Rajaton ~ "Väinämöisen Veneretki"

Music from the a capella Finnish group Rajaton.  Beautiful!



From the YouTube page:

Rajaton is one of my favourite groups, and this year I had the pleasure of watching them live and having my cd signed! I'm uploading these songs purely because I think it's tragic that they're not on youtube for people to listen to. Such beautiful music should be shared :)

The pictures (mostly of Vietnam) are my own hence not great, but I didn't want to upload a blank video so tried to find some images that suited the themes (= waterscapes) of the song.

Arist: Rajaton
Album: Tarinoita
Song: Väinämöisen Veneretki (Väinämöinen's Boat Journey)

English translation:

Old and steadfast Väinämöinen
Wrought a boat up on the mountain.
On the rock he hewed the tree trunks,
And he put the ship together,
Wrought the gunwale, got to singing,
Made a song all in his carving.
And he spent some time about it,
Little time he spent about it
And the boat he wrought was finished,
Soon enough the boat was finished.

Then did steadfast Väinämöinen
Launch his boat out on the waters.
Old men rowed it, heads a-trembling,
Their old heads were sore a-trembling.
Young men rowed with oars a-straining.
Fleet and flashing all the oarlocks.
Rowed one day and rowed another,
Rowed a third day yet thereafter
Out onto the open waters,
On the ocean's broadest billows.

But the wooden boat soon grounded,
God-made vessel soon did founder,
Not on stone, nor sunken deadwood,
But upon a great pike's shoulders.
Old and steadfast Väinämöinen
Took his sword and struck the water.
And in three the pike was splintered.
What on earth shall we make of it?
What now? What? A kantele, now?

Whence the body for this kantele?
Whence the strings to make its music?
From the captured pike's great jawbone,
From the hair of fair young maiden.
Then he took the harp to finger,
Played one day and played another.
All from far and near did harken,
Awed by Väinämöinen's music!
All from far and near did harken,
Awed by Väinämöinen's kantele!

HT Siris.