This is an adaptation of a poem by Swedish-Finnish poet Edith Södergran. The translation of it is here, and the Finnish lyrics are in the lyrics section.
My soul was a light blue dress the color of the sky;
I left it on a rock by the sea and naked I came to you, looking like a woman.
And like a woman I sat at your table and drank a toast in wine, inhaling the scent of some roses.
You found me beautiful, like something you saw in a dream,
I forgot everything, I forgot my childhood and my homeland,
I only knew that your caresses held me captive.
And smiling you held up a mirror and asked me to look.
I saw that my shoulders were made of dust and crumbled away,
I saw that my beauty was sick and wished only to
– disappear.
Oh, hold me tight in your arms so close that I need nothing.
lyrics
(by Edith Södergran)
Sieluni oli vaaleansininen puku, taivaanvärinen.
Jätin sen kalliolle meren rannalle
ja alastonna tulin sinun luoksesi, naisen tavoin.
Ja naisena istuin pöytäsi ääressä,
join lasin viiniä, hengitin ruusujen tuoksua.
Sinä näit, että olin kaunis
ja muistutin jotakuta, jonka olit nähnyt unessa.
Minä unohdin kaiken, unohdin lapsuuteni ja kotimaani.
Tiesin ainoastaan olevani hyväilyjesi vanki.
Ja sinä otit hymyillen kuvastimen, käskit minun katsoa itseäni.
Näin että olkapääni olivat tomusta tehdyt ja murenivat tomuksi,
näin että kauneuteni oli sairas ja tahtoi – katoamistaan.
Oi sulje minut syliisi niin lujasti että ei minulta mitään puutu.
My soul was a light blue suit, sky-blue.
I left it on the cliff at the seashore
and naked I came to you, like a woman.
And as a woman I sat at your table,
join the glass of wine, breathing roses scent.
You saw I was beautiful
and I reminded someone you had seen in a dream.
I forgot everything, forgot my childhood and my home.
I just knew that I was a caretaker prisoner.
And you smile with a mirror, you told me to look at myself.
So that my shoulder was made of dust and crumbled into dust,
so that my beauty was sick and unwilling to disappear.
Oh, shut me in your arms so firmly that I do not miss anything.
credits
from This Second,
released March 1, 2016
Kirsi Jansa, thank you for help with the pronunciation!
Studied languages. Likes to sing. Is one person. First Person SINGular - Amanda - started toying with the accordion in 2007
and keeps adding more and more instruments to her collection. Since age 14 she has played scheissy guitar but never had luck with songwriting this way. Songwriting came much more easily and successfully once she began working with the right instruments....more
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