Annual Swedish Schnapps Song Contest

It's that time again! Entries aren't needed until August 15, but it's never too early to start thinking about them. 

  • All songs have to contain the word crawfish or crayfish in the text.

  • This is the fifth time that Atlanta’s Nordic Lodge #708 is announcing this contest. The interest in writing Swedish “snapsvisor” in English is growing every year. Two years ago the winning schnapps song came from Illinois. Last year the winner was from California. What about Canada this time? Or Alaska? Or Hawaii? Or maybe Atlanta... After all, the vast majority of incoming entries come from our own city.

  • The 2014 winner of the 1st prize: Ruth Wilkening of Northridge, California.

  • The result will be revealed at the Nordic Lodge Crawfish Party in Atlanta on August 22, 2015. Because of this, the theme of the contest will be “crawfish,” which means the word “crawfish” (or "crayfish") must be included in the text of the song. And we can promise that the participants at the party will do their best in singing as many of the entries as possible!

  • Rules:
    * Write a Swedish style schnapps song in English.
    * You must include the theme word (“crawfish” or “crayfish”) in the text.
    * You are welcome to provide more than one entry.
    * Requirements for a good Swedish snaps visa include:
    1. It must be written to a well-known melody so everyone can sing along, Swedes as well as Americans.
    2. It must be short. Between four and eight lines is good, more than that is too long.
    3. It should be about schnapps, or at least related to the drinking of a schnapps. Don’t write about whisky, beer or wine!
    4. The lines should be put into rhyme. (Reasonably.)

  • The winner will receive eternal honor and admiration and a check in the amount of $50.00.
    The judges this year will be Prof. Jay Lutz and Dr. Sten Ekberg.

  • Entries must be received by Saturday August 15, 2015.
    Please: Put your entry — but NOT your name — on a sheet of paper. Place it in an envelope without your return address and mail it to Jan Rygert, 4390 Ivywood Dr., NE, Marietta, GA 30062.
    Inside that envelope, include a smaller envelope with the title of the song on the outside, and your name, address and email listed inside.

  • There are not many schnapps songs about crawfish in English, so we are looking forward to many new songs! Here’s a rather new one, originally in Swedish but recently translated to English.

  • Consolation For a Crawfish
    Mel: I Apladalen.
    A little crawfish he told his sister:
    Why do you look that black and sinister.
    When you grow up you’ll be nice and red,
    with many schnappses you will be fed.

  • By Göran Rygert
    Atlanta, GA