Hi! They have done these songs in English too 😊 And yes, this is a traditional christmas song in Finland. Amd the story behind this song is really sad. It's made in 1859 and the song writer Sakari(Zacharias) Topelius, had lost his son when the boy was only 1years old.
@@MattsMoshPit1 Yes it's a tragic song. In the lyrics, a little girl goes outside to give food to a sparrow (because it's freezing cold outside). The bird thanks the girl and tells her he's not really a bird - he is her dead brother who is visiting from Heaven.
Thank you! My favourite christmas song❤❤ This is very known Christmas song, very traditional. This version is just a bit different than the "normal" one.... this is more heavy, more rock. But that's the idea of the concept, Heavy Christmas. They turn well know Christmas songs into rock songs. Raskasta Joulua (Heavy Christmas) tours around Finland in December. It is really popular and the shows can be sold out. They also usually film the biggest show and then they'll proadcast it on TV at the prime time. And I love Marko's voice! He can sing whatever he wants. Just a tip for pronouncing finnish names and words: J is pronounced kinda like the letter Y in English and R is always rolled. Tarja's name is a good example since it has both of those letters😅 so it's pronounced more like Tar-ya. The song in English means Sparrow on a Christmas morning. In short, it's a story of a sparrow that comes to visit a girl. Then it turns out that the sparrow is the girl's dead brother's spirit that has come down from Heaven. The children's choir represents the sparrow and the spirit of the brother. At the end they sing: "The small seed, which you (the girl) gave to a poor, your brother got in heaven". I hope this info helps you at least a bit!😊
I don't know everything because I am not Finnish, but Raskasta Joulua is an annual tour, however it stays in Finland. They do traditional songs in more heavy arrangements. It is quite cool. There's a version of Little Drummer Boy (with Finnish lyrics) from 2019 that's very enjoyable, although my favourite recording of this particular song has to be Apocalyptica's. It's creepy and I like it! My Finnish knowledge is fledgling, but you read the letter J like you would read Y. Hope that helps. BTW your reading reminded me how my spouse would read things when we were in Helsinki, he has a hard time with languages and I am a bit of a language nerd, so that was probably funny for anyone who overheard us. Thanks for sharing this video and for bringing more content with Marko, I love this man's voice!
I will definitely check out the Apocolyptica version. I like creepy : ) . Yes, language is not my strongest thing. I will say it sounds way better in my head but unfortunately my mouth doesn’t seem to want to cooperate.
@@MattsMoshPit1 yes pronunciation can be difficult even if you theoretically know how it works. Takes some practice. My German is still accented and I have been speaking it for 18 years... "Little drummer boy" by Apocalyptica is available for streaming, dunno if there is a video for you there, but it's definitely worth a listen, even if it's in your private time
@@MattsMoshPit1 Epic. It was epic once again. The amount of talent on that stage was ridiculous. 8 finnish top notch metal singers + 1 lady and 1 guy from Sweden. They change singers between concerts, but since this gig was cancelled last year, I think they put on a double effort this year. Whole concept is such a unique thing
Quite many Finnish traditional Christmas songs has a darker undertone within them. For us living today, it is very different world compared to our ancestors; food was scarse, most people lived in unimaginable powerty and the potential for early death due to sickness, starvation, war etc was a constant, looming threat. Infant and child mortality rates were almost incomprehensible for modern day humans. This song was originally a poem, written by Finnish national poet Zacharias Topelius in 1859 after having lost his own, who was just one year old. And this was quite "normal" back in those times, due to high infant and child mortality rates. Most of the Finnish Christmas songs reflect those much poorer and difficult times. I guess that gave Christmas even more meaning, having the celebration of Light during the darkest and coldest time of the year.
My first time seeing this video and hearing this song. I agree with your assessment reguarding the children. I think it is a traditional Winter Solstice or Christmas song. Very nice voice and tune but I was equally in the dark about shat was going on. Thank you. ❤ I will be back to check in hopes that someone from Finland shares some info. 🥰🥰Best Metal Wishes from Canada🇨🇦🎄
Yes, it's a Christmas song. It's one of the most beloved Christmas songs to the majority of Finns. It's consistantly voted in the top 3 most beautiful Christmas songs. It has that melancholy that we Finns love in our songs. The original poem is by Zacharias Topelius who wrote it in 1859 who had just lost his 1 year old son earlier that year. It was later made into a song and it has been performed by multiple different artists over time. The lyrics quickly translated go something like this: A Sparrow on Christmas Morning Snow had already covered the flowers in a valley The wave of a lake has frozen in the winter frost A tiny sparrow has eaten its summer food The wave of a lake has frozen in the winter frost On the stairs of a little cabin was a dear girl "Come sparrow, with joy, take a seed from me It's Christmas, my miserable homeless sparrow, Come here with joy, take a seed from me!" The dear sparrow flew joyously to the girl "I will gratefully take a seed from you God will want to reward you once I will gratefully take a seed from you." "My child, I am not a bird from this land I am your little brother, I came from Heaven That little seed that you gave to the poor was received by your brother from the Land of Angels" That little seed that you gave to the poor was received by your brother from the Land of Angels
Sparrow on Christmas Morning is my favorite christmas song. I just need to kick my butt into action next year and just fly to Finland and see Raskasta Joulua
JP Leppäluoto, my favourite Finnish singer (and the best, in my opinion), is also part of this tour. He is also definitely worth reacting to. As good as Marko is, I love JP's low voice so much more.
@@MattsMoshPit1 This one is from a few years ago. It's fan-recorded but the quality is actually really good. czcams.com/video/6eogryKn6q4/video.htmlsi=3fHk0zPVDKzJiyNR
Hi! They have done these songs in English too 😊 And yes, this is a traditional christmas song in Finland. Amd the story behind this song is really sad. It's made in 1859 and the song writer Sakari(Zacharias) Topelius, had lost his son when the boy was only 1years old.
Thank you for the insight. Wow that song is quite tragic. I need to check out an English version. Thank you
@@MattsMoshPit1 Yes it's a tragic song. In the lyrics, a little girl goes outside to give food to a sparrow (because it's freezing cold outside). The bird thanks the girl and tells her he's not really a bird - he is her dead brother who is visiting from Heaven.
Thank you! My favourite christmas song❤❤
This is very known Christmas song, very traditional. This version is just a bit different than the "normal" one.... this is more heavy, more rock. But that's the idea of the concept, Heavy Christmas. They turn well know Christmas songs into rock songs.
Raskasta Joulua (Heavy Christmas) tours around Finland in December. It is really popular and the shows can be sold out.
They also usually film the biggest show and then they'll proadcast it on TV at the prime time.
And I love Marko's voice! He can sing whatever he wants.
Just a tip for pronouncing finnish names and words:
J is pronounced kinda like the letter Y in English and R is always rolled. Tarja's name is a good example since it has both of those letters😅 so it's pronounced more like Tar-ya.
The song in English means Sparrow on a Christmas morning.
In short, it's a story of a sparrow that comes to visit a girl. Then it turns out that the sparrow is the girl's dead brother's spirit that has come down from Heaven.
The children's choir represents the sparrow and the spirit of the brother.
At the end they sing:
"The small seed, which you (the girl) gave to a poor, your brother got in heaven".
I hope this info helps you at least a bit!😊
Thank you so much for the insight. I love learning stuff like this. Thank you!
Tuuli; you said it much better than I did 😅❤️
I don't know everything because I am not Finnish, but Raskasta Joulua is an annual tour, however it stays in Finland. They do traditional songs in more heavy arrangements. It is quite cool. There's a version of Little Drummer Boy (with Finnish lyrics) from 2019 that's very enjoyable, although my favourite recording of this particular song has to be Apocalyptica's. It's creepy and I like it!
My Finnish knowledge is fledgling, but you read the letter J like you would read Y. Hope that helps. BTW your reading reminded me how my spouse would read things when we were in Helsinki, he has a hard time with languages and I am a bit of a language nerd, so that was probably funny for anyone who overheard us. Thanks for sharing this video and for bringing more content with Marko, I love this man's voice!
I will definitely check out the Apocolyptica version. I like creepy : ) . Yes, language is not my strongest thing. I will say it sounds way better in my head but unfortunately my mouth doesn’t seem to want to cooperate.
@@MattsMoshPit1 yes pronunciation can be difficult even if you theoretically know how it works. Takes some practice. My German is still accented and I have been speaking it for 18 years... "Little drummer boy" by Apocalyptica is available for streaming, dunno if there is a video for you there, but it's definitely worth a listen, even if it's in your private time
Thank you, I will check it out!
Going to see them tomorrow, in Marco's home town. Gonna be epic, once again(5th time for me)
That is Awesome!!! Please let me know how it was.
@@MattsMoshPit1 Epic. It was epic once again. The amount of talent on that stage was ridiculous. 8 finnish top notch metal singers + 1 lady and 1 guy from Sweden. They change singers between concerts, but since this gig was cancelled last year, I think they put on a double effort this year. Whole concept is such a unique thing
That is Fantastic!! I am so happy that you were able to go and was as good as you had hoped it would be.
Quite many Finnish traditional Christmas songs has a darker undertone within them. For us living today, it is very different world compared to our ancestors; food was scarse, most people lived in unimaginable powerty and the potential for early death due to sickness, starvation, war etc was a constant, looming threat. Infant and child mortality rates were almost incomprehensible for modern day humans.
This song was originally a poem, written by Finnish national poet Zacharias Topelius in 1859 after having lost his own, who was just one year old. And this was quite "normal" back in those times, due to high infant and child mortality rates. Most of the Finnish Christmas songs reflect those much poorer and difficult times. I guess that gave Christmas even more meaning, having the celebration of Light during the darkest and coldest time of the year.
Thank you for sharing. It really puts things into perspective.
My first time seeing this video and hearing this song. I agree with your assessment reguarding the children. I think it is a traditional Winter Solstice or Christmas song.
Very nice voice and tune but I was equally in the dark about shat was going on.
Thank you. ❤
I will be back to check in hopes that someone from Finland shares some info.
🥰🥰Best Metal Wishes from Canada🇨🇦🎄
Thank you for watching. I am also hoping someone from Finland will provide some insight to the song.
Yes, it's a Christmas song. It's one of the most beloved Christmas songs to the majority of Finns. It's consistantly voted in the top 3 most beautiful Christmas songs. It has that melancholy that we Finns love in our songs. The original poem is by Zacharias Topelius who wrote it in 1859 who had just lost his 1 year old son earlier that year. It was later made into a song and it has been performed by multiple different artists over time. The lyrics quickly translated go something like this:
A Sparrow on Christmas Morning
Snow had already covered the flowers in a valley
The wave of a lake has frozen in the winter frost
A tiny sparrow has eaten its summer food
The wave of a lake has frozen in the winter frost
On the stairs of a little cabin was a dear girl
"Come sparrow, with joy, take a seed from me
It's Christmas, my miserable homeless sparrow,
Come here with joy, take a seed from me!"
The dear sparrow flew joyously to the girl
"I will gratefully take a seed from you
God will want to reward you once
I will gratefully take a seed from you."
"My child, I am not a bird from this land
I am your little brother, I came from Heaven
That little seed that you gave to the poor
was received by your brother from the Land of Angels"
That little seed that you gave to the poor
was received by your brother from the Land of Angels
@@hpacinstaller Thank you so very much. The lyrics are so beautiful.❤️
Thank you sooo much for the information and translation. It definitely puts the song in a different light. Thank you!!!
in Finland here is a saying "ei parta pahoille kasva" what mean about "beard don't grow for the evil ones" so it's worth a try!😂🤘
lol, Awesome Thank you
Aivain loistava valinta, Marko Hietala (nightwish) ja Helsingin konservatorin kuoro !
Thank you for watching
Sparrow on Christmas Morning is my favorite christmas song. I just need to kick my butt into action next year and just fly to Finland and see Raskasta Joulua
Please do and then report back on it. I would love to know what it’s like in person.
You better book their tour tickets the minute they come out as they are sold out really really fast usually.
@@jarigustafsson7620 I suspected as much
JP Leppäluoto, my favourite Finnish singer (and the best, in my opinion), is also part of this tour. He is also definitely worth reacting to. As good as Marko is, I love JP's low voice so much more.
Awesome, thank you. Can you please send me a few songs/links of his that I should react to?
@@MattsMoshPit1 This one is from a few years ago. It's fan-recorded but the quality is actually really good. czcams.com/video/6eogryKn6q4/video.htmlsi=3fHk0zPVDKzJiyNR
Hyvää Joulua from Finland.
Thank you so much. Merry Christmas to you as well!