Kovemmat kädet Reviews

This was the actual CD that made me almost burst out into tears. It still makes me somewhat sad upon listening, but nonetheless it is a great album no matter what others might say. I have never made a cd review before, so I will use a somewhat simple way of listing the songs and reviewing them separately.

1. Kovemmat Kädet (3:38) Now this is one of the more controversial songs in the cd. I have never entirely figured out what this song exactly is about, but according to all I've gathered the song is about pedophilia, or child abuse/kidnapping. Apparently first we start at the beginning, when the child gets kidnapped. Then we hear what the childs mother thinks about for a few days, but then comes the controversial part; it was winter in the beginning, but now its spring already, and the snow melts, unveiling a dead child from within. What happened to the child is never told in the song, but I can only assume that s/he was propably raped and then killed. The kidnapper isnt mentioned by any name though, he is just refered to as "Kovemmat kädet" which roughly translates to harder hands. The musical qualities of this song are absolutely stunning, and beautiful. The only problem is that the singing sounds very monotone, because unlike most PMMP-songs, this one only has one singer almost for the entire duration of the song. Overall an extremely good song, but abit too monotone.

2. Matkalaulu (3:52) This is one of the more cheerful songs on the cd, but it still is pretty damn good. Very cheerful, and something people should always listen to on a road trip. The lyrics are simple, explaining the happenings of a lovely car trip, and how we should appreciate moments like that. The sound of the song is very fun and nice to listen to, and never goes even near becoming boring due to the cheerful sounds. Yet this doesnt feel like something PMMP would make, I dont know why though. Still a fun, but very loose song.

3. Oo Siellä Jossain Mun (3:20) Great. This has the perfect balance between being cheerful and happy and being sad. The lyrics once again are self-explanatory, and primarily deal with the problems in a long distance-relationship. Some of the lyrics are very deep though, especially the part that goes "Olen taas kattanut lautaset kahdelle huvikseen vaan" which can be translated to "I've once again set the plates for the two of us just for the fun of it." This might signify that the song actually is about a somewhat mentally insane woman, but without further proof, that theory will have to wait. The sound in this song as I said before, has the perfect balance. It really just sounds spectacular, and the chorus really sounds... real. I find it hard to explain, but thats just the way it sounds. Spectacular song overall.

4. Päiväkoti (4:46) This is such a weirdly named song. The name translates to "Daycare center" which might signify something happy and glad, but the moment this song kicks in you can just hear that that is not the case by any means. The sound here is just incredibly full of desperation and hope, and the lyrics live up to it. The singing voice in this song is almost undescripable, it fits this song perfectly. This song is somewhat obviously about a depressed person who just broke up with her boyfriend, and now seeks joy by looking out of her window, out into a playfield with little children. Eventually the song leads up to her accepting the fact that the relationship between her and her boyfriend does not work, which leaves her emotionally extremely confused, looking for her spot in the world. There truly is no weak spot in this entire song, although some might consider the use of violins korny.

5. Mummola (3:49) This is something of a dissapointment, since it comes directly after the excellent Päiväkoti. Mummola never actually goes into an awfully cheerful mode, but it is obvious that this isnt supposed to sound like a sad song either, so we are left confused about the purpose of this whole song. The lyrics deal with childhood, and the importance of it, but the thing is it never goes deep into it. It feels like this song was just thrown together from random parts. The chorus is good though, and saves alot in an otherwise weak song. But still, it is perhaps the worst song on the entire album.

6. Matoja (4:03) I dont get it. I dont understand this song almost at all. It sounds like something reminiscent of Offspring, but the lyrics are once again confusing. From what I gather the song is about a relationship, where the man attempts to be the dominant party, but fails miserably, and always blames the female when something goes wrong. The chorus is confusing though, as is the 3rd verse. I do like the way this sounds though, and it definately cheers you up if youre down, even though you might not understand it.

7. Auta Mua (3:53) This continues on the male-female relationship theme, and from what Ive understood it is about a woman who has a crush on a man, who constantly turns her down for some reason. She can not understand why this happens, but then realises that the man is already dating someone, giving her a serious case of depression or so. This also sort of shatters the image she has about herself, and the chorus of the song deals with the womans hatred towards the man. The song sounds somewhat depressed, like the singer would have lost her will to live due to this whole thing, which fits the song absolutely perfectly. The song does have a happy ending though, which is somewhat surprising. The music in the background is also very damp so to speak, making us depressed as well. Or well, almost.

8. Onni (4:11) This is... I dont know. I think this is about a woman, who is somehow forced to leave her boyfriend. She accepts this, even though the man has obviously made her more happy then she has ever been before. Now this might be the only reason why she is willing to leave him alone for good, since the song starts with her saying that she thinks of herself as "awfully small and pale" which is generally a sign of self-hatred. Even though she feels she needs the man, she is willing to leave him because of the joy he has given her. The sound of this one is spectacular once again, the singers are absolutely spot on in this with their depressing sound, but we still get this feeling of happiness from this sound. Musically this is also great, the background tune is something worth listening to by itself.

9. Olkaa Yksin Ja Juoskaa Karkuun (3:55) Wasted potential here. The lyrics are awfully simple, and even though they have a point, they dont bother actually exploring the entire theme of why people hurt eachother so much, the song is just sort of like a rollercoaster ride; it goes by all these themes so fast that it sort of screws itself up the ass. I must admit though that the second verse here is excellent, dealing with the overall theme of a paranoid person who is trying to date. Which, as you might imagine, is very hard. The chorus of the song also touches me personally, since it deals with "having enough of it," and just ending everything bad by doing something other then suicide. Its very hard to explain. The musical merits of this song are adequate; once again the singers really catch the feeling of the lyrics and the musical tune in the back plays very well. If only the overall lyrics would be better composed, this could have been an excellent song.

10. Maria Magdalena (4:48) A very, very sad song. To be honest almost incredibly sad. The song deals with depression overall, and dissapointments. Apparently there is something of a story here from all I could understand; The person singing the song is apparently in a prison or mental institute of somesort, and someone close to him/her comes over to see him/her, and the singer just tells the visitor all about his/hers story, or life to be honest, full of dissapointments and sadness. There are also quite a few biblical references here, but I cant really pick them up since I truly have not read the story of Magdalena in the bible. The music of the song fits perfectly with the rest of the whole thing, and feels absolutely spectacular. Perhaps the best song of the entire album.

11. Salla Tahtoo Siivet (3:52) Is it possible to make an even more sad song then the previous one? If not, this thing sure as hell comes close. The lyrics of this song apparently deal with a person wanting to kill herself, and the only person who knows about it letting her do so. So it deals with that extreme situation when it is allright to commit suicide. The lyrics of this song were the ones that made me cry during the second chorus. They are simply so incredibly beautiful, and the musical side of the whole thing just fits it so perfectly. Thus, it truly is a shame that the song ends so quickly; it really feels like there is more to be told about this subject.


So, what is the cd like overall? In my opinion perhaps the best finnish musical cd ever made, and definately surpasses most of the foreign albums Ive heard as well. You dont listen to pop because its for a bunch of mainstream teenagers? Listen to this cd and change your mind.