Sunday, August 17, 2008

Kaj Chydenius


Kaj Chydenius: 'Sinua sinua rakastan' (1968, off Asfalttilampaat)

And while we are still at the topic, here is another gem from the era, 'Sinua sinua rakastan' ("You, you I love") from 1968, composed and sung by Kaj Chydenius, with lyrics by Aulikki Oksanen; from Mikko Niskanen's film Asfalttilampaat ("Asphalt lambs"), starring Eero Melasniemi and Kirsti Wallasvaara, with whom Niskanen had already worked with for Käpy selän alla.

Kaj Chydenius (b. 1939) was probably the best-known composer for the late-60s/early-to-mid-70s Finnish political song movement, whose timeless sense of melody has guaranteed the evergreen status of his works even to our own apolitical/right-wing politics days.

The lyrics in this one are nearly psychedelic, I think: "Miten huutaa minulle avaruus / Miten kirkuvat tähdet ohimoni läpi / Miten itkevät lapset maailman rannoilla / Ja merien yllä savuavat sydämet" (As a quickie translation: "How space yells to me / how the stars scream through my temples / How the children cry on the shores of the world / And over the seas smoulder the hearts").

  • Vesa-Matti Loiri rehearsing Lapualaisooppera with Kaj Chydenius (1966)
  • All Kaj Chydenius search results @ YouTube



    Kaj Chydenius in the late 1960s, one of "partaradikaalit" ("bearded radicals") as Finnish leftists were called then


    A scene from Asfalttilampaat, with Eero Melasniemi and Kirsti Wallasvaara
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