SABATON A Lifetime Of War English Reaction

[@NyxEternal]

This is one song where the Swedish and English versions are essentially two different songs to the same music Rather than translating the lyrics from one language to the other and altering them to suit the music they decided to cover two aspects of the same subject in two different languages The English version focuses on the overall effect and reasons behind the 30 year war The Swedish version focuses on the viewpoint of the individual soldier who goes to war young and only knows this one war his whole life, wondering how or if he will be remembered or mourned

[@cannonball3779]

i think that is a really interesting way to do it.

[@amygoodson-catlady]

I'm not even Swedish (tho I can sing this in Swedish) but I don’t think the English version comes close to the emotion of the original. My Swedish friends tell me its a deeply patriotic song to them.

[@r100curtaincall]

They are simply different. The English version is more that an outsider looking in perspective. By contrast the swede version is indeed, a more patriotic song told from the perspective of a Swedish soldier, going to war from his small home and is more personal. They both have their place i feel.

[@amygoodson-catlady]

@@r100curtaincall Ty for laying out that info! I have never even looked at the English translation bc I *feel* the song so deeply when I sing it in Swedish...

[@thomasholmgren85]

I believe this is the song on the Carolus Rex album were the lyrics is the most different between the English and the Swedish version. If you have time and are interested, go back an listen to the to versions back to back. The perspective of the song changes quite a bit. This is also true for the song 1648, although to a much lesser degree in my opinion.

[@TheGruspastej]

Civil war does a song with the whole "different lyrics for different languages" too where the english version is about those who aided Gustav Vasa take the crown and the swedish is... about a hockey team. 😅 Knights of dalecarlia/hjältar ifrån dalarna

[@L1ghtZ1vr]

7:10 exactly what happened with the king of sweden gustav adolf and what happened almost a hundred years later with karl XII one by a cannon shot and the other by a bullet

[@michaelginnis521]

I heard this song like 10 years ago, so its funny to me that this is your first hearing lol

[@michaelginnis521]

gave you a like for your honest portrayal of the "military industrial complex"

[@uBoBaMnupa]

ManOwaR - Spirit Horse Of The Cherokee

[@kjell-christianbjerkeli6713]

As a norwegian I definatly prefer the swedish version.

[@Elbereth_TV]

Swedish lyrics are a million times better

[@EskChan19]

Hard disagree

[@ashestodust2313]

these kind of channel get banned when?

[@BurgGrub]

why tho?

[@abouououe]

Hopefully never

[@JammersMetalMischief]

would you like to re-phrase that so it makes any sense at all?

[@henningratjen4364]

Sabaton doesn´t mind people reacting, they like it, so no copyright strikes etc. are going to happen.

[@EskChan19]

Personally I do like the english version better than the swedish version. Both are great songs, but they are very different. The english is about the war in general, while the swedish is from the view of a single soldier. This song is titled "A lifetime of war" and I feel that the english version portrays the sheer scale of it much better. The swedish is more personally relatable because it is from a single soldier singing about how he had to leave his home and doesn't know if he'll see it again, but that's every soldier ever, no matter if the war takes a day or a decade. But the english version really tries to put it into perspective just how insane this war truly was. And it personally hits me much harder to hear lines like "They've been to war a decade, two more to come" because that makes me think, it makes me try to imagine just how SHATTERED these peoples spirits would have been if they had known. If ten years after the war started someone from the future came to them and told them "Hey, this whole hell you've been through? Yeah that's just one third of it. You'll still have to be here two times as long". And I turned 30 recently myself and "Has man gone insane?" is exactly what I think when I think about how if I had been born the day the war started, the war would have ended only now. Literally my entire life would have been war. And that to me just makes the title of the song mean so much more. A lifetime of war. Truly. You could have been born, grown up and had your own children without ever knowing peace. And given that for some countries upwards to 70% of the population died to famine and disease since everyone was at war and there weren't really any doctors or farmers left to provide food and medical attention, it's very likely that many people were born and died during this war without ever having known peace in their whole life. To me that portrays "A lifetime of war" much better than a single soldier singing about going to war like in the swedish version. And that's why I personally like the english version better. The swedish is more emotional and relatable, but it doesn't really convey the core message of this song as well as the english versions more broad viewpoint can. Every human life matters, but if you zoom in on a single person you can't see the sheer scope of whatever you're looking at.