The fourth Anssi Kela album ”Aukio”, released in 2009, was a test: how far can you go with story telling with songs? It’s a concept album, meaning that all songs are chapters to an album long story. This is why the text is very important and also the reason for it being translated here. Knowing the story is vital for understanding the album. All the songs are translated by Mari. Original texts are by Anssi Kela.
Here are the following chapters, read like you’d read a book! It’s a touching story.
Shout / Huuto
Dream / Uni
Morning / Aamu
Mine / Kaivos
Albin Stenman
Imagine / Haaveilua
Collapse / Romahdus
Trapped / Loukussa
Miracle / Ihme
Return / Paluu
Clearing / Aukio
Shout / Huuto
After military service five years
Went down the men’s room sewer at bar
Every pint I drank
Was fuel for the flames
I always said I’d leave this elf forest as soon as I can
But I stayed around
Holding my hand of cards
I thought I was too big fish in this mud puddle
I swore I’d leave
My face against the bar desk
I was filled with holy anger
A missile without a target
I took a tattoo on my chest: head of Aake Kalliala
It isn’t that funny anymore
Aa, the mine town boy yells
Aa, the mine town boy yells
It’s just impossible make your voice heard
It gets lost in the buzz of millions alike
Hangover and the door buzzer
Made noise like a foghorn
An angel stood behind my door
A beautiful girl in postman uniform
I wheedled her and turned my life upside down
I got rewarded
Our wedding march was Paranoid
This was five years ago, the small town boy got his peace
The happiness got found after all
Closer than I thought
I went to work in a mine, now I’m everything I despised before
A year ago I built
A house next to the forest
There’s debt for decades to come
Rumours at work: they might reduce staff
Wife is pregnant
Aa, the mine town boy yells
Aa, the mine town boy yells
It’s just impossible make your voice heard
It gets lost in the buzz of millions alike
We fall asleep in each others arms
I don’t know what I’d do without you
Or actually I do…
Dream / Uni
In my dream a path leads me to a dark forest
I stop and fear to go on
Then I hear a voice
Woman’s singing cuts the silence
Melody in the forest
Invites me to follow
I step into the forest
Song takes me deeper
It hovers near
I have to find it
Finally I come to a sunny clearing
In the middle of it there is…
Morning / Aamu
The dream fades into the twilight of room
I force my eyes to stay open
Your hair next to me smells like summer
No, I wouldn’t want to get up
I drag myself to kitchen
Open the radio
People have been retrenched again
Huge companies are falling
I turn on the coffee machine
The same feeling every morning
Like I lived this day yesterday
Recycled news
And a cup of strong coffee
It’s still dark outside
One of us stays, one of us leaves
White tulips
I plan to bring to you today
I do the same thing every morning
Leave a message on the kitchen table
Anything hasn’t happened for years
But just in case I write
What you mean to me
The same feeling every morning…
You are the reason
That makes me wake up and go
And you’re the reason
That makes me come back
The same feeling every morning…
Mine / Kaivos
A silent troop goes down into the mine
Tired men, wearing their overalls
We were born to be miners
We follow our fathers’ steps into the abysses
The mine has given birth to this whole town
In church they pray for copper
The highway crossing gives left or right
One takes you out into the world
The other into the mine
We are the ones who didn’t get away
We are the ones left behind
The forgotten ones
Silent troop of men
Children of darkness who belong into the deeps
Dust burns your lungs
It’s hotter than you can bear
The smallest mistake can lead to death
And in my dreams I do something else
But this is my reality
This is where I am
And will stay
Mother Earth opens her arms
Gives life for us
We only have two roads to choose
Far away or to the mine
We are the ones who didn’t get away
We are the ones left behind
The forgotten ones
Silent troop of men
Under ground
We are the ones who didn’t get away
We are the ones left behind
The forgotten ones
Silent troop of men
Children of darkness who belong into the deeps
Albin Stenman
One kilometre deep
You hear stories
Old moles get often nostalgic
And each time
The stories end up to
What happened decades ago
The Big Bang
It was a normal morning
Still twilight
Hundred men were sent down to abysses
Someone told a dirty joke
They couldn’t foresee
Some of them wouldn’t come back on the ground
Old miners tell this story
How deep abyss spitted death out of its mouth
It was a long time ago
Tens of years
Many good men were lost
Just after lunch hour someone yelled
“It’s a gas leak, hurry out!”
The faces of house wives went pale
When explosions rattled dishes in cupboards
Old miners tell this story
How deep abyss spitted death out of its mouth
Black cloud of smoke rose up into the sky
Like the devil’s finger insulting God
The accident got investigated
The reason was found out
Neglecting orders and ignorance
Old Albin Stenman was boss back then
Survivors remember he was drunk
Even though Albin was responsible
He didn’t get judged
He was among those buried in the deeps
Old miners tell this story
How deep abyss spitted death out of its mouth
It was a long time ago
Tens of years
Many good men were lost
We young miners are told
That a ghost wanders these tunnels
Restlessly looking for an atonement
Albin Stenman walks the tunnels with a lantern
Albin Stenman walks the tunnels with a lantern
Imagine / Haaveilua
I can imagine wings on my back
And places where they would fly me
I can imagine peace in the world
I can imagine the runs dogs see in their dreams
I can imagine how small an atom is
Or the huge deeps of the space
I can imagine the future
I can imagine your face when you get my tulips
But one thing I can’t imagine
Life without you
It’s impossible to even think about
Life without you
Life without you
Sometimes I imagine how it would feel
To be rich
Good-looking
Famous
I can imagine the end of a rainbow
After a tough day I find it where you are
But one thing I can’t imagine
Life without you
It’s impossible to even think about
Life without you
Life without you
You make my world beautiful
You make my world beautiful
You make my world more beautiful
Collapse / Romahdus
Everyone come here, they yell
There’s something to tell
The boss opens his trembling voice
He says that behind the seas they’ve decided
Our work is not productive enough
There’s time until the end of this year
And that’s it then, probably
The mine will be closed
He can’t look us in the eyes
Looks at the floor
And says quietly that he’s sorry
We have no power
The snake on the stock market screen rules the world
And I can’t do anything
I just have to watch powerless
How my life is collapsing
Elevator takes us rumbling down into the abysses
To dig our own grave
Each of us quietly thinks the same:
How the hell we’re gonna survive this?
I just built a house
Bank owns it
The baby comes soon
And now someone far away from here decides it
Does he know what he destroys?
We have no power
The snake on the stock market screen rules the world
And I can’t do anything
I just have to watch powerless
How my life is collapsing
I’m alone
In the end of tunnel
The rock is shaking
Lights go out
Something falling
Roof collapsing
Run or die
Tunnel is cracking
Run or die
Run or die
Run or die
Trapped / Loukussa
Hey, can anyone hear?
Is anybody here?
Complete silence
And it is so dark
My hands reach only black
But my heart beats
I think I’m still breathing
I try to clear the way
Rocks are too heavy
I sit and wait
And I’m scared
How long there’s air?
Take it easy
Someone comes for sure
I lose the grip of time
Darkness shapes itself
I fall in another world
I slide away and back
Return into your arms
Again and again
I’m with you
Until I wake up in the darkness
What is real?
Can’t get a hold of anything
Time is stretched
Consciousness flees
And there is only darkness
There is only nothing
I’m hungry
I’m thirsty
Can anyone hear?
I lose the grip of time
Darkness shapes itself
I fall in another world
I slide away and back
Return into your arms
Again and again
I’m back with you
I’m back home
I lose the grip of time
Darkness shapes itself
I fall in another world
I slide away and back
Return into your arms
Again and again
I’m with you
I’m home
I’m with you
Until I wake up in the darkness
Miracle / Ihme
What is said of the end is true
You see your life rewound
From the start to the finish
At least here I have time for watching it
I need a miracle
But I don’t believe in such things
There’s no reason to fight against the destiny
I can’t take it anymore
This is the end of my road
I fill my chamber with prayers
I need a miracle
But I don’t believe in such things
In the end of tunnel there’s a man carrying a lantern
He walks to me
Lights up the darkness with his flame
And asks me to follow
It shouldn’t be possible
But when I follow the old man
Somehow the way opens
I feel the fresh air on my face
I need a miracle
And I get what I need
The tunnel is open
Moon lights the view
Freedom makes my head dizzy
I breathe the autumn
I have reborn
I didn’t believe in miracles
This can’t be explained
A man stands next to me
He turns his face towards the sky
The bright light shines into my heart
Silently we look at the stars
I just want to thank him
My saviour
“Now you’re free” the old man sighs
Turns and goes back
Down in the darkness
With his lantern
Return / Paluu
I open the front door
Step in the porch
You must be asleep
You don’t know to wait me
I turn on the lights
I see you’ve got
White tulips in a glass vase
Never, never ever
I will leave you
Don’t you worry, my little one
I’m back home
Don’t you worry, my little one
Everything is alright again
I’m always with you
Guarding your sleep
So don’t you worry, my little one
New book shelf
Weird sofa and chairs
A photo of me on the shelf
A calendar on the wall
The year is wrong
Three years too much
Never, never ever
I will leave you
Don’t you worry, my little one
I’m back home
Don’t you worry, my little one
Everything is alright again
I’m always with you
Guarding your sleep
So don’t you worry, my little one
I hear steps
Someone enters living room
A little boy
Messy hair after sleeping
He looks straight at me blinking his eyes
I know that face:
My eyes
Your mouth
And I look at the photo on the shelf once more
There’s a black ribbon
Don’t you worry, my little one
I’m back home
Don’t you worry, my little one
Everything is alright again
Don’t you worry, my little one
I’m back home
Don’t you worry, my little one
Everything is alright again
I’m back home
Clearing / Aukio
I step into the forest
The song leads me deeper
It hovers near
I have to find it
Finally I come to a sunny clearing
And I see you
You play with a child
I see you being funny
The boy laughs out loud
The forest breathes
It’s a beautiful day
I step into the clearing
Turn into thousand butterflies
And let go
Leave with the song