(Sorry for the techical problems, I couldn't solve them at the moment...)
I have to confess that I have grown up in a
completely musical snob family. And I say that with all my love, and I'm
one too, obviously. Growing up listening to Wagner, Tchaikovsky, Sibelius,
Brahms, Beethoven, and you know the rest, and knowing arias of The Magic Flute
by heart at the age of five, playing the violin for over two decades, and
having a home filled with musical instruments, it was quite a rare thing to
hear pop music, or what's it even called? (Leonard Cohen being the only musical
exception in our family.) We never ever listened to radio, so I have no idea
who's who and what's what in the world of non-classical music. (But I can
say if the cellist plays the Davidoff or if the violin is a Stradivarius or
Guarnerius.)
I have only very, very recently got used to
listen to music without getting literally sick if the singer doesn't sing
absolutely in tune. Or without the feeling my throat hurts when I hear a singer
not knowing his/her technique. I have seriously tried to educate myself to listen
to Finnish music, but it's a slow process. It's almost every day that I hear
something new. I know now that there is a band called The Sunrise Avenue, and I
really love their lyrics, and thanks to the vocalist, it does not even hurt my
ears to listen to them, they stay quite nicely in tune. (Not probably the
nicest compliment you would think, but for a person having an absolute pitch,
this makes sense.) I need lyrics to mean something. I don't like the usual
moaning about crumbled love life, the lyrics has to have depths like life
itself. And you know what. I have found more Finnish songs like that than
English ones. It's a pity not so many people on Earth understand them. My
researcher side still thrives inside me, and I like to think it's something to
do being a Finn that makes our songs so meaningful.
We Finns do not speak much. We are rather good
listeners, though. It's considered as lack of manners or very rude to interrupt
another person speaking. And because we don't do small talk (you just have to
see the Finnish F1 drivers once and you know what I mean), it's a good idea to
listen, because if we speak, it's all hard-core stuff. After spending three
decades listening to Italian arias about absurd love, I'm stuck with the
feeling of relief, finally finding Music That Matters. Even though it's not
Very Sophisticated. (I have gone through that same phase with literature too,
after Dickens, Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, and so on, I have intentionally learnt to
read whatever I feel like, not what Is Supposed To Read.) I think I might
shower you with Finnish lyrics, I have hundreds in my mind already, that have a
wonderful message.
Yesterday I heard one song for the first time in
my life. (That still happens every day, new songs, being a newbie in this world
of non-classical music.) Immediately I wanted to share it with you. It's about
Finland, about being a Finn. It wraps it up in an impressive way. Of course,
Jean Sibelius does it the best, and if you really would like to know what a
Finnish heart sounds like, you might want to listen Finlandia,
Op. 25 . (And being a snob, I really recommend not listening to whatever
record of this, but the one I link, since it really matters if the orchestra
and conductor are Finnish, others just cannot get it right. Just listen to
this, you don't have to watch the video itself, but let the music flows into
your heart and stay there forever. 8:42 minutes isn't that long time in your
life. You can do it. After listening to this particular version, you're free to
find whatever version you like in Spotify, but this one is an ultimate version,
I listened hundreds of them for you.) This one is English version of the hymn
part only, and it's just perfect, perfect, perfect: Finlandia
Hymn and it speaks for itself. (And if you feel like wow, that's cool, just
wait for this: Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47 violinist, naturally,
Pekka Kuusisto!) Now, to that song I heard yesterday. After these Sibelius, you
will find actually, that it's quite the same, essentially Finnish, dark,
bittersweet, wistful, serious, and oh, so well describes how much we love our country.
A very Finnish Lauri Tähkä
here: Minun Suomeni (My Finland)
My Finland
My Finland is
A sentence not stated
It's the trees in the forests
It's the moon in the sky
Over the snow
My Finland is
A boy not baptized
You can't get the paganism
out of the boy
Just by giving a name
When I think about it
I understand it
I'm too Finnish
My Finland
Is under the starry sky
My Finland is entirely open
And I found it out when I was
roaming
All over the world
My Finland is
The most beautiful in the
world
I bet it might fade away
Somewhere else
Under some other sky
Why does the longing hit
To the chest when the summer
night
Opens in front of me
It goes off somehow
Just by sitting there
When I think about it
I understand it
I'm too Finnish
My Finland
Is under the starry sky
My Finland is entirely open
And I found it out when I was
roaming
All over the world
My Finland is
The most beautiful in the
world
And when I'm wading through
my small life here
It's wild, surging in my
veins
My Finland is my heart
My Finland is my head
My Finland is the sky, it's
the land
My Finland
Is under the starry sky
My Finland is entirely open
And I found it out when I was
roaming
All over the world
My Finland is
The most beautiful in the
world
The most beautiful in the
world
and in Finnish:
Minun Suomeni
Minun Suomeni on
Lause lausumaton
Se on metsässä puut
Taivaalla kuu
Yllä hankien
Minun Suomeni on
Poika kastamaton
Ei poijjaasta saa pois pakanaa
Vain antamalla nimen
Sitä kun aattelen
Minä ymmärrän sen
Olen liiankin suomalainen
Minun Suomeni
On tähtitaivaan alla
Minun Suomeni
On auki kokonaan
Ja sen löysin kun mä kuljeskelin
Tuolla maailmalla
Minun Suomeni on
Kaunein päällä maan
Kai se haihtua pois
Jossain muualla vois
Jonkun toiseen taivaan alla
Miksi kaipaus lyö
Rintaan kun kesäyö
Eteeni aukeaa
Jotekin laukeaa
Vain siinä istumalla
Sitä kun aattelee
Minä ymmärrän sen
Olen liiankin suomalainen
Minun Suomeni
On tähtitaivaan alla
Minun Suomeni
On auki kokonaan
Ja sen löysin kun mä kuljeskelin
Tuolla maailmalla
Minun Suomeni on
Kaunein päällä maan
Ja kun täällä kahlaan pientä elämääni
Se on suonissani villi kuohuva
Minun Suomeni on sydämeni
Minun Suomeni on pääni
Minun Suomeni on taivas, se on maa
Minun Suomeni
On tähtitaivaan alla
Minun Suomeni
On auki kokonaan
Ja sen löysin kun mä kuljeskelin
Tuolla maailmalla
Minun Suomeni on
Kaunein päällä maan
Kaunein
päällä maan
To be continued..
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