Merilevää
By Minnamari on September 12, 2024 11:55 am
Another Finnish song from earlier times, written sometime 2017-2019. It was a time when I was living alone, in a kind of isolated existence in a Swedish smalltown by the sea. In the daytime I was working as a teacher and had lots of people requiring my attention, while the evenings and weekends I spent mostly alone, walking in the forest and along the shore.
I feel like this song is a contemplation of whether/how much to take part in the "collective", the world at large, describing an escapist (or introvert?) dream of just being alone, in peace. On the other hand it expresses a fear of going too far away or in, to not find your way back, and there is also a secret wish to be able to open up more..But maybe we sometimes need to look inwards, or go deeper, before we can return out to the world, or the surface again. At least I needed it, at that time...and still do, from time to time. And during that "lonely" time, I learned that there is also a different kind of a connection that can be experienced in detaching from the human world, as I instead developed a deeper connection with the sea and the forest and felt that I was actually never alone, as I was experiencing the nature around me as my companion. Something I had not been able to do when I had been very deeply tied to other humans. So I don't know...Connection takes different forms.
Merilevää means "Seaweed" in English, the song is inspired by all the brown and green seaweed that was growing along the shore, and that I sometimes swam above on warm summer days.
I'll feature the lyrics, and an attempt at an english translation, though the tone of the song is a bit different in English as some Finnish words don't have an exact equivalent in english..
Merilevää (Original, finnish lyrics)
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Kaikki ympäröivät kasvot vaativat huomiota
Kaikki yksinäiset raukat etsivät rakkautta
Minä vaan leijun mukana meren laineilla
Minä vaan leijun keskellä tätä likaista
Merilevää
Kaikki ajatukset mielessäni pistän palamaan
Sä et voi auttaa kun mä kadotan - kosketuksen sun maailmaas
Minä vaan vaivun syvemmäs meren pohjalle
Minä vaan painun keskelle tätä likaista
Merilevää
Miten minä löydän takaisin?
Takaisin sisääni?
Sinne missä sattuu, tahdon avata
Sydämeni vaikka se kirvelee
Unissani kaikki on hyvin niin kuin aina
Mutta uni se on vaan kivun laina
Päivällä maksan takaisin kun pääni painan
Minä vaan painun syvemmäs meren pohjalle
Minä vaan leijun keskellä tätä kaunista
Merilevää
Miten minä löydän takaisin?
Ylös pinnalle?
En tiedän edes tahdonko enää
Merilevän seassa sielu lepää
Meren pohjalla on helpompi elää
Ehkä leijun vaan mukana meren laineilla
Ehkö löydät mut joskus täältä meren pohjalta
Ehkä elän loppuelämäni likaisena täällä
Merilevän seassa
Ainakin olen vapaa...
Ainakin olen rauassa...
Meren pohjalla...
Merilevän seassa...
Merilevää ("Seaweed", Translated to English)
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All the faces that surround me require attention
All the lonely wretches are searching for love
I'm just floating along on the ocean waves
I'm just floating in the middle of this dirty
Seaweed
All the thoughts inside my mind I set aflame
You can't help me as I lose touch with your world
I'm just falling deeper onto the ocean bed
I'm just pressed into the middle of this dirty
Seaweed
How can I find my way back?
Back inside myself?
Where it hurts, I want to open
My heart even though it stings
In my dreams everything is fine just as always
But the dream is only a loan from the pain
In the daytime I pay it back by pressing my head down
I'm just falling deeper down onto the ocean bed
I'm just floating in the middle of this beautiful
Seaweed
How can I find my way back?
To the surface?
I don't even know if I want to anymore
Amidst the seaweed my soul can rest
On the ocean bed it's easier to live
Maybe I'll just float along on the ocean waves
Maybe you'll find me here someday on the ocean floor
Maybe I'll live the rest of my life dirty here
Amidst the seaweed
At least I'm free...
At least I'm at peace...
On the ocean floor...
Amidst the seaweed...
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