Blå Tåget Explained

Blå Tåget
Origin:Sweden
Genre:Progg
Years Active:1967–present
Label:MNW
Current Members:Mats G Bengtsson
Torkel Rasmusson
Tore Berger
Urban Yman
Leif Nylén
Kjell Westling
Carl Johan De Geer
Roland Keijser

Blå Tåget (lit. The Blue Train) is a Swedish progg-band that used to go under the name Gunder Hägg, the name of a legendary Swedish runner, but after name conflicts occurred they changed name to Blå Tåget (which was a ride at the amusement park Gröna Lund) in 1972.

Their lyrics (mostly written by Bengtsson, Rasmusson, Berger and Nylén) cover a wide range, from marxist analysis and invitations to revolution to satire, art criticism, 1940s childhood nostalgia, images from daily life and experimental pop art works.

A recurring theme, at least in their early works, is criticism of Saltsjöbadsandan; the Swedish model of mixing capitalism with socialism through cooperation rather than conflict between government, large corporations and unions.

One song on this theme, "Den ena handen vet vad den andra gör", was covered by punk band Ebba Grön (renamed "Staten och kapitalet", with some of the lyrics omitted) and became a hit in 1980. It remains Blå Tåget's best known song today.

Members

Discography

As Gunder Hägg:

As Blå Tåget:

External links