilbake"
• 1993: "Fort gjort å glemme" / "Så nære vi var"
• 1993: "1000 søte damer"
• 2006: "Oleanna" (with Pete Seeger) (live)

References

• "Priser – Fritt Ords Honnør" (in Norwegian). Fritt Ord. Retrieved 22 May 2010.
• "VIDEO: Norwegians Stand Up To Killer's Hate By Joining In Song", NPR, 26 April 2012

Fiction cross-reference

• Gnomon algorithm
• Gnomon Chronicles

Nonfiction cross-reference

• God Natt Oslo (nonfiction)
• My Rainbow Race (nonfiction)

External links

• Official website
• Lillebjørn Nilsen
• God Natt Oslo @ YouTube