The Social Services [1] are a kitschy band from Sweden. I recently came across the first single from their recently released album, It's Nothing Personal, It's National Security, titled The Baltic Sea. This song is about how Sweden is awesome, but how the people suck... Yeah, they are bitching about how sweet it is to be Swedish but they hate how people don't smile at each other. Boo Hoo. But don't get me wrong, this isn't some emo crybaby with an acoustic guitar and a funny accent just complaining about his 15 year old scenesteress girlfriend. This song is a tongue-in-cheek look at Swedish society. It's not terribly deep, but just good fun, well worth a listen. The Baltic Sea starts out with this line, "Oh Sweden, I'm sorry to say that you're tedious sometimes... your natural beauty is unsurpassed, your children are healthy..." That's not exactly the most stinging indictment of a welfare state I've heard, but the melody helps. The larger point is that Sweden is a beautiful country, with a lot going for it. And yet, the folks on the subway are dicks. Apparently Swedes have no friends are incapable of smiling... Bummer.
Download The Baltic Sea by The Social Services
Click Here to download The Baltic Sea by The Social Services [2].Also worth noting is that The Social Services do a wicked cover of Europe's The Final Countdown. Click here to download The Social Service's cover of The Final Countdown [3].