"Julbocken", with the opening lines ''"En jul när mor var liten"'', is a

Christmas song Christmas music comprises a variety of genres of music regularly performed or heard around the Christmas season. Music associated with Christmas may be purely instrumental, or, in the case of carols or songs, may employ lyrics whose subject ma ...

written by Alice Tegnér. The lyrics describe a time when the ''Julbocken'' ( Yule goat or Christmas goat) was still a more popular Christmas gift-bringer in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

than the ''

Jultomten A (, ), tomte (), , or () is a mythological creature from Nordic folklore today typically associated with the winter solstice and the Christmas season. They are generally described as being short, having a long white beard, and wearing a con ...

'' (Christmas elves or gnomes) or

Santa Claus Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a Legend, legendary figure originating in Western Christianity, Western Christian culture who is said to Christmas gift-bringer, bring ...

. The lyrics describe the goat giving presents, a doll for "Mother" when she was a child, who was frightened when the goat jumped; and for her brother, a drum and a trumpet. When the goat is old, he returns to "Mother", who now has children of her own.

Publications

* Sjung med oss, Mamma! 6, 1913

Recordings

A recording was done by Alice Babs in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

in November

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Cov ...

. Another recording was done by pupils from

Stockholms musikgymnasium Kungsholmens gymnasium is an upper secondary school ( sv, gymnasium, links=no) located on the island of Kungsholmen in Stockholm, Sweden. The school is divided into a Swedish Section, an English-speaking International Section, and a Music Section ...

and Stockholms musikklasser on the

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

album '' God morgon, mitt herrskap''. The song was also recorded by Anita Lindblom on her

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

Christmas album '' Jul med tradition''.

References

;Footnotes ;Sources {{authority control 1913 songs Swedish Christmas songs Songs in Swedish Anita Lindblom songs