varjohaltia (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
varjohaltia) wrote2005-03-21 05:05 pm
varjohaltia) wrote2005-03-21 05:05 pm
Finnish Emo Moment?
No, this entry has nothing about my weekend. Nor should it be considered symbolic regarding it. I'll post about the weekend as soon as I get far enough that I need another excuse to stop studying.
Instead, it's a bad, quickly sketched and much too literal translation (mine, an excuse not to read about Slovakia's democratization process) of a song. It's somewhat representative of what Kotiteollisuus tends to sing. Angst. But that's what both Finnish music and I are all about anyhow :-)
There are two symbols of national identity in it, for those who care. The country itself is considered to be Maiden of Finland (Suomi-neito), a young, pretty lass. It sort of looked like one before the two great wars. Now it's an amputee. That's what one gets for extending one's hand to poke the bear. The other is Jussi, who's the embodiment of the Finnish frontier spirit and identity, single handedly transforming treacherous swamps into livable, arable land. If you ever see a Finnish guy in ads or such in white and blue with birch-bark shoes, backpack and a cap, that's Jussi. (The genesis of it comes from a work of famous Finnish author: "In the beginning, there was a swamp, a showel and Jussi." but the phrase has since become part of the national identity narrative.)
Someone changes the names of our grocery stores in the night
Mothers deliver babies whose speech we can't understand
Someone sneaks away from the borders of the maiden of Finland
The girl whose loins now radiate an eternal chill
And the man, Jussi, stands alone on the side of the swamp
He's dropped his showel, snot running on his sweaty cheek
And he doesn't know what to do, where to go now,
He's cold, cold like I feel inside
But I exist and I live and I breathe
For one great God, the lust for life
Its temples are
Bars, brothels, markets, stores
Neon lights of cities
I look out of the window, I can't see joy here
Broken sand boxes, dirty neighbourhood bars
Where single parents drag their one-night-stand hopes
Who leave in the morning before the kids wake up
Give me your hand, give me a promise of tomorrow
Promise I won't remain alone in this cold life
In this day where the stern sounds of statues echo
Where born ones walk as dead searching for their graves
But I exist and I live and I breathe
For one great God, the lust for life
Its temples are
Bars, brothels, markets, stores
Neon lights of cities
So beautiful is the crescent of the moon
So fresh the scent of the autumn rain
Who gives the orders here?
Whom do we obey?
Two great gods, greed and money
Their temples are
Stock exchanges and brothels, markets and stores
Neon lights of cities
Instead, it's a bad, quickly sketched and much too literal translation (mine, an excuse not to read about Slovakia's democratization process) of a song. It's somewhat representative of what Kotiteollisuus tends to sing. Angst. But that's what both Finnish music and I are all about anyhow :-)
There are two symbols of national identity in it, for those who care. The country itself is considered to be Maiden of Finland (Suomi-neito), a young, pretty lass. It sort of looked like one before the two great wars. Now it's an amputee. That's what one gets for extending one's hand to poke the bear. The other is Jussi, who's the embodiment of the Finnish frontier spirit and identity, single handedly transforming treacherous swamps into livable, arable land. If you ever see a Finnish guy in ads or such in white and blue with birch-bark shoes, backpack and a cap, that's Jussi. (The genesis of it comes from a work of famous Finnish author: "In the beginning, there was a swamp, a showel and Jussi." but the phrase has since become part of the national identity narrative.)
Someone changes the names of our grocery stores in the night
Mothers deliver babies whose speech we can't understand
Someone sneaks away from the borders of the maiden of Finland
The girl whose loins now radiate an eternal chill
And the man, Jussi, stands alone on the side of the swamp
He's dropped his showel, snot running on his sweaty cheek
And he doesn't know what to do, where to go now,
He's cold, cold like I feel inside
But I exist and I live and I breathe
For one great God, the lust for life
Its temples are
Bars, brothels, markets, stores
Neon lights of cities
I look out of the window, I can't see joy here
Broken sand boxes, dirty neighbourhood bars
Where single parents drag their one-night-stand hopes
Who leave in the morning before the kids wake up
Give me your hand, give me a promise of tomorrow
Promise I won't remain alone in this cold life
In this day where the stern sounds of statues echo
Where born ones walk as dead searching for their graves
But I exist and I live and I breathe
For one great God, the lust for life
Its temples are
Bars, brothels, markets, stores
Neon lights of cities
So beautiful is the crescent of the moon
So fresh the scent of the autumn rain
Who gives the orders here?
Whom do we obey?
Two great gods, greed and money
Their temples are
Stock exchanges and brothels, markets and stores
Neon lights of cities