| "Balladen om killen" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Mercury Records sleeve | ||||
| Single by Örjan | ||||
| Language | Swedish | |||
| A-side | "Balladen om killen, del 1" | |||
| B-side | "Balladen om killen, del 2" | |||
| Released | September 1969 | |||
| Recorded | 3 August 1969 | |||
| Studio | Europafilm, Stockholm | |||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 2:34 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriter(s) | Göran Lagerberg | |||
| Producer(s) | Göran Lagerberg | |||
| Örjan singles chronology | ||||
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| Audio | ||||
| "Balladen om killen, del 1" on YouTube | ||||
| Audio | ||||
| "Balladen om killen, del 2" on YouTube | ||||
"Balladen om killen" (English: "Ballad about the guy") is a song written by bass guitarist Göran Lagerberg, recorded by singer Örjan Ramberg. Inspired by the life of Ramberg, Lagerberg composed the song as a reflection over both their lives inspired by Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone". The song, which is in the Swedish language, tells the tale of an unnamed narrator, who during a walk along a country road, details incidents that recently occurred in his life, including moving away from home, tongue-in-cheek references to acquaintances and the court proceedings after being caught with cannabis.
Lagerberg largely intended for the song to be a side project for his band Blond, which was the successor of Swedish band Tages. Despite this, Blond members Lasse Svensson and Björn Lindér appear on the recording, which took place at Europafilm Studio in Stockholm. Lagerberg produced the session and sang the A-side. Despite sharing titles, the A and B-sides are separate songs musically.
Upon release in September 1969, "Balladen om killen" was due to a clerical mixup released on two separate record labels, CBS and Mercury Records. Despite Lagerberg's role in the production of the song, it was only credited to Ramberg under his first name. The song became a commercial failure, only reaching number 13 on Tio i Topp for a week, which many critics attribute to its controversial lyrics. Nonetheless, the song garnered positive reviews in the press following the release and has been considered a pioneering song in the development of rock in the Swedish language.