<br>A Necktie Poem by Hallgrimur Helgason

Suit and Tie 

A Poem in English About Post-Crash Iceland, written and performed by Icelandic writer Hallgrimur Helgason.

First performed at the Kapittel 09 Festival in Stavanger, Norway, September 16th 2009.

This video made Sept. 30th 2010. Thanks to Snorri and the guys at Pegasus. Hallgrimur

The complete poem is below

While searching for articles and videos the discuss the diminished use of neckties in today's society I found a real gem. This poem about the financial crisis and the blame that the men of those institutions surely deserve. This modern work by Icelander Hallgrimur Helgason is worth reading but please view the video first - the link is just above and here - Hallgrimur Helgason - "Suit and Tie". Since the men who control the financial machines and those institutions that run economies are them same men who religiously wear neckties I guess it is only natural to resent suits and ties.

Now that there is so much blame and eager fingers to point some people have a problem with the necktie at what it represents - authority and unfortunately with bankers and stock brokers - a blatant character flaw - arrogance. I actually believe that the author really doesn't have a dislike of neckties. Without a necktie you won't have much fun at night in Reykjavik as every night club or restaurant worth a visit will not allow a casually dressed man in. So a popular, and surely very creative poem or rap song, the necktie will still be an important part of and Icelandic man's attire.

The Icelanders are very creative so this wonderful poem or rap is not a surprise to me. The work illustrates the frustration of the trouble that the North Atlantic Island of some 350,000 people has fallen into, a result of the world's economic failure that forced the country of Iceland to declare bankruptcy, the first ever in history.

I have been to Iceland more times than I can remember between the sumer of 1984 and the spring of 1995. I was married to a beautiful Icelandic lady and for those ten years I photographed the beautiful Icelandic unspoiled nature as a pro photographer. Below the poem you may see some of my photographs.- Jeffrey Hunter

Reykjavik Iceland

Suit and tie

Suit and tie
We're deadly afraid of the clever guy
Wearing suit and tie
  
They used to roam the streets of Reykjavik 
And thought they were what made the city tic 
From bank to lunch with Nikkei, Dow Jones and FTSE
Dressed to kill in Armani, Boss and Gucci 
Cheerful, laughing, full of self esteem 
The players of our national team
  
But now you hardly see them anymore 
The crisis took them through a different door
Their bank got crunched by Euro, Dollar and Yen 
So now they're trying Tai Chi, Yoga and Zen
Still they're good in playing the blaming game
The players of our national shame
  
Iceland: The home of young and retired bosses
And regular people busy counting their losses
The high-flying heroes of good times past 
Have come to the ground and had their blast 
Hiding inside his fancy house 
The bull now meets his inner mouse

And both are dressed in suit and tie
Suit and tie 
Nothing scares like suit and tie

We're left alone in the arctic sea 
For they left the loan for you and me 
To pay
But they 
Do have enough to last an eon
Silently kept in the Caribbean

So true, so true 
So mad, so bad 
But we don't want back the life we had  
Full of lies and numbers high 
Enough to keep a country high 
On hope of becoming the new Dubai
 
Where all the women were suit and tie 
Suit and tie
Suit and tie we kiss goodbye
 
Communism lasted long
Nations led by Mr. Wrong 
Western brokers, young and brave
Went disco dancing on its grave
But victory got to their head 
Big ambitions were overfed 
The color of blue contained some red 
The Wall Street Wall came down one night 
And we were all raped by Mr. Right.  
Capitalism fell on its nose 
Died from an overdue overdose 
Of arrogance and loneliness 
And left the world in a state of mess
  
We were fooled by suit and tie
Suit and tie 
Who tricked us, told us: To sell and buy 
While speeding across their private skies
Engines fuelled by loans and lies

The boys of Bush and global greed
Left us with a local need 
For truth and nothing but the truth 
To put inside a confession booth 
The Brothers Lehman and all their sons  
The neo-cons were just plain cons
 
In suit and tie 
Suit and tie 
Trained to loot and taught to lie
  
Yet we try 
To struggle on 
A nation betrayed by an evil don 
A nation so small you can easily whip 
All of it into a cruise line ship 
The former captain and his crew 
Are still on board but out of view 
Sipping on Scotch inside their cabins 
And telling jokes like desperate has-beens 
Or faking calls
In bathroom stalls 
While nervously looking for their balls  
We carry on, on a vessel unwell 
Steering away from the icebergs of hell
The national body still infected 
By the virus we long neglected 
Called suit and tie 
Suit and tie
Hoping it won't make us die

At the airport a father of three 
Spends his last in the Duty Free
"We're going to Norway, to get a life
Wife will study, I'll be her wife
It's sad to leave your fatherland 
A bit like parting with your hand
But they took the house, they took the car
Does Stavanger have a strip-tease bar

And the politician on the TV screen 
Speaks of ways to cure the spleen 
But his words no longer do apply 
For he's still wearing suit and tie 
Suit and tie 
Suit and tie we kiss goodbye
  
And when you roam the streets of Reykjavik
You spot the signs that made your city sick 
Empty houses, vacant office spaces 
And way too many fancy meeting places 
On the map, nearby the valley parks
The financial district is now shown in quotation marks
 
And on the streets and freeways, parking lots
There still are lots and lots 
Of black and shiny Range Rover jeeps
Luxurious creeps 
Once the symbols of all our national vices 
Now they are the coffins of the crisis 
Driven by people who died a market-death 
But were allowed to prolong their final breath 
In suit and tie 
Suit and tie 
They're all still wearing their suit and tie

In Germany they have the Nazi outfits 
To remind them of the thing that rhymes with... outfitz

In Iceland we have suit and tie 
Suit and tie 
Suit and tie

- Hallgrimur Helgason

About Hallgrimur Helgason

Hallgrímur studied at the Art Academy of Iceland, and then the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich.

He has worked independently as an artist and writer since 1982, and has held over twenty solo exhibitions in Iceland, Boston, Paris and Malmö. His work has also been displayed in over 30 group exhibitions in various countries.

His first novel Hella came out in 1990. His best-known works are 101 Reykjavík, which was made into a popular film of the same name, and Höfundur Íslands, which won the Icelandic Literary Prize in 2001.

Hallgrimur Helgason's web site

Below are just a few of my photograhs of Iceland. The nature is unspoiled and about as pristine as possible. - Jeffrey Hunter