Kaksi Vanhaa Puuta – Juha Tapio – Finnish Song Lyrics Analyzed
If you like music and translating Finnish song lyrics, then you might like this article. I will be analyzing the song Kaksi puuta by Juha Tapio.
[su_box title=”Table of Contents” style=”bubbles” box_color=”#a7cb4d”]
[/su_box]
2. About the Song
The song Kaksi puuta draws a parallel between two old, weathered trees and the long relationship between the singer and someone near to him.
3. Song Lyrics
[lgc_column grid=”50″ tablet_grid=”50″ mobile_grid=”100″ last=”false”]
[su_quote]
Sanat:
Minä rakastan näitä iltojani kanssas sun
Kun hetken päässä aamu odottaa
Ja me nauramme ja silmiämme pyyhimme
ja helppo huominen on unohtaa
Oomme taas kuin kaksi lasta
Ne jotka aikoinaan puolivahingossa
lähti samaa tietä kulkemaan
Ja sä viet mut ikkunan luo
Ja sä sanot: me kai ollaan niin kuin nuo
Refrain:
Kaksi vanhaa puuta sateen pieksämää
Katsoo kevääseen
Seisoo erillään
Ja kestää joka tuulen ja sään
Kaksi vanhaa puuta, vaikket sitä nää
Katsoo kevääseen
Seisoo erillään
Ja jossain alla maan
Ne kaiken aikaa
Yhteen punoneet on juuriaan
Kaksi ylvästä ja nuorta
Varmoina on voimistaan
Taivaankantta kohti kasvaneet
Ehkä vuodet ovat kuorta ja talvet viimoillaan
Hiukan ohuemmaks raapineet
Kuinka onkaan kaksi lasta
Matkan myötä muuttuneet
Se ihme on kai vasta
Oomme tänne selvinneet
Ja sä viet mut ikkunan luo
Ja sä sanot: mehän ollaan niin kuin nuo
Refrain (2x)
[/su_quote]
[/lgc_column][lgc_column grid=”50″ tablet_grid=”50″ mobile_grid=”100″ last=”true”]
Translation:
I love these evenings of mine with you
When a moment away morning awaits
And we laugh and wipe our eyes
And it’s easy to forget tomorrow
We’re again like two children
Those who at one point half-accidentally
Started going in the same direction
And you lead me to the window
And you say: I guess we are like those
Refrain:
Two old trees battered up by the rain
Look towards spring
Stand separately
And withstand every wind and weather
Two old trees, even though you can’t see it
Look towards spring
Stand separately
And somewhere under the ground
They have all along
intertwined their roots
Two proud and young ones
Certain of their strength
Have grown towards the sky
Maybe the years and the cold winter winds
have scratched the bark a little thinner
How is it that two children
have changed along the road
The miracle is probably
That we have made it here
And you take me to the window
And you say: we’re like those, you know
Refrain (2x)
[/lgc_column]
4. Glossary
The following grammar terms have been abbreviated.
[su_list icon=”icon: star” icon_color=”#aadf67″ indent=”1″]
- sg1: first person singular
- sg2: second person singular
- pl1: first person plual
- pl3: third person plural
- sg.part: singular partitive
- pl.part: plural partitive
- sg.gen: singular genitive
- adv.: adverb
- poss.suff.: possessive suffix
[/su_list]
I have marked different elements of the analysis using the following symbols.
[su_list icon=”icon: star” icon_color=”#aadf67″ indent=”1″]
- in italics: base word
- (in brackets): translation
- ‘in single quotation marks’: literal meaning
- “in double quotation marks”: intended meaning
- [square brackets]: saying, idiom, fixed phrase; rection
- <symbol: derived from, based on
[/su_list]
5. Kaksi vanhaa puuta – Finnish Song Analyzed
Minä rakastan [näitä iltojani] [kanssas sun] | |
---|---|
Minä | I |
rakastan | rakastaa (to love) sg1 present tense [partitive verb] |
näitä | tämä (this) [rakastaa + pl.part] “these” |
iltojani | ilta (evening), [rakastaa + pl.part] + -ni (my) sg1 poss.suff. “my evenings” |
kanssas | kanssa (with), postposition: [genitive + kanssa] + –s = –si, sg2 poss.suff. |
sun | <sinun: spoken, sg.gen because of kanssa “with you” |
I love [these evenings of mine] [with you] |
Kun [hetken päässä] aamu odottaa | |
---|---|
Kun | when |
hetken | hetki (moment) sg.gen because of päässä |
päässä | away, postposition [genitive + päässä] “a moment away” |
aamu | morning |
odottaa | odottaa (to wait) sg3 present tense “waits, is waiting” |
When [a moment away] morning is waiting (for us) |
Ja me nauramme ja silmiämme pyyhimme | |
---|---|
Ja | and |
me | we |
nauramme | nauraa (to laugh) pl1 present tense “we laugh” |
ja | and |
silmiämme | silmä (eye) pl.part, –mme pl1 poss.suff. “our eyes” |
pyyhimme | pyyhkiä (to wipe), pl1 present tense “we wipe” |
And we laugh and wipe our eyes |
Very typical of song lyrics is of course that word order is more fluid than it would be in spoken or written Finnish. In this case, the neutral word order would be “me nauramme and pyyhimme silmiämme“, which has the verb pyyhkiä before the object silmät.
Note that the –mme in nauramme and pyyhimme is the verb’s personal ending for the first person plural (me nauramme), while the –mme at the end of silmiämme is the first person plural possessive suffix “our eyes”.
ja helppo huominen on unohtaa | |
---|---|
ja | and |
helppo | easy |
huominen | tomorrow |
on | olla (to be), sg3 present tense |
unohtaa | to forget |
and easy to forget is tomorrow |
Neutral word order for this phrase would be “on helppo unohtaa huominen“, which means “it’s easy to forget tomorrow”.
The word huominen is a noun, while you’re probably more familiar with the adverb huomenna. Both of these get the same translation in English “tomorrow”, but in Finnish you need to use huominen when “tomorrow” is the object of the sentence rather than an adverb.
The regular object rules apply here. This means that, in a regular sentence, we would have the genitive case: Unohdan huomisen. In a negative sentence, we would have the partitive case: En unohda huomista. The object of an “on helppo” sentence appears in the basic form.
Oomme taas kuin kaksi lasta – ne jotka aikoinaan… | |
---|---|
Oomme | <olemme: spoken, “we are” |
taas | again |
kuin | like, as (when comparing) |
kaksi | two |
lasta | lapsi (child), sg.part after number |
Ne | se (it), T-plural “they” |
jotka | joka (relative pronoun), T-plural “who, which” |
aikoinaan | aikoinaan (adverb) “as some point of time” |
We’re again like two children – those who at one time… |
Aikoinaan is a fossilized adverb, which we can divide into separate parts: it consists of the plural essive of aika (aikoina) with a possessive suffix (-an).
…puolivahingossa lähti [samaa tietä] kulkemaan | |
---|---|
puolivahingossa | almost accidentally, not really planned |
lähti | <lähtivät: spoken, imperfect, [lähteä + –maan] “they headed” |
samaa | sama (same) sg.part |
tietä | tie (road) sg.part ‘along the same road’ < “in the same direction” |
kulkemaan | kulkea (to move, proceed), 3rd inf. –maan |
…almost accidentally started heading [in the same direction] |
Neutral word order: Ne lähti kulkemaan samaa tietä puolivahingossa.
The word puolivahingossa is a nice compound word: puoli means “half” and vahingossa means “by accident”. When something happens accidentally, we can say “se tapahtui vahingossa”. Adding puoli- makes it seem like the event wasn’t really planned but not really an accident either.
The subject of the verb lähti can be found in the previous table: it’s the ne in “ne jotka aikoinaan”. When the subject of a sentence is ne, the verb should appear in the third person plural: ne lähtivät. However, using the third person singular for ne is a very common spoken language feature, which you can read more about here.
Ja sä viet mut [ikkunan luo] ja sä sanot | |
---|---|
Ja | and |
sä | <sinä (you): spoken |
viet | viedä (to lead) sg3 persent tense |
mut | <minut (me): spoken, accusative form of minä (object of viedä) |
ikkunan | ikkuna (window), sg.gen (because of luo) |
luo | up to, mihin form of luona, rection: [genitive + luo] |
ja | and |
sä | <sinä (you): spoken |
sanot | sanoa (to say) sg2 present tense “you say” |
And you lead me [to the window] and you say |
Some postpositions can be inflected in the location cases:
-
- Seison ikkunan luona. “I stand by the window” (the missä form)
- Poistun ikkunan luota. “I leave the vicinity of the window” (the mistä form)
- Viet minut ikkunan luo/luokse. “You lead me to the window” (the mihin form)
Me kai ollaan niin kuin nuo | |
---|---|
Me | we |
kai | probably, likely |
ollaan | <olemme: spoken, pl1 passive “we are” |
niin kuin | as, like |
nuo | those (trees) |
We probably are like those |
Refrain
Kaksi vanhaa puuta [sateen pieksämää] | |
---|---|
Kaksi | two |
vanhaa | vanha (old) sg.part (after number) |
puuta | puu (tree), sg.part (after number) |
sateen | sade (rain), sg.gen “by the rain” |
pieksämää | piestä (to beat, whip), agent participle, sg.part “whipped” |
Two old trees beaten by the rain |
Neutral word order: Kaksi vanhaa, sateen pieksämää puuta
Sateen pieksämä is an agent participle phrase, which in general is used to express who is causing something. So, we get sateen pieksämä puu “the tree beaten by the rain”, and similarly e.g. metsurin kaatama puu “the tree felled by the lumberjack” and pojan halaama puu “the tree hugged by the boy”.
In the song, sateen pieksämä is used as an adjective describing the two old trees. Because it’s an adjective, it wil appear in the same form as the noun it is attached to: puuta is the partitive form of puu, so pieksämää also has the partitive case ending.
Katsoo kevääseen, seisoo erillään | |
---|---|
Katsoo | katsoa (to watch) sg3 present tense |
kevääseen | kevät (spring) sg mihin form “towards spring” |
seisoo | seisoa (to stand) sg3 present tense |
erillään | separately |
Look towards spring, stand separately |
The subject of these phrases is kaksi vanhaa puuta “two old trees”. While this makes the subject semantically plural, grammatically we’re not dealing with a plural. When your subjects starts with a number, the verb will appear in the third person singular rather than plural. This is not a spoken language element; this is the general grammar rule.
-
- Puut katsovat kevääseen. “The trees look towards spring.”
- Kaksi puuta katsoo kevääseen. “Two trees look towards spring.”
Ja kestää joka tuulen ja sään | |
---|---|
Ja | and |
kestää | to withstand, endure, sg3 present tense |
joka | each, every |
tuulen | tuuli (wind), sg.gen (object of kestää) |
ja | and |
sään | sää (weather), sg.gen (object of kestää) |
And edure every wind and weather |
Just like the previous section, the subject of this sentence is kaksi vanhaa puuta, which means the verb kestää is conjugated in the third person singular because of the number. The words tuuli and sää are total objects of the verb kestää.
Kaksi vanhaa puuta, vaikket sitä nää | |
---|---|
Kaksi | two |
vanhaa | vanha (old) sg.part (after number) |
puuta | puu (tree), sg.part (after number) |
vaikket | vaikka (though) + et (you don’t) “even though you don’t” |
sitä | se (it) sg.part (object of negative sentence) |
nää | <näe, spoken language, negative present tense “don’t see” |
Two old trees, even though you don’t see it |
Katsoo kevääseen, seisoo erillään | |
---|---|
Katsoo | katsoa (to watch) sg3 present tense |
kevääseen | kevät (spring) sg mihin form “towards spring” |
seisoo | seisoa (to stand) sg3 present tense |
erillään | separately, apart |
Look towards spring, stand separately |
Ja jossain [alla maan] | |
---|---|
Ja | and |
jossain | somewhere (missä form of jokin) |
alla | under, postposition: [genitive + alla] |
maan | maa (ground), sg.gen because alla |
and somewhere [under the ground] |
Postpositions are generally placed behind the word they express the relative location of (hence the name postposition). In songs, however, word order often gets mixed up, which is why maan alla appears as alla maan in this song.
Ne [kaiken aikaa] yhteen punoneet on juuriaan | |
---|---|
Ne | they (plural of se) |
kaiken | kaikki (all), sg.gen |
aikaa | aika (time), sg.part, [kaiken aikaa] = “all the time” |
yhteen | yhdessä (together), mihin form |
punoneet | punoa (to weave, entwine), perfect tense “have weaved” |
on | <ovat: spoken language “they have” |
juuriaan | juuri (root), pl.part + -an pl3 poss.suff. “their roots” |
They [all the time] have interweaved their roots |
Neutral word order: Ne ovat kaiken aikaa punoneet juuriaan yhteen.
Kaksi ylvästä ja nuorta varmoina on voimistaan | |
---|---|
Kaksi | two |
ylvästä | ylväs (proud), sg.part after numbers |
ja | and |
nuorta | nuori (young), sg.part after numbers |
varmoina | varma (sure, certain), plural essive, rection: [varma + mistä] |
on | <ovat, spoken language “they are” |
voimistaan | voima (strength), pl mistä + –an possessive suffix |
Two proud and young (ones), certain of their strength |
The form varmoina is the plural essive case of varma. Using the essive expresses the state something or someone is in. The plural is used because both trees as certain of their strength. The adjective varma will always be accompanied by the –sta form of the thing one is certain about. This is an adjective rection.
Taivaankantta kohti kasvaneet | |
---|---|
Taivaankantta | taivaankansi (firmament), sg.part because kohti |
kohti | towards, rection: [kohti + partitive] |
kasvaneet | kasvaa (to grow), perfect tense “have grown” |
(have) grown towards the sky |
Taivaankansi consista of the words taivas “sky” and kansi “cover, top, lid”. I’m not sure if “firmanent” is the correct word in English, but taivaankansi refers to the sky as a round cover over the earth.
The word kohti “towards” requires the thing they express the relative location of to appear in the partitive case. Kohti is an adposition that can appear both in front or behind this word: [taivaankantta kohti] or [kohti taivaankantta].
The verb here is meant to be part of the perfect tense: ovat kasvaneet “have grown”, but the verb olla has been left out.
Ehkä vuodet ovat kuorta… | |
---|---|
Ehkä | maybe |
vuodet | vuosi (year), T-plural “the years” |
ovat | olla (to be) pl3 present tense “have” |
kuorta | kuori (bark), object of raapia |
Maybe the years have the bark… |
The sentence that starts with this section goes on in the next two tables as well. It’s a complicated sentence where word order has been drastically changed.
Neutral word order would be: Ehkä vuodet ja talvet viimoillaan ovat raapineet kuorta hiukan ohuemmaksi. In English: “Maybe the years and the winters with their cold wind have scratched the bark to be a little thinner”.
The noun kuori is the object of the verb raapia down below
… ja talvet viimoillaan… | |
---|---|
ja | and |
talvet | talvi (winter), T-plural “the winters” |
viimoillaan | viima (cold wind), pl adessive + –an possessive suffix “with their wind” |
… and the winters with their cold wind… |
The word for wind used here – viima – is the type of cold but evenly flowing wind you get in winter.
… hiukan ohuemmaksi raapineet | |
---|---|
hiukan | a little (adverb) |
ohuemmaksi | ohut (thin), comparative + translative |
raapineet | raapia (to scratch), perfect tense “have scratched” |
… have scratched (the bark) a little thinner |
The comparative of adjectives can be inflected in all the cases. The word ohut “thin” appears in this sentence in the translative form of the comparative. You can learn more about the inflection of comparatives here. The translative is used here to express a change happening: first the bark was thick, and now it has changed to be a little thinner.
Kuinka onkaan kaksi lasta [matkan myötä] muuttuneet | |
---|---|
Kuinka | how |
onkaan | olla (to be) 3sg present + -kaan (espresses amazement) |
kaksi | two |
lasta | lapsi (child), partitive after number |
matkan | matka (journey), sg.gen because of myötä |
myötä | along, rection: [genitive + myötä] “along the way” |
muuttuneet | muuttua (to change), perfect tense “have changed” |
How have two children changed so much [along the way] |
Se ihme on kai vasta, oomme tänne selvinneet | |
---|---|
Se | it |
ihme | miracle |
on | olla (to be), sg3 present tense “is” |
kai | probably |
vasta | only, just |
oomme | <olemme: spoken language “we have” |
tänne | täällä (here), mihin form “up to here” |
selvinneet | selvitä (to survive, manage), perfect tense “have survived” |
The miracle is probably just that we’ve made it here |
“On ihme että” is an example of an “on hauskaa” sentence.
Some postpositions can be inflected in the location cases:
- Seison täällä. “I stand over here” (the missä form)
- Poistun täältä. “I leave from here” (the mistä form)
- Tulin tänne. “I came here” (the mihin form)
Ja sä viet mut [ikkunan luo] ja sä sanot | |
---|---|
Ja | and |
sä | <sinä (you): spoken language |
viet | viedä (to lead) sg3 persent tense |
mut | <minut (me): spoken, accusative form of minä (object of viedä) |
ikkunan | ikkuna (window), sg.gen (because of luo) |
luo | up to, mihin form of luona, rection: [genitive + luo] |
ja | and |
sä | <sinä (you): spoken language |
sanot | sanoa (to say) sg2 present tense “you say” |
And you lead me [to the window] and you say |
Mehän ollaan niin kuin nuo | |
---|---|
Mehän | me (we) + –hän (expresses prior knowledge) |
ollaan | olla (to be), spoken language pl1 passive |
niin kuin | as, like |
nuo | those (trees) |
We are like those, you know |
Read More Elsewhere
[su_list icon=”icon: star” icon_color=”#aadf67″ indent=”1″]
- Wikipedia: Kaksi puuta
- Wikipedia: Juha Tapio
- Lyrics Training: Juha Tapio – Kaksi puuta
[/su_list]
Please let me know in the comments if this is the type of content you want to see more of! You can also leave some song suggestions.
Wonderful, kiitos paljon! I will spend my sunday with this😃!
This is really useful! This really pinpoints what I don’t know about a song lyric and what to read up on! Hope there’ll be more to come in the future 😄
Thank you for introducing us to this song and of course for the analysis! Actually, I like learning languages through music. One can learn quite a lot that way and in the case of Finnish songs one can also learn puhekieli from them. Do you plan to do analyses of other Finnish songs?
Awesome clarification! Thanks a lot! 😀
Yes! Finally someone writes about vpn special coupon code 2024.
Very great visual appeal on this web site, I’d rate it 10 10.
Good ?V I should definitely pronounce, impressed with your website. I had no trouble navigating through all tabs and related information ended up being truly simple to do to access. I recently found what I hoped for before you know it at all. Reasonably unusual. Is likely to appreciate it for those who add forums or anything, web site theme . a tones way for your customer to communicate. Nice task..
I have been checking out many of your articles and i must say clever stuff. I will make sure to bookmark your site.