Langebro (song)

"Langebro" is the first track on Danish rock band Gasolin's 1971 first album, Gasolin'. The lyrics were written by Mogens Mogensen and the melody is borrowed from the English folk song "Geordie" with very slight alterations. "Langebro", named for a bridge of the same name in Copenhagen, is one of Gasolin's most popular songs. The lyrics give an insight to the darker side of society in Copenhagen. Gasolin' was concerned about the poor and helpless and this was often reflected in their lyrics.

Themes

The lyrics are in the first-person perspective, of observations seen on a walk through Copenhagen on an early Monday morning. The theme is clearly depressing, with the protagonist observing a number of things, first passing Langebro seeing someone crying. He then passes the "gates of demons" at Kofoed Skole (an institution in Copenhagen established in 1928 for socially disadvantaged people) where drunks stand around "drinking themselves to death". He then meets a Jehovah's Witness who's predicting that the world ends today and finally, a woman chasing after her husband, yelling that he stole her life.

The chorus "Hvis du tør, så kom med mig" - "if you dare, then come along with me" - can be seen as the protagonist's dare to force the listener to "come along" and see the darker side of Copenhagen (or society as a whole).