Almost everyone in Finland knows a few Swedish-language drinking songs. We sing Vem kan segla förutan vind and Höstvisan around the campfire and take pride in Södergran and Jansson. But it is surprising how unknown the Swedish troubadour and poet Cornelis Vreeswijk (1937–1987) is in Finnish-speaking Finland!
Cornelis loved Finnish music and recorded an album of Tapio Rautavaara’s songs translated into Swedish.
Now, four Finnish musicians and word artists have been brought together by a burning love for Cornelis’ work and have formed a band. The collective’s strategy is to bring the beloved singer’s repertoire closer to the Finnish audience, and the tactic they have chosen is to perform the songs both in the original language and in new Finnish translations.