What network executive's sister's daughter had to find this for it to land on Arthur and be cemented in the hearts and minds of millions of 90s kids and babies forever? 😭
And from what I’ve heard the lyrics are actually not really safe for kids. That makes it even more bizarre. Though to be fair, you never hear more than one or two words.
I vaguely remember hearing a story where one of the producers was just a music shop junky and would browse shops to see what they might like and this one made an impression. This album was released in 93, re-released in 98, and that Arthur episode was released in late 1998. Basically, the 90s version of using the algorithm until you find something you like.
Like many American millennials, I heard this song as a kid on Arthur. We had the Arthur cassette tape with songs from the show. This was one of those songs, and it was my favorite. I forgot all about it until a few days ago when I started doing some digging. I don't speak the language but this is incredible. I am absolutely in love with Varttina now.
I have it on CD, but I legitimately did not know they released the soundtrack on audio cassette, although there was a plainly evident hint on the disc label. As I looked up the discography of the Arthur soundtrack, the last one was released in 2001 on, of all days, 9/11, likely during the terrorist attacks that day. I have the first album released in 1998.
I was brought here by Arthur. I always thought this song was catchy when I saw it on Arthur but had no idea it was a real song until now, 16 years later
Unnamed Hufflepuff male #713: I was not ... I had no knowledge of Arthur before doing some research after wondering 'who/what the heck is this Arthur everybody is talking about in relation to this specific Värttinä song?'
Yeah she is. That to me, as someone who sings and has done drama, is essential. You keep the audience engaged by showing you are having fun with what you are singing instead of looking bored or by showing the exact expression needed for any and all performing arts.
oh wow! this song was in an Episode of Arthur! i actually remember the episode! how time goes so fast! i never thought that the band would sound like this, i thought the song was slow like on Arthur and i actually imaged the band younger
i heard this on arthur when i was little and i thought it was the most amazing song ever! i remember pretending i was an irish step dancer and would dance to it. i dont think its irish though...
When I first heard this on Arthur, I thought: 1. The only words were "Wee o wee o wee o wee o" 2. That this was just some random "song" written for the show that literally just went "wee o wee o wee o wee o"
Good god, I never knew this was a real song, let alone by a respectable Finnish folk band! Probably because all I ever heard in the episodes were the "oo-wee-oo-wee-oo" parts. Finnish folk, what a random fad to catch on in Elwood City.
The song was on their first international success album "Seleniko" which topped the charts of "World Music"-genre around the world in 1992. Perhaps someone in Arthur's production team was interested in the genre and picked this from there?
As unusual as this may sound, after a long day at work, I rolled a joint, smoked it and listened to this on repeat for 2 hours. It is a fantastic way to spend a Thursday night.
"I am the little girl, little as a kitten, nowhere else I'd like to be but in a guy's bedroom. They call it a sin and a sin it may well be, to go to bed together with the that wild boy..."
Lyrics - English Let us young girls sing So that others will hear too So that this village's boys don't Think us quite mute Sorrows I'll throw along the road And joys I'll take with me Where I see a pretty boy There I'll stay the night So this is what this village's Best boys are like Like pigs in front of the drying-house They're nudging each other These boys are like Something from behind the wall Anyone who takes that one Must be crazy The boys in this village should be put Into a single gap in the fence Squeeze with pliers And forge with a hammer The girls in this village are like The front of a boat Our village's girls are like Figures in a painting The girls in this village are Little balls Short and black Like tarred shoes The girls in this village are Short and black Our village's crows Are just like that I'm that little girl Tiny like a cat And I wouldn't be anywhere else But in the boys' rooms People call it a sin And a sin I suppose it is To go and to lie Next to that wild boy Ui ui ui ui ui ui ui ui Ui ui ui ui ui ui ui ui Ui ui ui ui ui ui ui ui Ui ui ui ui ui ui ui ui Just so I loved you And just as much others For a lark I hugged you And gave you kisses Sweetheart thought I was grieving But I do nothing of the sort A new one was in my sights Before the old was left behind Don't you grieve, don't you worry You poor boy Of me you'll get a great wife Drunk and lazy My sweetheart chides me Because I enjoy the booze But one doesn't have strength to embrace If one drinks water like a pike There comes a fine lad Pity the poor thing Won't know which to take When there are so many of us Ui ui ui ui ui ui ui ui Ui ui ui ui ui ui ui ui Ui ui ui ui ui ui ui ui Ui ui ui ui ui ui ui ui
It had been 12 years since I last listened to this song. I do not know what prompted me to search for this, but now I can't stop listening! (I also looked up the translation of the lyrics!) (I can see why they only used the clip at 1:38)
Wonder no more it's literally "Low and black" meaning "Small and dark" in the context. The concept of the song is a group of girls visiting another village where they mock the local girls: "they are small and dark - just like the crows in their own village" and mock and tease the local boys - while boasting about their own looks, ability to take booze and sexual daring. Its not necessarily a children's song ;)
I saw them live at Womad in Reading, sometime that the beginning of the century.... had forgotten about them until the Algorithm pushed some other Finnish folk on me.... Glad to be back!
I did provide a synopsis of the song about year and a half ago. It is in five parts, which can be found about 17 comment pages down from here. In short it is a group of girls visiting neighbour village where they mock the outlook of the local girls, mock and tease the local boys and boast about their own beauty, (sexual) daring and capacity to take booze. The lyrics are quite straightforward in places - but are actually not intended to be taken too seriously.
+IMakeThings Well - it *would* be *if* ... But in reality this band has an exceptional international track record - several of their albums have topped for weeks and months the world music charts all over the world. And they are still floating - in 2012 the band got the international WOMEX Artist Award - their latest record (Viena) from 2015 got once again very good reviews (for example in Guardian) ... Lots of good stuff in the RU-vid - however this is one of those bands which really shines on CD quality through proper equipment.
acanpc333 This is just one of the many great songs from their "Seleniko" album. Seleniko governed the international World/Ethno Music lists by that time - not at all hard to find for someone interested in that genre. BTW - they have made several top rated albums since.
It actually should not have ended up on there, It's upbeat and fun to dance to yeah but the lyrics are actually inappropriate, because it talks about boys being drunk and being killed and ugly girls and cheating and drunk girls.
@purplehairponcho PART-1. The name is directly translated as "Low and Black", which would be the meaning in modern Finnish also, but the meaning is more accurately conveyed as "Short and Dark". The setting is a group of girls visiting a neighboring village. They mock the local girls: They are low and black as balls of tar cloth or just like the crows are in their own village.
@purplehairponcho PART-4. In the end they sing that: there comes a handsome lad and he is in a trouble as he can't decide which one to select as there are so many of us (beauties). I guess this is pretty much accurate description. It is partly interpretation as some of the concepts are archaic. E.g, "tervatallukka" could be a "tar shoe", using an archaic word for shoe, but I can't fathom would would that be, so I took the more onomatopoetic interpretation.
Even though these are dialectal words, since they're archaic, is there any time period you assume they might have been used in? I know you told me and I've read that this song originates from the Mari people in Russia. Maybe, if the lyrics were translated, the girls tried to add the most fitting "village words" they could find, or if they didn't know the original lyrics, maybe they just went with whichever "story" they thought matched the tune and translated it into their dialect.
