Landet bortom bergen [English translation]

Over the river, through the woods,

there's a world beyond the mountain,

I travel there when I feel

disappointed in the existence here.

Where the sun sits high in the sky,

where the air is clean and clear.

Where life is as I wish it was there.

People living in this world

are in harmony with nature.

No one freezes, no one starves,

no one fears violence or war.

Animals and plants are respected

down to the smallest life on the ground.

Everything related,

everything has its place and time.

In this world, one sees children

as the greatest under heaven;

Like a flower which will grow out of its plant.

They receive warmth and comfort,

they receive security and love

so that one day they can give it to others.

In this world, one sees life

in divine perspective;

as a purpose, as a whole,

like a thought so infinitely wise.

All species have a task,

all people the same goal;

Life's meaning

is that life shall endure.

May we ever see an hour

without egoism and avarice,

without cruelty, without stupidity, here on earth?

Or is it just prudence,

tolerance and real love

beyond the mountain, on the other side of the river?

In a cave in my dreamworld

lives an old wise man.

I have asked many times

how one creates a world in balance.

But every time I wonder

he gives the same advice;

You shall dig

You shall build it where you stand.

• Artist:Björn Afzelius
• Album:Tankar vid 50 (1997)