Children's song trabslation

pummy369 · Post by **pummy369** » Mon Aug 04, 2014 9:47 am

Hei, years ago a Finnish exchange student taught me this song and I would love to know the translation. I believe if is about a rabbit .... This is how it goes ( I am guessing at spelling).
"Yannis istoy marsa turku en turku en
Mikka sool on yan oo nan
Koon et ella hoopa le
Hoopa boys hoopa boys hoo - pa - boys"

Please excuse errors. I learnt this 25 years ago but I like to sing it to my baby son.
Kittos.

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Upphew · Post by **Upphew** » Mon Aug 04, 2014 8:30 pm

pummy369 wrote:Hei, years ago a Finnish exchange student taught me this song and I would love to know the translation. I believe if is about a rabbit .... This is how it goes ( I am guessing at spelling).
"Yannis istoy marsa turku en turku en
Mikka sool on yan oo nan
Koon et ella hoopa le
Hoopa boys hoopa boys hoo - pa - boys"

Please excuse errors. I learnt this 25 years ago but I like to sing it to my baby son.
Kittos.

Proper lyrics: http://fi.wikisource.org/wiki/J%C3%A4nis_istui_maassa

Pursuivant · Post by **Pursuivant** » Mon Aug 04, 2014 10:37 pm

CH · Post by CH » Tue Aug 05, 2014 4:18 pm

Most often only the first verse is sung, the one you quoted. It's a very common childrens' song here, like Itsy Bitsy Spider.

Jänis istui maassa torkkuen, torkkuen,
mikä sull' on jänönen,
kun et enää hyppele,
hyppää pois, hyppää pois, hyppää pois.

The hare sat on the ground napping, napping.
What's the matter little hare,
when you don't jump around anymore?
Jump away, jump away, jump away.

pummy369 · Post by **pummy369** » Wed Aug 06, 2014 10:42 am

Many thanks for this. It's a pleasure to finally know the translation and now I can tell my son.

onkko · Post by **onkko** » Wed Aug 06, 2014 3:47 pm

pummy369 wrote:Hei, years ago a Finnish exchange student taught me this song and I would love to know the translation. I believe if is about a rabbit .... This is how it goes ( I am guessing at spelling).
"Yannis istoy marsa turku en turku en
Mikka sool on yan oo nan
Koon et ella hoopa le
Hoopa boys hoopa boys hoo - pa - boys"

Please excuse errors. I learnt this 25 years ago but I like to sing it to my baby son.
Kittos.

First this was gibberish but then i "activated english area in my brain" and red it again and lo and behold there was real finnish song.
Stupid americans saying tsoots is written george

Jukka Aho · Post by **Jukka Aho** » Sun Sep 14, 2014 1:36 am

Pursuivant wrote:http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=feTj-qGzigo

Seems to be really hard to find a straightforward recorded version of that song that is not a) artsy-fartsy, non-traditional arrangement (as in the above), b) joke, c) cheesy ”modernized” pop-style arrangement d) sung by a very young child who can’t quite hit the correct notes or keep the tempo.

But suffice it to say the song is not traditionally sung in minor keys (which is what they try in the above link with the ”sad” verses.)

The most traditional version I managed to find is Eero Väre’s performance from 1959 or so:

http://open.spotify.com/track/3J3kVyib4DW0dO6ZlgcjG1

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