Saga of Second Bests #6

‘Swedish Rhapsody’– Mantovani, 10/12/1953

Another instrumental almost makes it to the top again. I am slightly worried that much of the ‘50s No.2s will be wordless, as I know very little about orchestras or music theory or anything at all really. Bring on the Beatles!

Feckless populism aside, this piece is a lovely little jaunt. It makes me feel like skipping atop rolling hills, my hair tied in pigtails, wicker basket in hand. Does it leave my memory as soon as the track finishes? Who’s to say? I think that’s more to do with me than the song, however; my post-streaming brain cannot fathom light orchestral music. 

And yet, it was clearly popular in its time. Albeit a time still with rationing, when Elizabeth Windsor was only a year into her reign. I have a good time when it’s on, the cor anglaise, timpani and harps being such a wonderful and wistful novelty. It’s also more entertaining than its B-side, ‘Jamaican Rhumba’, whose name misled me into expecting something bouncier and more rhythmic. Alas, we’re still with Mantovani, not Marley.

For those of you who expected the Swedish Chef covering Queen, I can only apologise.

Should it be silver?

Our first ‘double top stop’! ‘Swedish Rhapsody’ was stopped by both Franke Laine’s ‘Answer Me’ and Eddie Calvert’s ‘Oh Mein Papa’. Both remind me of going to church when I was younger, listening to elderly people talk after the service, rooting around for garibaldis in a metal tin, sat utterly bored on the community centre’s carpeted floor. Dreary organs and tired singing, inferior to the mighty Mantovani!

Rating

2 borks out of 5

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