Will you be able to follow this text even if your command of Finnish is close to that of a native speaker?
An urban guy visits his village cousin. They drink moonshine, they have hangover, they bathe in a strange place under cold rain, they try to catch a pike, one of them breaks the other’s leg with an axe, but they drink instead of going to a doctor, fall asleep and understand that nothing has still been done.And the absurd hell rolls on.
Huomas’ stadin kundin tuijottavan sekavana,
Hyökkäs’ kimppuun ja puri palan peukalosta,
Poijjaat soutelivat hiljaisina takas rantaan,
Nykäisivät päälle päivän ensimmäisen humalan.
All this in a perfect and terribly complicated Finnish on such a level of poetic perfection that you just ask yourself: are there any cooler poets and rock singers than Ismo Alanko?
His singing manner is beyond any compare, and it is impossible to mistake his voice with anyone else’s. No matter what he calls his projects and bands, everything is automatically recommended: it’s all Ismo Alanko – “Hassisen kone”, “Sielun Veljet”, “Ismo Alangon radio”, “Sössölandian kultakurkut”, “Neljä baritonia”, “Ismo Alanko Säätiö”, “Ismo Alanko Teholla”.
His brother Ilkka Alanko is the soloist and songwriter in “Neljä Ruusua” (also quality rock), and participated in Ismo’s “Neljä Baritonia”, “Sössölandian Kultakurkut”.
English title: “Own land strawberry, other land blueberry” = “No place like home”
Original title (Finnish): “Muu maa mansikka“
First published in the Levinarium Telegram Channel (now closed and deleted)