David Ritschard – Sverigerocken (‘Sweden Rock’)

If you only have room for one Swedish road song in your life then there’s a strong argument that this should be it.

David Ritschard is on the outlaw side of Sweden’s vibrant country music scene and there’s a lot happening in this song as he thinks back on trips to different parts of the country.

He’s done business in Västerås with a leathery-skinned man in a trench coat, been pepper-sprayed by police in the woods in Rönninge, and had his faced smashed into a vehicle in a car park in Skogås before driving up to Sala with a mild concussion.

In his trademark broad Stockholm accent, he then sings about hitting the E4 motorway with his brother to track down their father’s long lost brother.

And is there any other song out there that references Dragon Gate, the huge Chinese-style building near Gävle that for a time served as a motorway rest stop?

He also gets top marks for squeezing in Brahehus, a beautifully situated rest stop on the shores of Lake Vättern near Jönköping.

Det blev en dagens lunch på Dragon Gate

Där kräktes jag på mina nya skor

Har inte sett mycket av världen

Men har sett desto mer av Brahehus

We had a lunch of the day at Dragon Gate

Where I threw up on my new shoes

I haven’t seen much of the world

But I’ve seen more than my share of Brahehus

Vasas Flora och Fauna – Leevi & The Leavings

Vasas Flora och Fauna are a Finland-Swedish band that have been around since 2012. This song is from their debut album and the title refers to a Finnish band that was popular in the 1970s.

The song makes the list because a) it’s very good, b) it’s got a car in it, and c) it moves along at a brisk pace.

Sin vana trogen låna' din farsa ut sin bil

En redig Volvo från -93

Speciellt med sommardäck så gick han föredömligt tyst

As usual your dad loaned out his car

*A reliable ‘93 Volvo *

Especially with summer tyres it was exemplarily quiet

Kjell Höglund – Genesarets sjö (‘Genezareth Lake’)

One of Sweden’s most singular songwriters, Kjell Höglund began releasing music at the beginning of the 1970s. His lyrics often lean towards the surreal and philosophical and Genesarets sjö is no exception.

The words are dreamy and fragmentary but there’s something about the melody and the inner journey the song describes that makes it perfect for a long drive.

Rötterna blir starka när det blåser

Luften blir friskare när åskan går

The roots get strong when the wind blows

The air gets fresher when the thunder rolls

Turid – På väg (‘On the way’)

The Swedish progg movement of the 1970s was a haven for radical left-wing ideas. Women’s rights were also high on the agenda, but in reality Turid was one of very few solo women performing and her music was not always well received by others in the movement who though she had too much poetry and not enough politics.

She was further ostracised after deciding to leave the progg label Silence to attract a wider audience – which she succeeded in doing.

‘På väg’ earned Turid lots of radio play with her tale of a woman bound to home and family in Älvsbyn while wishing she could hit the road to join the women in Stockholm campaigning for equal rights.

Häruppe i Älvsbyn är myggen en plåga

Kaffet kokar över och ungarna bråkar

Två bara slåss och en bara frågar och en är på väg

Up here in Älvsbyn the mosquitoes are a plage

The coffee’s boiling over and the kids are arguing

Two are just fighting and one’s just asking questions and there’s another on the way

Alf Robertson – Hon steg på Finlandsbåten (‘She boarded the Finland ferry’)

Gothenburg native Alf Robertson was one of the pioneers of the Swedish country music scene. After spending a decade at sea in the kitchen of a merchant ship he turned his attention to music in the 1960s. As explained in the excellent SVT documentary Countrylandet Sverige, Robertson then spent years living on the breadline in Nashville and elsewhere as he sought to make his mark.

In this song he details a short love affair punctuated by “four days of close acquaintance at a hotel in Södertälje”.

Hon steg på finlandsbåten och for hem till sitt Karelen

Där stod jag och det var kallare än nånsin

She boarded the Finland ferry and travelled home to Karelen

There I stood, and it was colder than ever

Markus Krunegård – Etta sitta längst fram (‘Number one sits in the front’)

Markus Krunegård has been on the Swedish gig circuit for a couple of decades and in this song he reflects humorously on touring the length and breadth of the country.

He FaceTimes his mother, snoozes through Dalsland and makes wry observations while driving through Säffle, Torsby and Malung.

It’s immensely catchy while also serving as a useful geography lesson.

När jag vaknar pratar folk skånska

Lera och bar mark

Nyss var det snö

"Det är svårt att dra folk i Malmö"

When I wake up people are speaking Scanian

Mud and bare ground

Not long since the snow

‘It’s hard to pull a crowd in Malmö’

Doktor Kosmos – Jag låg med henne i Tjeckoslovakien (‘I slept with her in Czechoslovakia’)

In the early 2000s Doktor Kosmos kept the progg flame burning with their funny takes on the earnest left.

The song starts with semi-clandestine meetings where planned economies and worker emancipation are hot topics. But we’re left wondering if the protagonist may have ulterior motives for his radical views.

Jag låg med henne i Sundsvall och Gävle

Jag låg med henne i Malmö och Umeå

Jag låg med henne i Tjeckoslovakien

I slept with her in Sundsvall and Gävle

I slept with her in Malmö and Umeå

I slept with her in Czechoslovakia

Pascal – Måne över Fårösund (‘Moon over Fårösund’)

Gotland three-piece Pascal have two decades’ worth of angsty, propulsive guitar songs under their belts, several of which make reference to the restless anxiety attached to an island home where not much happens.

Jag går längst gatorna

Det är helt tyst

Jag är på väg hem

Jag är på väg bort

I walk the streets

It’s completely silent

I’m heading home

I’m heading away

Torkel Rasmusson – Resan (‘The journey’)

Torkel Rasmusson was one of the central figures in the progg movement as the singer and songwriter for the acclaimed Blå Tåget.

In much the same way as Genesarets sjö, this is a perfect song for a Swedish road trip even though here too the journey described is of the internal variety.

Jag reste vidare

Jag kom nån gång på natten

Fram till en välbekant basar för hågkomster och drömmar

I travelled onwards

I arrived some time at night

At a bazaar renowned for memories and dreams

Lena Andersson – Är det konstigt att man längtar bort någon gång? (‘Is it strange to sometimes want to get away?’)

With lyrics penned by Abba collaborator Stig Andersson, Lena Andersson scored a massive hit in 1971 with this reworking of Buffy Sainte-Marie’s I’m gonna be a country girl again.

The song served as a perfect soundtrack to the Swedish ‘Green Wave’ of the 1970s, when young families left Sweden’s cities en masse to forge new lives in the countryside.

It also bookends this list nicely as it’s mentioned in the song that kicked us off, with David Ritschard asking if it’s strange to sometimes want to get away, “as Lena said”.

Om man älskar hav och vindar och är trött på neon och betong,

Är det konstigt att man längtar bort nån gång?

If you love sea and winds and are tired of neon and concrete

Is it strange to sometimes want to get away?

**Listen to the playlist using your preferred streaming service. **

What songs would you add to the list? Let us know in the comments below.