For a moment I thought this might be the theme tune to the American sitcom I never saw until I remembered that was called Parks and Recreation.
It is actually a track from the EP ‘Kristid’, by Swedish artist Park & Natur, an alias for Jonas Stålheim. There actually is a ‘Göta Lejon Marching Band’, you can Google it but a quick synopsis is that it is a youth band that has since the 1960s entertained the inhabitants of Gothenburg by way ofmusic and dance in the city’s streets and squares, marching around in their characteristic blue and white uniforms.
It seems this song was inspired by Jonas Stålheim coming across the band playing on a Gothenburg quay one April evening.
His PR talks of the EP being put together “with limited means in these pandemic times” but if this track is anything to go by he made a pretty good job of it all the same.
It kicks off with a melody line very similar to Scott Fitzgerald and Yvonne Keeley’s ‘If I had Words’ which scored brownie points with me as I rate that song, the tune taken from a classical piece from the 1880s with an added reggae beat as one of the best pure pop songs ever.
Then we’re off into a heavy rock beat with a slight Krautrock influence, then it’s a pop song again in the chorus and strong on the electronic element. From around 2/3rds of the way through it shifts into a climactic final section where it could be Pink Floyd engaging in a jam.
I don’t know if Jonas Stålheim did this all by himself. If he’s Covid-constrained I guess he must have. If so, Bravo, and I’d love to see him play it live.
‘Göta Lejon Marching Band’ is available now on streaming services.
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