Further Information

All the songs have been made quite simple, on purpose, so most people can sing along. They express anything from joy, fun and humour to seriousness and sorrow. Vilhjálmur Guðjónsson plays on almost all the tracks, 24 instuments in all, except in the song Móðir mín í kví kví, which is a recording from 1979. Olga Guðrún Árndóttir plays the piano in that song. The rest of the work was recorded and mastered in Vilhjálmur’s studio; Studio VOX.

It can be achieved with a little help from you

Funding of the project ÉG Á MÉR LÍF (I’VE GOT A LIFE) has been doing all right, so far. It had a grant from Hljóðritasjóður Rannis (The Rannis Recording Fund) and Tónskáldasjóður Bylgjunnar og Stöðvar 2 (Radio Bylgjan & Channel 2 Composers Fund). But a bit more is needed to make ends meet, concernig the making of this record. Therefore Fjóla and Þorsteinn are seeking fund raising at Karolina Fund. Here (on the right) you can see ways to support the project in several ways and get various rewards. We want to point out that Karolina Fund only excepts credid cards. All payments will be kept safe until the collection is at an end which, hopefully, will be succesful. If not, then nothing will be taken from the credid card accounts. If other cards are used, a message of error will pop up.

Picture 1 :

On the left there is a picture of a pamphlet containing the lyrics of the CD Ég á mér líf. On the vinyl record, the lyrics are printed on the inner sleeve. On the right there is a picture of the painting Til tónlistarinnar (A Tribute to Music) by Þorsteinn Eggertsson. A reproduction of it is also available in this collection.

Ég á mér líf - The composers of melodies and lyrics:

Songs (words and music) by Þorsteinn Eggertsson

Jonathan O’Brian A story (in English) about an unlucky man.

Langt út’ á hafi (Far out on the sea). A fisherman’s story in the spirit of Þorsteinn. Originally written for the band Upplyfting, but the publisher refused to include it on their record, so Þorsteinn wrote a new song.

Melodies by Jóhanna Fjóla and lyrics by Þorstein Eggertsson
Ég á mér líf (I’ve got my life). A positive attitude towards life.

Íslenskt einsöngslag (An Icelandic Patriotic Thing).A sort of a coctail of the old poetry that kids had to learn in school. This was the first melody that Fjóla made to words by Þorsteinn.

Fagrar vatnadísir (Beautiful Water Nymphs). A melody and lyrisc made especially for Ljósanótt í Reykjanesbæ (The Light Nights Festival in Reykjanesbær).
Bergmál gegn um nótt. (An Echo Through The Night).A picturesque tragedy.

Þið tvö eruð æði (You Two Are Fantastic).A lively wedding song.
Jáin (The YESes).A lively wedding waltz (English dance style).
Lífsins ljóð (Live’s Poem). Originally written for the town Garður.
Baiardo. A description (in English) of the mountain village, Baiardo, not far from San Remo in Italy. Especially written for a gentleman named Arrigo Speziali.

Songs by Jóhanna Fjóla

Vögguvísa [Hvert örstutt spor\]. A Lullaby (Each Tiny Step). A new melody to a popular poetry by Halldór Laxness. Requested by Þorsteinn Eggertsson.

Móðir mín í kví kví (My Mother in Pen-Pen). This song was written for a poetry program at The Nordic House in Reykjavik for the 60th birthday of the text’s poet, Jakobína Sigurðardóttir.

Picture 2 :

Here Fjóla and Þorsteinn are at similar ages ; at a time when they were both singers (seperately though) with The K. K. Sextet, around 1960.

Picture 3 :

In 1995 to 1996, Fjóla and Þorsteinn lived in Dublin. There they performed, regularly on Wednesday Nights, at a popular place called The Red Parrot.

Picture 4 :

A cartoon by a famous cartoonlist, showing Fjóla and Þorsteinn. It was drawn in Ankara, Turkey, at an International Cartoon Art Festival around year 2000. Þorsteinn represented Iceland. Fjóla opened the festival in, 2001, by singing a few songs.

Picture 5 :

Photos from the first recording of the song Baiardo, by Fjóla to Þorsteinn’s lyrics. It was written as a gratitude to Arrigo Spezialy in 2008. The picture on the right shows Vilhjálmur playing a mandolin. He played 24 instruments on the record Ég á mér líf.

Picture 6.

Fjóla and Þortsteinn, along with Mjöll Hólm, singing at the gig « Rock’n’Roll for Sixty Years » at Salurinn in Kópavogur, 2017. The Band was lead by Birgir J. Birgisson.

VIDEO BAIARDO

This video was made by Fjóla and put on YouTube, in order for her and Þorsteinn to send it as a gratitude present to Arrigo Speziali.