"Sjörövar-Fabbe" (English: ''Pirate grandpa Fabian'') is a Swedish shanty-style children's song originally written by Georg Riedel and

Astrid Lindgren Astrid Anna Emilia Lindgren (; ; 14 November 1907 – 28 January 2002) was a Swedish writer of fiction and screenplays. She is best known for several children's book series, featuring Pippi Longstocking, Emil of Lönneberga, Karlsson-on- ...

for the film '' Pippi in the South Seas'' (''Pippi Långstrump på de sju haven'') in 1970. The lyrics are about

Pippi Longstocking Pippi Longstocking ( sv, Pippi Långstrump) is the fictional main character in an eponymous series of children's books by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren. Pippi was named by Lindgren's daughter Karin, who asked her mother for a get-well story wh ...

's great grandfather Fabian "Fabbe" Longstocking who was a feared pirate captain on all seven seas. The last line of the chorus "Tjoa hadelittan lej" is a nonsense phrase. The song was originally performed by Pippi Longstocking actress

Inger Nilsson Karin Inger Monica Nilsson (born 4 May 1959) is a Swedish actress and singer. She is a former child actress. She is primarily known for her portrayal of Pippi Longstocking in the Swedish-produced TV series of the same name during 1969 which was ...

who published it in 1975 as B-side of the single "Här kommer Pippi Långstrump". In 2001, it was covered as a

crossover Crossover may refer to: Entertainment Albums and songs * ''Cross Over'' (Dan Peek album) * ''Crossover'' (Dirty Rotten Imbeciles album), 1987 * ''Crossover'' (Intrigue album) * ''Crossover'' (Hitomi Shimatani album) * ''Crossover'' (Yoshino ...

version with the melody of Dio's "

Holy Diver ''Holy Diver'' is the debut studio album by the American heavy metal band Dio, released in 1983. Vocalist Ronnie James Dio had just finished his first tenure in Black Sabbath, whose drummer, Vinny Appice, he took with him to put together his ...

" by the Swedish

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

band

Black Ingvars Black Ingvars is a Swedish humorist heavy metal group. Black Ingvars is famous for cover versions of songs from other musical styles, like pop, children's song (including " Sjörövar Fabbe" and "Här kommer Pippi Långstrump"), dansband music ...

. Other Swedish versions are by

Plura Jonsson Per Malte Lennart "Plura" Jonsson (born 10 August 1951) is a Swedish singer, songwriter, and musician. He has been a long-time member of the Swedish rock band Eldkvarn in addition to his solo materials. In 2014, he also released an album joint ...

in 1999, by Siw and Tove Malmkvist in 2003 and by

Johanna Grüssner Johanna is a feminine name, a variant form of Joanna that originated in Latin in the Middle Ages, including an -h- by analogy with the Latin masculine name Johannes. The original Greek form ''Iōanna'' lacks a medial /h/ because in Greek Spiritus ...

and

Mika Pohjola Mika Pohjola ( (born December 1, 1971) is a Finnish-born jazz pianist and composer who resides in Stockholm. He is one of the most prolific Scandinavian jazz musicians in his generation. Biography Childhood in Helsinki, Finland 1971-87 Mika ...

who performed a jazz version of this song in 2006. A Norwegian version with lyrics by Marit Trulsrud is by

Anita Hegerland Anita Hegerland (born 3 March 1961 in Sandefjord) is Norway's biggest selling solo artist.Bergan, Jon Vidar (December 30, 2019). “Anita Hegerland”. Great Norwegian Encyclopedia. Retrieved on August 26, 2021, from https://snl.no/Anita_Hegerl ...

and Frank Cook from 1970. There is also a German version called "Seeräuber-Opa Fabian" with lyrics by Helmut Harun. It was first performed by actress

Eva Mattes __notoc__ Eva Mattes (; born 14 December 1954) is an Austrian-German actress. She has appeared in four films directed by director Rainer Werner Fassbinder (''The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant'', ', ''Effi Briest'' and ''In a Year of 13 Moons' ...

in 1970 and covered in 2012 by German singer Lena Meyer-Landrut for the

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

'' Giraffenaffen''.

References

Swedish children's songs Songs about pirates Songs about fictional male characters Songs with lyrics by Astrid Lindgren 1970 songs 1970 in Swedish music Film music Songs with music by Georg Riedel (jazz musician) {{1970s-song-stub