Värttinä - Oi dai

[dweml258]

The most ethereal Varttina that I have found on Ytube. Seeloinikoi is the bounciest...Aijo is

the most chilling..Love this band.

[StillOnMars]

Woman on the right is very sexy. She has special dancing/singing flow. It's obvious she has pretty good feeling for rhythm and music.

[glitteraddict44]

Danke ! :D

[laelamarie1]

it would've been nice to have a translation here..... who are varttina? Yes, a Finnish group... noted throat singing in another vid, is this folk? Interesting; noted the link - too much work

[EneriGiilaan]

@laelamarie1 Hi - you can find my translation attempt a couple of comment pages down from here (in three parts).

This specific song can be categorized as Folk or Ethno - a genuine trad piece. Specifically their later songs tend to be harder to categorize "World music" is one term used. Still strongly tied to Finnish and related people's trads (lyrics, vocal harmonies, etc) but with many added elements from other traditions (rhythms, throat singing, etc) - but always with good taste IMO.

[onquingirl]

Thanks! Do you happen to know where I could find a translation to the song Kylä Vuotti Uutta Kuuta?

[EneriGiilaan]

@onquingirl Sorry no. In their (old) web page: varttina . com (remove the spaces) there are lyrics with translations (select "Albums", then "Seleniko", then "Lyrics page" at bottom right), but most are just very lame synopses instead of actual translations.

It is indeed an extremely beautiful and powerful song. maybe I could try to translate it after I'm back to the web in August. However it contains so old language/dialect and so old idioms that I don't understand all the lines myself.

[ralphyboy25]

@onquingirl At the forum (linked off of värttinä's web page) Kari Reiman (from the group) provides an interpretation along with a little background and context. (Take the spaces out of the following link)

h t t p : / / w w w . varttina . com / forum2 / viewtopic . php ? t=320&sid=0134c2fcc3e71f7c37d7­14dfe959a91e

Of course I myself, I am very interested to see EneriGillaan's translation attempt - I'm sure he will do a stellar job, as always ;-)

[EneriGiilaan]

@ralphyboy25 Thanks for the link - didn't know about that. New interesting background info for the song and it really helped me in understanding some of the more obscure lines.

I just put up my translation in the comments for the relevant video:

watch?v=jWk-Vy1Yx_o

The translation is a bit clumsier in some parts than even I could achieve - but I wanted (once again) stubbornly retain some of the sentence structure of the original ;)

[onquingirl]

I wish I knew what they are saying because this song is amazing!

[EneriGiilaan]

@onquingirl Hi! I did make a crude translation about 8 months ago. It is in three parts - currently about two pages down from here. HTH.

[tiinuhka]

Tehkäähän tytöt keikkaa, uudelleen. Mikä oikeasti estää?

[JustMrHarry]

It is amazing! Guys you have to know that in Bulgaria there are some friends and fans of your amazing music!

[12345678909269]

Fruktansvärt Vackert ! silken bra låt nu vad dom än säger :)

[cgmorvx1]

Oi & Dai are impolite ways of addressing someone in Tamil.

[keFUNKNEY101]

i wish i knew what they were saying... this is awesome! :D

[EneriGiilaan]

@keFUNKNEY101 Hi - I did provide a crude translation about 7 months ago. Seem to be one page down from here in the comments - in three parts. HTH.

[vortex162]

Does anyone know what their latest activities are?Can't find any up dates on their home page which has last entries in 2009.

[EneriGiilaan]

@vortex162 Big lineup changes at the end of 2008 and later. It seems that only the singers and drummer are left from this lineup - Varilo (guitar) was said to be only on a leave. Susan and Johanna have been quite active in their 'Kuunkuiskaajat' project.

It really looked quite bad - however they have supposedly been working on a new record and just a month or so ago they had one new song ('Utuneito', 'Maiden of Mist') available for a brief moment on their Facebook-page - so let's see.

[EneriGiilaan]

@EneriGiilaan Correcting myself here - Jaska Lukkarinen the drummer of this lineup had left already earlier replaced by Tomi Portén.

To add to the previous, I'm a bit skeptical about whether they could keep up with the level of excellence they have had. But there has been big changes in the past also so I'm prepared to be positively surprised - but as I said, let's see.

[arhimikus]

Завладяващо!!!

Pakottava!!!

[daaimorais]

OLÁ VAGINA! 

[Whiteblooded]

3:24 I like how they smile at each other as the song ends.. what a lovely song..

[cheesypuff10]

malahahaha guika la fuckafucka lmaoo

[gavinoaw]

does "lintu laulelisi" (don't know how it's spelled) mean "the bird sings" or something like that? it doesn't get much more onomatopoetic than this... one day I'll have to learn this language!!

[EneriGiilaan]

@gavinoaw It is a conditional 'the bird would be singing'. But in the lyrics it is 'lintu laulelisin' which means something close to: 'I, would (as) a bird be singing'.

'Laulaa' would be 'to sing'. I guess there is not a straight translation for the form 'laulella' which is the base form here - but 'to be singing' is the closest I could think of, but I'm afraid that it doesn't convey quite the same mental image and poetic power though.

In the translation below I skipped this issue all together.

[Lilliz91]

@EneriGiilaan Not all languages have the same definition cuz it doesn´t exist.

[EneriGiilaan]

@Lilliz91 I certainly agree. That is why translating lyrics actually requires a professional level poet - and usually one with the target language as his/hers native language. Only then there is any hope to get the emotional message across in a form somewhat representing the original.

Of course normal pop song 'run of the mill' lyrics don't require any great sophistication, but for example here there is such poetic power and beauty that e.g., my feeble translation attempt below fails miserably.

[TropicalJesusPlant]

MILF in the middle with the red

[EneriGiilaan]

PART-1 How would I wish to be on my own lands,/ on the edges of my own field,/ oi dai on the edges of my own,/ on the edges of my own field./ In a different way would I, a bird, sing,/ in a different way would I, a cuckoo, cuckoo,/ oi dai in a different way would I, a cuckoo,/ in a different way would I, a cuckoo, cuckoo./ My own spruces would listen,/ my own pines would learn,/ oi dai my own pines would,/ my own pines would learn.

[EneriGiilaan]

PART-2

Now I'm on foreign lands,/

quite unknown,/

oi dai quite unknown,/

quite unknown./

Where our birds don't fly,/

and our crows don't crow,/

oi dai and our crows don't,/

and our crows don't crow.

[EneriGiilaan]

PART-3 Where will me, poor me, end up,/ I, a swan, got separated from my flock,/ oi dai I, a swan, got separated from my,/ I, a swan, got separated from my flock./ I did vanish from my flock of geese,/ I did vanish from my flock of geese,/ oi dai I did vanish from my flock of geese,/ I did vanish from my flock of geese./ Surely would I, a bird, sing,/ and would I, a cuckoo, cuckoo,/ oi dai and would I, a cuckoo,/ and would I, a cuckoo, cuckoo.

[Suttanca]

Minchja, cu morìu?

[EneriGiilaan]

'Tube just keeps messing with line structure. Can't format the lyrics in any intelligible form. Sorry.

[ralphyboy25]

@EneriGiilaan  I was just listening to this song back-to-back with Hedningarna's "Neidon Laulu" and noticed some simularities in the songs' structure, which I am assuming is due to their common Karelian roots?

[EneriGiilaan]

@ralphyboy25 I guess you are right. I think this is more or less the norm when there were no propriety laws. Everyone loaned freely from each others and sometimes added new innovations for others to loan in turn. The lyrics are first just about remembering the carefree life when young, then the worries of adulthood are entered in a roundabout way 'one didn't have these worries then', 'one didn't lay awake then' etc. The end happier again 'one would never forget those happy times'.

[LittlPussi]

@EneriGiilaan Without understanding the words i think the song is beautiful. After your explanation, i think the words match the mood of the melody. Thanks.

[EneriGiilaan]

@LittlPussi Thanks. I guess I will once again try to provide my translation. What follows is not proper 'English', but more like 'Finglish'. That is because I try to retain some of the original form and Finnish idioms, as I feel they have (at least in principle) some poetical value - I know this will fail miserably ;)

And probably 'Tube will mess the line structure again, so I will use '/' to mark the line breaks. 

[EneriGiilaan]

@LittlPussi So, after reading the translation, you see that it doesn't match the description in my response to ralphyboy25! I was actually not discussing this song, but a related song 'Neidon laulu' by 'Hedningarna'. I'm really sorry for the confusion - and would try to be more clear in the future.

I hope you will feel that also these lyrics match the mood perfectly.

[LittlPussi]

@EneriGiilaan Oh I see, it's OK. Yes they do. Thank you. :)

[EneriGiilaan]

@ralphyboy25 BTW there are still more to compare between Värttinä and Hedningarna. Värttinä's 'Vot i kaalina':

watch?v=eDU0x1CpPC8

Hedningarna's 'Vottikalinna':

watch?v=DA7acExn9xo

Same melody different lyrics.

Hedningarna's: 'Aivoton':

watch?v=_FcAQlfx384

Lyrics are close to Värttinä's 'Vot i kaalina' with big parts more or less identical.

[ralphyboy25]

@EneriGiilaan Hello. Well thanks to the 'powers-that-be' I am unable to view (in the USA) the two Hedningarna videos that you referenced. I was able to listen to some 30 second samples on iTunes, where I noted some of the simularities that you mentioned. This also served as a gentle reminder for me to add the "Kaksi" CD to my collection ..... if I can find it.

[EneriGiilaan]

@ralphyboy25 'powers-that-be', I'm not totally sure they know what they are doing. The stuff in the 'Tube is always lower quality than in the original media - but usually good enough to wake interest in the susceptible audience. If one gets genuinely interested the change is that he/she will also buy something. I have bought tens of CD/DVDs based solely on YouTube exposure, and I am not the only one.

BTW you can always find some proxy server to circumvent the areal restrictions.

[EneriGiilaan]

There are some problem sending the lyrics - stay tuned.

[EneriGiilaan]

This is a really nice song - probably one of the very first Värttinä hits, originally from the beginning of 1990's.

Hedningarna have also made quite different but also very nice version (Grodan/Widergrenen). Same melody, but differing lyrics:

watch?v=7m-xCIjrZoM&feature=re­lated

[ralphyboy25]

@EneriGiilaan Very interesting. I had only heard the Hedningarna version until now. I am looking for an accurate English translation for this version. I know the lyrics to the Hedningarna version are somewhat whimsical.

[EneriGiilaan]

@ralphyboy25 I didn't find a any good translations - so I made my own. I know it is clumsy - partly because of my English, and partly because I have tried to retain some of the structure of the original lyrics. But I hope it doesn't totally ruin the listening experience ;)

I will provide it as comments (3 parts) for this video.

[MeryaMezha]

The melody is Northern Russian (truly finno-ugric people) alike

[HarryPotter87]

These ladies are AMAZING!!

[kristinafin]

Värttinä on kyllä jotain ihan uskomatonta. Ja tämä biisi on kyllä yksi Värttinän parhaista! Lisää tämmöstä.

[terransage]

For many years I've been searching for this band, but never knew their name--and just today I found them. Ha ha! I just heard one of their songs on the radio some time in the '90's, and it haunted me until this day. Then it dawned on me: search YouTube for Finnish folk--and here they are! This has to be some of the most beautiful and exciting music I've ever heard.

[Hashishtani]

Just 'Travushka' song this one also sound very similar to Russian folk songs.

[Draksen]

Aivan mahtavaa! - from France :)

[dellexgr]

I love it!

Greetings from Greece.

[vortex162]

does anyone know if there are DVDs out about their performances? Thanks!

[AKSAM6]

I love the open throat Finnish women's folk songs but I wish I could under the language! Finnish language has a terrific rhythm to it. Can anyone please tell me what Oi Dai means? Thanks!

[SageLuka]

I'm glad even foreigners can appreciate this kind of music. ^_^

I'm pretty sure that oi dai means nothing, it's the same as "la la la" or such, just random noise that sounds cool. If it's a real word (which I really doubt, it doesn't sound like a word) it is old kind of Karelian dialect that hardly anyone in Finland understands anymore. :)

[AKSAM6]

Well, I am definitely not Finnish but if living in Northern Minnesota counts for anything we have a lot of Finnish folks here. The president of Finland visited here not long ago for the Finn Fest. Our radio stations sometimes will feature artists from abroad which is how I first heard this terrific group. Thanks for the reply!

[SageLuka]

Wow, really? I bet they have never played any Värttinä songs on any Finnish radio station ever! It's kinda odd that they play it more abroad than in the band's home country, really. xD

[laelamarie1]

@AKSAM6 how interesting! when is this Finn Fest?

[AKSAM6]

@laelamarie1 Sorry, it was over a year ago.

[laelamarie1]

@AKSAM6 so it's not an annual event? obviously I'm not Finnish but that would be an interesting event to attend. Your radio stations also sound more progressive than most. Thank you

[Freiburger2009]

@AKSAM6

I wish I was back home.

I, the cuckoo,

would sing in a different way.

The spruces would listen to me.

The pine trees would learn from me

Now I'm in a foreign land

and can no longer hear my crows.

I left from my flock of swans,

I vanished from my flock of geese

[AKSAM6]

Nice to understand the lyrics! Thanks!

[TheFiach]

Kaunista!

[rahal1023]

this group played on arthur

[ILikePrimroses]

@rahal1023

Susan on the left and Johanna on the right will participate in the Eurovision Song Contest in Oslo this May with the name of Kuunkuiskaajat. Their song is "Työlki ellää".

[apokalReiter666]

höhr doch einfach Lady Gaga wenn du auf die Optik so viel wert legst^^

[patrol750]

Die Mädels sind gut, sch.. drauf ob irgenwem das Gewicht nicht passt, singenc köönse und jut iss

[gavinoaw]

Schadet ihrer Singstimme nicht, also wen kuemmerts??

[khundar]

And sings better and better ;o)

[dimbo76]

ihanaa ja alkuperäistä värttinä!

[MuscleJacker]

Mun lempilauluni Oi Daista. Hyvää hiukset Jaakko!

[mattiasbrand]

Would been cool if Ismo Alanko had join then in a duet:P