Denmark’s entry in this year’s Eurovision extravaganza – the neo/goth/heavy metal/sort of pop song ‘Higher Ground’ – will be performed by the group Rasmussen.
The song will be sung in English, with the exception of a grammatically incorrect Icelandic phrase being chanted by the background vocalist Jesper Hagelskær Paasch.
It’s perhaps fitting, since the entire performance has a Thor rendered by Marvel vibe to it.
The Icelandic newspaper RÚV reports that the lyric “taka stökk til hærri jörð” being sung in the background of ‘Higher Ground’ is a direct translation of the refrain “take a leap to higher ground.”
Who can tell?
However, those who pay attention to this sort of thing have pointed out that the Icelandic lyric is not exactly grammatically correct—it should actually be “taka stökk á hærri jörð.” Paasch said that he learned the sentence and the pronunciation from an Icelandic friend.
Iceland’s own Eurovision song this year is ‘Our Choice’, a ballad sung by 20-year-old Ari Ólafsson.
In English.
