View From a Prairie Home

by Hege Hernfindahl, Columnist

I am at an age now that the first page I go to in a newspaper is the obituary. Many people who have died are younger than me. And some are my age. I like to read about people’s lives and look at the pictures of them. But even if I knew some of them, none of them are people I grew up with. Even though we live in a small world, few people around here grew up with me.

Maybe that’s why I was so very touched and felt melancholy when I saw his obituary. Lillebjørn Nilsen. We were exactly the same age and I kind of knew him. One of his friends and fellow semi-famous musicians, Lars Klevstrand, dated one of my girlfriends. So even though I lived in a suburb and he lived in the city, we sometimes found ourselves in the same circle of teenagers. We never knew each other enough to become friends, but because he became famous, I kind of kept track of him through the newspapers.

His parents encouraged him to follow his dreams as a musician and composer because they also were artists. His father was a musician who taught him to play the violin and his mother was a painter. He didn’t pick up a guitar until he at age 14 found a broken one in a garbage heap. He took it home and fixed it and by age 15, he was already playing on stage.

His music was gentle just like he was. His songs were about the everyday lives of people. Unlike many Norwegian folksongs that describe the beautiful landscape of Norway, he sang about his hometown of Oslo. About an old lady who left her small apartment every day to feed the pigeons. About summer in the city when most people had left for their cabins. One of his inspirations was Pete Seeger and it was his interpretation of one of Seeger’s somewhat obscure songs, “The Rainbow Race” that became Lillebjørn’s most famous song. “Barn av regnbuen.” (Children of the rainbow). His text is less dense than Seeger’s, easier to sing, and his melody is easier to follow. A little jazzy, yet gentle and warm; recorded by Lillebjørn playing the guitar and singing with a group of children. The song is about nature and peace and how we must work together to preserve the miracle of blue skies, clean water and unspoiled earth. How we must live in peace on this earth we have been given and think about the children and how our disregard and disrespect for this planet might destroy the future of the children we care about.

We, the Norwegian people, just love this song. When one evil man killed 77 young people who attended a camp for the Labor Party youth in the summer of 2011, because he hated diversity, we stood by in horror and helplessness. But when the terrorist, who told the media repeatedly that he hated the song “Barn av Regnbuen” and its message of peace and unity, was brought before the court of law in Oslo, 40 000 people showed up carrying white roses and stood in the cold November rain and kept on singing “Barn av Regnbuen” Lillebjørn leading them from a stage.

And people loved him. He exemplified what we would like our true identity to be. Kind and gentle and humble. He was so important to Norway that he was given the order of the Ridder (knight) of St. Olav, the highest honor that can be offered a Norwegian. He was not only an entertainer, but he showed us how we should live.

After his death. Oslo City Hall played his song “Good night Oslo” every night at 8PM until his funeral. Lillebjørn was a gentle, giving soul who made a difference in the world by nudging us to live with purpose and kindness.