How English became the language of pop in Denmark

Authors

  • Henrik Smith-Sivertsen The Royal Library of Copenhagen Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/pomh.v8i3.26932

Keywords:

1960s, Danish music, languages of popular music, pop, taste, the in-between years, youth

Abstract

In popular music history, the first years of the 1960s have traditionally been described as ‘in-between years’, dominated by soft and commercial teen music. This article argues that the years between the golden age of rock ’n’ roll and the arrival of The Beatles were very important, at least outside the Anglo-American sphere. During those years English became the language of not only popular music, but of youth music. Using a collection of letters written by Danish teenagers from 1962 to 1965, it is demonstrated how this process took place in practice. The letters, all sent to a Danish weekly magazine, were especially addressing musical topics. They generally reflect a major public debate on popular music taking place in Denmark during those years, and therefore reflect pro/contra positions concerning the rather new Danish term, pop. As is shown, this neologism was interpreted in various ways, but its young protagonists especially associated it with songs in English. Conversely, many associated Danish language songs with old fashioned styles and practices. In particular, the practice of translating songs into Danish was targeted by both aesthetic and moral arguments, an illustration how English had became the sound of pop and, by extension, of youth. These positions and attitudes towards style and language found in the letters reflected the general assumption in Danish media that young people preferred Anglophone popular music. The letters are concrete examples of negotiations of genre and culture at the time when the mediascape changed radically both in Denmark and internationally. By 1964 the linkage between English and youth was well established and the success of the British Invasion well prepared for through the preceding years of pop.

Author Biography

  • Henrik Smith-Sivertsen, The Royal Library of Copenhagen

    Henrik Smith-Sivertsen is a Danish popular music scholar working as a research librarian at the Royal Library of Copenhagen. He did his PhD on Danish translations of popular music and has primarily worked with Scandinavian popular music history from a wide range of perspectives, including value, technology, music industry, web archiving and not least cover practices. Of special interest is how the different Scandinavian countries reacted to the process of Anglophonization of popular music in the region after the end of World War 2.

References

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Published

2015-03-30

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Smith-Sivertsen, H. (2015). How English became the language of pop in Denmark. Popular Music History, 8(3), 251-269. https://doi.org/10.1558/pomh.v8i3.26932