"Mitt lille land" (in en, "My Little Country" or "My Small Country") is a song by

Ole Paus Ole Paus (born 9 February 1947; full name ''Ole Christian Paus'') is a Norwegian singer, songwriter, poet and author, who is widely regarded as the foremost troubadour of the contemporary Norwegian ballad tradition ( no, visebølgen). During th ...

, written in 1994 as a lyrical description of Norway. The song gained strong popularity following the

2011 Norway attacks The 2011 Norway attacks, referred to in Norway as 22 July ( no, 22. juli) or as 22/7, were two domestic terrorist attacks by neo-Nazi Anders Behring Breivik against the government, the civilian population, and a Workers' Youth League (AUF) ...

, which led to it being described by the media as "the new

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and Europea ...

." According to the

NRK NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and the largest ...

, the song "came to symbolize the sorrow many people went through." The song featured most prominently in all the memorial ceremonies following the attacks. The

memorial concert (30 July 2011) following the attacks was named "Mitt lille land," and the concert opened with "Mitt lille land" sung by

Maria Mena Maria Viktoria Mena (born 19 February 1986) is a Norwegian pop singer, best known for her singles such as " You're the Only One", "Just Hold Me", "All This Time" which charted in multiple countries. Early life Maria Mena was born into an art ...

. The national memorial ceremony (21 August 2011) was opened with "Mitt lille land" sung by Susanne Sundfør, followed by a speech by

King Harald V Harald V ( no, Harald den femte, ; born 21 February 1937) is King of Norway. He acceded to the throne on 17 January 1991. Harald was the third child and only son of King Olav V of Norway and Princess Märtha of Sweden. He was second in the lin ...

. On the

Norwegian Constitution Day Constitution Day is the national day of Norway and is an official public holiday observed on 17 May each year. Among Norwegians, the day is referred to as ''Syttende Mai'' ("Seventeenth of May"), ''Nasjonaldagen'' ("National Day"), or ''Grunnlo ...

in 2012, the

broadcast was opened with "Mitt lille land." The

Norwegian People's Aid Norwegian People's Aid ( no, Norsk Folkehjelp) was founded in 1939 to provide post-conflict reconstruction assistance and humanitarian relief during conflicts. NPA is now engaged in more than 33 countries in de-mining, humanitarian relief, promot ...

and

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainme ...

released a memorial album titled '' Mitt lille land'' and Gyldendal Norsk Forlag published a memorial book also titled ''Mitt lille land'' during the autumn of 2011. Numerous Norwegian artists have recorded cover versions of this song, among them

Sondre Bratland Sondre is a Norwegian masculine given name. The name began to become more common in the 1960s, and became roughly twelve times as popular from 1980 to 1990 before declining in popularity thereafter. As of 2017, there were 9,111 men in Norway with ...

, Christine Guldbrandsen, Maria Solheim,

Thomas Dybdahl Thomas Dybdahl (born 12 April 1979) is a Norwegian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Background Thomas Dybdahl grew up in Sandnes, Norway. His musical career started off as the guitarist in the band Quadraphonics. The band released ...

Mari Boine Mari Boine (born Mari Brit Randi Boine, 8 November 1956) is a Norwegian Sámi singer. She combined traditional Sámi joik singing with rock. In 2008, she became a professor of musicology at Nesna University College. Biography Mari Boine was b ...

Anne Grete Preus Anne Grete Preus (22 May 1957 – 25 August 2019) was a Norwegian rock singer in Norway in the 1980s and 1990s, first as member of the bands Veslefrikk and Can Can and later as a solo act. She released nine solo albums and won the Spellemannprise ...

Haddy N'jie Haddy Jatou Njie (formerly N'jie; born 25 June 1979 in Oslo) is a Norwegian singer, songwriter, writer and journalist. Her father is Gambian and her mother is Norwegian. She grew up in Kolbotn near Oslo and is the eldest of five siblings. Her yo ...

Kurt Nilsen Kurt Erik Nilsen () (born 29 September 1978) is a Norwegian pop/country singer. He won the first season of the Norwegian reality show ''Idol'', which aired on TV 2 in May 2003. He then won a one-off international version of ''Pop Idol'' called ...

, D.D.E., Sølvguttene,

Tone Damli Aaberge Tone Damli Aaberge (born 12 April 1988) is a Norwegian singer-songwriter and actress. She became famous for being a contestant in the Norwegian version of the ''Idol'' series. Damli was the runner-up in the Norwegian version of ''Idol'' in 20 ...

and

. The song was originally written for the pro-EU organisation "Fra Nei til Ja" (From No to Yes) in connection with the

1994 Norwegian European Union membership referendum A referendum on joining the European Union was held in Norway on 27 and 28 November 1994. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p1438 After a long period of heated debate, the "no" side won with 52.2 per cent o ...

, and the song has been described as

ironic Irony (), in its broadest sense, is the juxtaposition of what on the surface appears to be the case and what is actually the case or to be expected; it is an important rhetorical device and literary technique. Irony can be categorized into ...

. Ole Paus denied in 2011 that the song was ironic. According to Professor of Musicology Even Ruud, "the music and the text are very open. There is nothing in the song that is related to a particular time, which means that it can be interpreted in several different ways." The song was originally released on the album also titled ''Mitt lille land'' in 1994, which contained four tracks. The first track was ''Mitt lille land'' and the last track was a

rap Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

performed by Ole Paus and Labour politician and then-Minister of Trade and Shipping Affairs Grete Knudsen titled ''Sjølråderetten fallera!''.

References

{{authority control Norwegian songs 2011 Norway attacks 1994 songs