"Ascension Day" with Alphaville

Today it’s Ascension Day, or "Kristi Himmelsfärd" as we call it here in Sweden.
That means a red letter day and no work…and at the east coast of Sweden (where I was brought up, and where I live again now) it means "Gökotta"!
Here is an explanation in English of Gökotta, that I found of the web:

A Swedish tradition, on Ascension day, is to celebrate by having a dawn picnic and listening to the birds singing early in the morning. It may be fairly chilly that early, it may rain but if you are lucky you might even see a fantastic sunrise.
Some young people even spend the whole night out in the fresh air around a bonfire, grilling sausages and bread and drinking coffee or something else....

When you listen to the birds you are supposed to listen out for the cuckoo. Apparently he might be telling you something about the future.
The folklore had lots to tell about the first call of the cuckoo in the spring. In what quarter is he cuckooing? And how many times does he call? Coming from west is best, from east is comfort, from north is sorrow and from south is death...
And how many times he is calling can predict things, e.g. ask him how many years you will stay unmarried, and await his answer....

The cuckoo is a migrating bird, moving to the south, usually to Africa, at winter and coming back to Sweden in May for the whole summer.

I just have to add that at the Gökottas I’ve participated in, the goal was more of a "get as drunk as possible and sleep outside in tents" kinda thing…
…but I guess the explanation above is the official one.

Keep readin’.
Tomorrow’s a new day and a new song.

Song of Today: "Ascension Day" with Alphaville