Helan Går is a popular Swedish

Swedish language

Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...

 drinking song

Drinking song

A drinking song is a song sung while drinking alcohol. Most drinking songs are folk songs, and may be varied from person to person and region to region, in both the lyrics and in the music...

. Helan ("the whole") is an expression signifying the first (small) glass of spirit (commonly akvavit

Akvavit

Akvavit or aquavit is a traditional flavoured spirit that is principally produced in Scandinavia, where it has been produced since the 15th century....

 or vodka

Vodka

Vodka , is a distilled beverage. It is composed primarily of water and ethanol with traces of impurities and flavorings. Vodka is made by the distillation of fermented substances such as grains, potatoes, or sometimes fruits....

) in a series, and går means "goes (down)". Thus, it is commonly sung as a toast, typically for the first glass of spirit at a seated dinner. The song has also become quite common to be sung in Finland, especially at academic dinners.

When Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

's ice hockey

Ice hockey

Ice hockey, often referred to as hockey, is a team sport played on ice, in which skaters use wooden or composite sticks to shoot a hard rubber puck into their opponent's net. The game is played between two teams of six players each. Five members of each team skate up and down the ice trying to take...

 team won the 1957 World Ice Hockey Championships

1957 World Ice Hockey Championships

The 1957 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships were held between 24 February and 5 March 1957 at the Palace of Sports of the Central Lenin Stadium in Moscow, USSR....

 in Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

, not all of the Swedish players knew the lyrics to Du gamla, du fria

Du gamla, Du fria

"Du gamla, Du fria" is the de facto national anthem of Sweden. It was originally named "Sång till Norden" , and the first words of its lyrics have become adopted as the title in the interim....

, the de facto Swedish national anthem

National anthem

A national anthem is a generally patriotic musical composition that evokes and eulogizes the history, traditions and struggles of its people, recognized either by a nation's government as the official national song, or by convention through use by the people.- History :Anthems rose to prominence...

, so the players sang Helan Går instead.

A sample of the song as it is commonly sung as a toast by amateurs is available in this recording of the press conference of Sun Microsystems

Sun Microsystems

Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...

 acquiring MySql

MySQL

MySQL officially, but also commonly "My Sequel") is a relational database management system that runs as a server providing multi-user access to a number of databases. It is named after developer Michael Widenius' daughter, My...

. The Finnish/Swedish leadership of MySql celebrates by toasting with Helan Går. Kaj Arnö

Kaj Arnö

Kaj Sigurd Ademar Arnö is the former VP of the MySQL Community at MySQL AB, Sun Microsystems and Oracle. He joined MySQL AB as VP of Training in May 2001 and subsequently served in roles as VP Consulting, VP Services, VP Engineering and VP Community Relations till February 2008, when Sun bought...

 precedes the song with the commonly used solo prelude of the toastmaster from the first verse of "Liten Fågel", a separate song by Mathilda Langlet and Göran Möller from 1878.

The song's origin is uncertain because it is rarely noted in historical documents. One early mention occurs in an operetta

Operetta

Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...

 in 1843.

Several composers

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

 have written variations of the melody

Melody

A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...

, including Franz Lehár

Franz Lehár

Franz Lehár was an Austrian-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas of which the most successful and best known is The Merry Widow .-Biography:...

.

In 1959 The Belafonte Folk Singers recorded Heylan Går on the album Drinking Songs Around The World RCA LSP1992.

The song, in an instrumental version under the title Helan, is present as a ringtone on some Nokia

Nokia

Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...

 mobile phones, possibly as a nod to Nokia's Scandinavian heritage.

Lyrics

Helan går
Sjung hopp faderallan lallan lej
Helan går
Sjung hopp faderallan lej
Och den som inte helan tar^*
Han heller inte halvan får
Helan går
(Drink)
Sjung hopp faderallan lej

^*In the classic version, "trår" is used instead of "tar". "Tar" is modernized, and doesn't rhyme.

English version

The whole goes
Sing "hup fol-de-rol la la la la"
The whole goes
Sing "hup fol-de-rol la la"
And the one who doesn't take the whole
Doesn't get the half either
The whole goes
[Drink]
Sing "hup fol-de-rol la la"