oh look, Hika is back with another hyperfixation

💚 brainrot 💚

[bisnes-socks]

STADISSA OON VAAN MAALAINEN, KOSKA MÄ OON VANTAALAINEN

In light of Jere dropping a whole Vantaa anthem on Johannes' day on Vain elämää, I'm here with the Vantaa post nobody asked for koska mä oon vantaalainen. And this song is actually... very important!

First part of this incredibly long post is gonna be like general Vantaa knowledge and then I go through some references in the song. Not to doxx myself but I have lived in Vantaa preeetty much my whole entire life so I am a Vantaa Expert of the Highest Order.

So as you all know by now, Jere is from Vantaa. And I'm sure many of you already know a thing or two about it, some of you have visited (in fact if you've ever flown to Helsinki, you've been to Vantaa, because the airport is 1000% in Vantaa and in fact not at all in Helsinki) but I'm here to yap about it anyway! You wanna know every detail of that song? I'm here for ya. Have you always wanted to know why Jere always has beef with Espoo? It's because he is from Vantaa and I'll explain it to ya.

So Vantaa is the fourth biggest city by population in Finland. It is part of the Helsinki region (or pääkaupunkiseutu, capital region) together with Helsinki, Espoo, Sipoo and Kauniainen. However, Vantaa is not really a city, it's more like a bunch of villages in a trench coat pretending to be a city. Because Vantaa doesn't have a city center. There's no "downtown Vantaa". It's divided into seven major regions (suuralue), that are then subdivided into 60 city districts (kaupunginosa). So it's like... 60 villages pretending to be 7 small towns pretending to be one big city. Jere has been very open about where in Vantaa he is from, so he is from Ruskeasanta district in Tikkurila region. Tikkurila is also the name of the "main" district of said region, and that's where you will find the Käärijä mural.

Personally I have lived in 7 different districts in 4 different regions.

Now, the other thing about Vantaa is that it doesn't have a very flattering reputation. That's why this song is honestly like.... kind of amazing, and the whole campaign he had all week to get the song to trend and make it big is so cool because we're not used to such love lmao.

To get people from all over the country to hype up Vantaa is just. Unprecedented.

This unflattering reputation has a somewhat complicated context. So a very quick recap of history is in place.

First of all, Vantaa has a loooooong history, but it has not been a city for very long - hence the villages pretending to be a city structure. In fact, Vantaa became the city of Vantaa only in 1974. Before that it was basically a suburb of Helsinki under different names. As a city Vantaa has quite a working class history and also a strong presence of agriculture still to this day. That's why you'll hear especially people from Helsinki saying Vantaa is "countryside" or that Vantaa is "the countriest city in Finland." And it's not untrue, like I said, agriculture is still present in Vantaa in a way that it isn't in Helsinki or most other big cities. There are places in Vantaa that yes, definitely do look like they could be somewhere very far away from any big city. Places that look like tiny country villages. Big fields that are still being farmed to this day. Districts within Vantaa vary a lot, and some districts still look the way they did 100 years ago with small farm houses etc., (some old mansions of the Better Folk too, yes yes) some places look like the way they did when they were built for factory workers in the 40's or something, and some have only been built in recent years. Tikkurila, for example, is an admittedly ugly mishmash of everything, as it has seen new builds regularly for the last 60 years at least and nothing matches lmao.

We have the oldest building still intact in the Helsinki region! Pyhän Laurin kirkko, built in the 1400's.

It is in large part due to this working class history in making Vantaa a city, where Vantaa was built to be home to the working class that would then work in Helsinki or factories in Vantaa, or home to the farmers that would provide to Helsinki, that Vantaa generally speaking has a reputation within the Helsinki region as the place where the "lower class" lives.

And while class differences have softened a lot, the idea that Vantaa is somehow lower class or just generally "worse" remains.

Basically, in today's terms, Vantaa is considered trashy.

Vantaa is less wealthy than the rest of the Helsinki region, yes. But like I said, Vantaa is also a large place with various kinds of districts and people from all walks of life. Yes, some areas are deliberately built for the lower-income people, some areas are affordable only to the wealthy. But it's the byproducts of lower-income life that colour the stereotypes, so this is the main stereotype you see coming up a lot: Vantaa is full of trashy, uneducated, uncultured people.

It's a take that is very much based in classism but that's not really something people ever want to admit out loud. Like people don't want to admit they think less of people they deem poorer, do they, and these days Vantaa isn't necessarily even considered only "for the poor" but the stereotypes attached to Vantaa are very much those that are attached to poor people in general. So it is very much a classist take so here's to all of yall finns who talk shit about Vantaa how does it feel to be a classist piece of shit.

These stereotypes are also where the beef with Espoo stems from. Espoo is considered rich and snobby, Vantaa is considered poor and trashy. Like, they think they're better than us, we think they're full of shit type thing. These days it's also like a comedic thing, both sides recognise it's based in stereotypes (but like... well, let's just say I have real life experiences of introducing myself to people from Espoo and them looking at me like I have rabies. And also people from Helsinki genuenly not understanding why I would choose to live in Vantaa. Like it's impossible to like.) But most of the time these days it's just us roasting them for being snobby and out of touch and them not having any good comebacks because well, they can't just call us poor and pretend it's a joke can they, and this is of course a delicious comedic setting to a lil gremlin like Jere.

(In reality Vantaa and Espoo are very similar. Yes, Espoo is much wealthier as a city and the average income in Espoo is higher than in Vantaa, but the cities are structured in a very similar way as Espoo is also made up of similar districts - some of which are definitely not "for the rich.")

So okay, in the Helsinki region Vantaa is considered country, not a real city, trashy and poor. But then, to anyone outside the Helsinki region (or outside Kehä III, which is a highway that sort of acts as a division between the Helsinki region and the rest of the country, to put it in simplified terms) Vantaa is just another part of The Helsinki Region. The Capital Region. The Big City. To them, it's not country, it's not affordable etc. so to them, Vantaa is just as uppity and pompous as Helsinki. So they don't like it either.

(You might ask if Vantaa is the only one that gets a bad reputation. Of course not. But there are some cities with very similar histories and socio-economic situations that don't have the reputation of being trashy. I could theorise on why that is forever, but I think it has to do with the identity of the city/town, and Vantaa is often seen as having "failed" to become a "real city". If it was a "real city" then many of the issues would be forgiven, because well, that's just how big cities are, they're restless. But Vantaa is seen as a restless, trashy, wannabe-city that is really just a suburb of a real city, and that's why it gets this kind of a reputation where some other """"""lower-class""""" cities don't.)

So like. Vantaa kinda gets shit on from every direction. Either for being full of trashy and stupid country folk or for being full of pompous and self-important city folk. Like. We can't win.

And so against ALL of that you might understand why it has actually been a pretty big deal in Vantaa that King Käärijä himself has made Vantaa such a big part of his image and so openly talks (and now sings!) about how much he actually loves his home town.

Which brings us to the song itself.

SO many Vantaa references in here! Let's dive right in.

(I'm not going to translate the song because I know there are already plenty of very skilled people who do that here, but I'm just going to explain the references in it.)

Tiksimunkki = Tiksi is short for Tikkurila. Munkki is a type of doughnut. But Tiksimunkki is the name of a route that teens and young adults drive on their scooters, mopeds and maybe their first cars. It goes from gas station to gas station and it's just a way to spend usually a Friday or Saturday night, hanging out in gas stations and then driving to the next. He mentions two places, Rusa (Rusa is short for Ruskeasanta) and Ala-Tikkurila, the Tiksimunkki route starts from one and ends in the other.

Hotelli Vantaa = Sokos Hotel Vantaa is a hotel in Tikkurila, next to the Tikkurila railway station. It is an iconic hotel known widely for the club that operates in it called Tulisuudelma. Tulisuudelma hosts live shows and it's known as the sort of place where there's always a party going on.

Korso = a district (and the center of a region) in northern Vantaa that has a reputation as a very rough kind of place, with street violence and drug use and that sort of thing. A lot of that is of course heavily exaggerated, but it's not entirely untrue.

Moottoritie = So as you might know, the original song also mentions a highway in the chorus. In his version Jere sings that there's a highway next to our village. This is referencing Kehä III, which I mentioned before, which actually goes through Vantaa. I kinda love this line, because it's such a fitting way to hit many "Vantaa things" at once, like calling it a village but still mentioning the highway that is considered to separate the Capital Region from the rest of the country. Like idk, it just hits that spot that I was talking about, where Vantaa always falls somewhere in between. Not really a proper city but not really anything else either. And then later on he even says "Stadissa oon vaan maalainen, koska mä oon vantaalainen" meaning "in Helsinki I'm just a country boy because I'm from Vantaa."

(Stadi is another name for Helsinki btw, from the Swedish word stad meaning city.)

No metro in Vantaa = so metro trains used to be a Helsinki exclusive, until they built metro tracks to Espoo a few years ago. Which was a whole ordeal (which included people in Espoo being very concerned that poor people from East Helsinki would be able to travel to Espoo and no I am not joking that was a real concern they had). But now, out of the three Bigger Cities in the Capital region, Vantaa is the only one without metro trains. We're getting trams though!

Uudenmaan helmi = Uusimaa is the municipality that Vantaa is a part of, helmi means pearl, he is saying Vantaa is the best of Uusimaa and he is 100% correct.

Tiksin raitti = also known as Tikkuraitti, he is referencing the main street/promenade in Tikkurila. This is where you'll find the Prisma that has his face on it.

Reeperbahn = not a Vantaa reference but there is a famous song in Finland called St. Pauli ja Reeperbahn where Reeperbahn is a place the singer always wants to return to. So in this song Jere is kinda saying Tikkuraitti is the place he always wants to return to.

The most important line I think is

"Jos sä muutat muualle, sul ei oo selkärankaa."

Because he is very right to call people who move away from Vantaa spineless. It's true.

I joke, but like. It's a funny line, it's most likely meant as a funny and joke-y line, but I also kinda love it because I feel like it also calls out anyone who doesn't have love for their own home town, you know? Like are you so spineless not to be proud of where you come from? Will you break under the pressure and pretend you're one of the "better people" over in Helsinki, or will you tough it out and stand with the "trashy" people that raised you?

I think that's definitely a mindset people in Vantaa often have, for better or for worse. That we're tougher than people from Helsinki (and definitely tougher than people from Espoo lmao).

But it's also funny that he said that line because now he can never ever move away from Vantaa, can he. Not that we mind.

What I really love about this song is that all of the references are things that are part of the negative stereotypes. Tiksimunkki, Hotelli Vantaa, Korso, no metro, all of these are things that people use as "proof" that Vantaa is trashy and full of uncultured hicks. So for him to use these specific examples as things that he actually enjoys, because they are our things, is honestly super endearing to me.

Also there is something about the fact that he is performing this on this specific day. Now, disclaimer: I am NOT critisising Johannes in any way here, none of what I am about to say is meant as a judgement of any kind on him, okay? But the two of them are like embodiments of these stereotypes about Helsinki and Vantaa. Not only is Johannes a known nepobaby (again, not judging, it's just factual that his family is influential in the field of arts and culture) he is suuuuuuuuch a stereotypical upper-middle class / somewhat wealthy Helsinki boy, who has had every opportunity to get almost kind of exclusive education and has (according to Wikipedia) spent his entire life not only in Helsinki but very damn close to the heart of the city, so like not in some random Helsinki suburb, but in an area that is just simply out of reach for many.

Now, Jere, I would say is actually from one of the more well-off districts in Vantaa, Ruskeasanta is pretty exclusively owner-occupied detached houses (no city-owned rental apartment buildings there, for example). So being seemingly very firmly middle class he doesn't fit into the stereotype of poor, but he fits into many other stereotypes about people from Vantaa. He doesn't have a higher education, he went to vocational school (ammattikoulu) instead of upper-secondary school (lukio), and he, by his own admission, was a scooter-fixing, trouble-making lil hockey boy. So while I know Jere and Johannes are good friends and I'm sure there isn't like a deliberate attempt at "sticking it to the wealthy nepobaby from Helsinki" here at all, there is something defiant in choosing to celebrate things that are considered trashy on the day of the person who is arguably the most "upper class" in the group, whether Jere meant it like that or not.

Again, I don't think there is any ill will in there, I don't think Jere thinks of Johannes as snobby or anything like that (and I don't think of him like that either) but... Well, Jere is a lil gremlin sometimes, I just think it kind of fits that he chose Johannes' song of all songs to be a celebration of """trashy uncultured people'.""" It's just... funny.

IN CONCLUSION:

Vantaa is the place to be and anyone who tells you it's trashy or in any way worse than the rest of the country or capital region either is fully a classist piece of shit or has bought into classist stereotypes <3

So anyway, as a final fun tidbit, here is some highbrow Vantaa culture - Kaljakellunta, which is an annual event in which people float in the Vantaa river drinking beer. The more imaginative and inventive device you float on, the better.

....so maybe we are a tiny little bit trashy but hey. Don't tell me that doesn't sound like fun.

PS. My cousin from Helsinki wondered if she should move to Vantaa now that Vantaa sounds so much cooler than Helsinki with much more street credibility. It's happening. We're starting to turn them. It's Vantaa reign from now on.

[hika-chachachan]

thank you THANK YOU SO MUCH for this whole essay, it was a very interesting read. I love your walls of text so much ♥ Some of the song themes resonate with me as someone who moved out from Trashy Unemployed Alcoholics Small Village(tm) to the Big Capital City (which got mentioned in the song and it cracked me up). I felt so out of place, sounded uneducated and uncultured among these people who have museums and theaters at a walking distance, who travel for weekends. I got mocked for it, for not having the same hobbies, for spending my childhood summer holidays camping, for having a tiny bit of an accent. It got better tho, now I think I completely turned into a mean Parisian. Still, I live in a trashy part of the big city because heh, that's all I can afford, I failed Uni, ended up doing an appreticeship for a less prestigious job, so I'm still kinda seen as a trashy peasant for some🤷‍♀️ But I won't get into it more or it'll turn into a whole essay about class struggle (which is still very much a thing here). I'm not sure anyone wants to read about French society and hear me rant about eating the rich lmao Class stereotypes and glass ceiling is a vast topic, so anyways. It's not exactly the same thing, I'm not Finnish and my experience is a bit different, but I still felt "I'm not as good as the posh people from the capital and I'm not even ashamed" in my bones. I think it can be an experience anyone coming from a place with a bad reputation can feel, and that's amazing, this songs feels so validating in a way Tikkurila looks like such a nice place next to some parts of my city, I was surprised how clean and nice it looked after what I heard about it. It's not perfect of course but not as bad as some people despicted it. I genuinely think these stereotypes should get in the bin, Vantaa looks like a nice place to live in, and poor people still deserve respect wtf

I love Jere so much for not denying where he comes from and still being unapolegetically this suburbs boy instead of turning posh 💚

[hika-chachachan]

I don't know who the hell follows me here and will read this, I just wanted to address this part of a reply I got. Disclaimer: It's not a dig at the person who posted it, not a way to feed some drama, I just had some Thoughts(tm) about it and needed to write them down. I don't mean to link it to any specific situation, just my own experience in different fandoms and looking at the social dynamics of it.

While I'd love it to be true, it's a very naive vision of fandoms. Every fandom I've been in (and I've been in a bunch of widely different ones) have the cliques, the cool kids, the typical bullies. There are the wealthy ones who own every piece of merch, who go to every event (also seen as cool kids). The talented ones who take cool pictures, do art or craft. The ones who are close or kinda close to the celebrities (as in, actual celebs or the cool kids), etc. And there are some bad apples, who sometimes belong to the categories I named, sometimes not. Who have problematic behaviours (skipping in queue, scalpers, stalking, bullying other fans, being generally mean, or worse, you name it)

Some people just have a different amount of time, money or talent they can and want to dedicate to a given fandom, and it creates a hierarchy between fans (not sure it's the correct term in English, but I think you get the idea) That's just how it works, as depressing as it seems. And it's okay. Having cliques as in different group of friends is normal, having artists is amazing, and more wealthy people who support whatever business the fandom is about is also needed. Having a bunch of different people from different backgrounds, different cultures and different views is actually a gift. There's nothing we can do about it nor it should change, except being kind and understanding to each other. But denying it could be actually harmful. Especially when popular fans (whatever the reason why they're popular) behave badly, but other fans defend them because they see them as too valuable for the fandom, because they love their content, because they're scared to not be on their side. This can be one of the reasons a fandom gets toxic. As much as drama free we all want our happy spaces to be, it's the human nature. Sometimes people just suck, whether they're conscious of it or not. I don't really know where I'm going with this wall of text. Just throwing thoughts on fandom dynamics. Again, not thinking about something specific, just my global experience of decades of the inability to be normal with my hobbies and having a permanent internet access

Keep being insane in a good way ♥

[mint-ty]

What is the drama that I've missed? 😂 "Objectification"?

basically some twitter users decided to come on here and start their interraction by telling people under their pictures on their blogs, that how they're posting Käärijä is wrong. Apparently, if you want to look at Jere's boobs, you have to look at his face too. At the same time☝️. Otherwise your appreciation post is wrong and derogatory, and you clearly don't respect Jere as human and as an artist. 🤷‍♀️ Idk how it works if I want to look at his hands - the face is kinda getting far. And if I want to look at his feet? 😱 What if Jere himself posts a picture of his feet without his face?? (which has happened. So many times 🫠). So yeah, naturally people got pissed, because that's not how you talk to people you don't even know.

I also want to add, that zooming in on pictures is clearly not even on the same category as harrasing, touching or stalking the artist. We had this discussion on here before, had our own unfortunate run-ins with those rude fans, and all agree that this is not a behaviour anyone should ever display.

As for this space, I personally really don't care who do what on their own blog. If I enjoy it - I'll check it, if I don't - I won't. Shitting on on someone's blog is really lame 👎 That's all 😀

[hika-chachachan]

Hello, now I'm feeling a tiny bit better, just thought I'll clarify a bit: dirtysocks and I just stated our opinion, which is, posting Kä's bare torso and belly cutting out his head feels a little bit objectifying, especially when it happens a lot in the fandom. We often see zoomed in pictures where his face is barely visible, and lots of thirst post and it makes ME uncomfortable. I thought it was fine to voice an opinion under a post with the Käärijä tag (that belonged there and that, as a fan, I obviously follow), apparently it's not.

I never said it wasn't allowed to appreciate and celebrate his body, I never said his boobs and his belly should be hidden, and I tried to say it as nicely as I could. Maybe the way I wrote it sounded rude, English is not my first language.

In return, our comments have been twisted, we've been clowned, talked about behind our back, I've been called a puritan, rude, a bully for an entire evening and day all over Tumblr and Twitter and it's still going on.

I've been told I deserved to be bullied, that I am not wanted here and that I should go away by people I admire and it hurts so much.

This is the first time in my life since primary school that I'm said that the bullying is justified.

I didn't expect the whole fandom suddenly being so virulent and mean to me personally for a comment.

I've spent an awful night and a shitty day because all this triggered some really bad PTSD.

Being bullied is no fun, it messes up your head so much and it stays there for a lifetime, even when you're a grown ass adult.

I stopped interacting with the fandom a while ago because it already happened in the past, people misinterpreted my opinion and made fun of me to the point I left, and I was terrified it would happen again. I'm always scared that if I dare to express something slightly different from the most active fans, I'll get backlash.

I don't think this is how this fandom should work.

I am okay with people having different opinions and different views about fan spaces.

I'm just feeling like shit and I'm baffled it seems okay to treat fellow fans like that and push them away from social media.

Not playing victim, I just wish people expressed their disagreement more politely.

That said, I hope it clarified a few things and from now on I think I'll just interact with my friends and disappear from public fan spaces.

Thank you if you read all this

[frikatilhi]

Is it nice to be a parent? I'm a little scared of parenthood. If I ever have kids, I don't know, I don't have any now, maybe never, would I be good daddy, maybe not, I would just forget the kid at Alepa, "oh fuck Kari"! Once when I was in elementary school and we had skiing, first I forgot my skis at home, went to get them, then forgot them at the store where I picked up a pastry, and then forgot them at school. So imagine if I had a kid they would call child services...

Pakkahuone 23.11.24

[bisnes-socks]

Professor 🙋‍♂️ I have an observation to share that I admit I haven't noticed before. You mentioned that Autiomaa first and second half of the song sets the theme apart from past to now with a different style of singing. Now that I listen closer, he's doing that with other songs too: RTG, Takavoltti, Kot Kot, S=M, etc.. second part tends to be either more 'shouty' or in slightly different voice tone. And I am absolutely eating it upppp :V

you are my favourite student for bringing this up. you get an A++ 💚

alright class, gather 'round. we're going to be talking about his vocal abilities, vocal styles and techniques and how he uses them to elevate songs and build different levels into them.

something you will often hear as criticism towards käärijä is that he's not a technically skilled singer. i have a friend who likes to remind me everytime we talk about eurovision 2023, that käärijä didn't get jury points "because he can't sing". but it's not that simple.

while clean melodic singing is not his strength, and it's true his vocal performance in the singing part of CCC was perhaps not the strongest on the ESC stage, up against a lot of technically skilled singers, what he does does actually take skill and it is not something just anyone could do at the drop of a hat. and if esc juries had actual vocal experts in them, instead of just radio pop producers, they might actually recognise that, but that's another rant for another day lmao.

you've all probably heard multiple CCC covers by now. how often do singers covering CCC sound comfortable doing all that? and how often do they sound like simply getting as low as he can go is a struggle? to hold on to that quality of voice, keep the volume and the breathing steady, and stick to basically one single note, and do all that live? that. takes. skill. there's a reason he isn't moving much in ccc live performances during the verses - he needs his body focused on producing the sound.

and CCC is a great example of him using different vocal styles to elevate the song. the first verse is in that low voice, then we get to the chorus, which is in a higher, more shouty voice - different textures! contrast between the sections! and then back to the low voice - but behold! the higher voice comes back now, for the second half of the verse, as the tempo of the rapping picks up. we're kicking into a different gear, and he is highlighting and emphasising that with a different vocal take. the song is going somewhere that sounds both new and familiar and that is sooooo important in a song like this, that is trying to make a big impact in a short amount of time. we're going somewhere new but the song isn't going to lose us, because we already know these elements - we heard these lyrics before, we heard this voice before, but it's something a little bit different know. the vibe is new and something else is coming!

and so after the second chorus we get to the melodic singing - again, a new vocal style! and then the softer part - again, a new vocal style! these aren't dramatic changes, but just enough to build the song and to familiarise us with these new sections, that will repeat, for us to feel and experience them again. brilliant songwriting and brilliant use of vocals!

you mentioned ready to go in your ask and that is an eeeeeexcellent example of his use of vocal styles, i could DIE! let's look at the choices here, they are delicious.

the thing to recognise about many käärijä songs is that ultimately, they are made up of quite simple ingredients. they aren't super complicated instrumentally a lot of the time, so if you look at ready to go, the musical elements in each section are, at the end of the day, quite simple. which is not unusual for the genre! so he brings a LOT into the mix with his different vocal styles, making the songs feel like they keep moving forward and building.

ready to go starts with one vocal style: quite a low and monotone voice, except lines start with a sort of a mechanical squeal in the voice. and it's quite a funny voice actually, it doesn't sound like a natural speaking voice. then we get to the pre-chorus: "oh, oh no, vaikka meikit valuu nii ei lopu show" part, and the voice is different. it's more of a singing quality, but still quite low. 

and then we get to the part that i'm sure everyone has realised is my favourite by now: "sä haluut nähä ku mä flomaan taas ojaan kuraiseen, hei baby i'm ready to go". there's no beat, there's just a synth-y carpet of a background, and he goes over it with quite a breathy tone, much higher than before. it's quite a flirty sound, on purpose i think. obsessed!

now! second verse! he could go back to the same voice he used in the first verse, but he doesn't. the song has moved on from that, it needs another layer to stay interesting. there is a change in the music as well, the palm muted guitar is now there for the whole verse, but the most noticable change is in his voice and the intensity. it's higher and sharper. 

he dips back into the lower voice for the pre-chorus, but that works in his favour, because going back down there, in the area we already know and are familiar with, allows the chorus to kick in hard when it does.

and this chorus is in full blast, the beat is there the guitar is there, and his voice is not so soft and breathy anymore. overall the voice is much sharper, much more resonate, much more engaged.

and then the song calms down again with "mä haluun ajaa tosi kovaa, vaik pelti kolisee, hei baby i'm ready to go" and he isn't quite as breathy and flirty as he was with the very first "sä haluut" part - because that wouldn't fit this part anymore. he has to go from here directly back into the full chorus at full blast. so he is softer, but not too soft - just the right style to calm it down and then jump back in.

he actually does know what he is doing vocally, even if he isn't one to belt like celine dion, you know?

and one more thing! i know how much people love his growly shouty voice - as heard in sex = money (tein onlyfans bagin section) or the last verse of yhtä vailla and many more. THAT takes technique to be able to do it so consistently and to be able to control the volume as he does. our beloved growly shouty vocals are actually a true testament of the fact that he is skilled with his voice. i'd like to see the best melodic singers do what he does for a song and see how well they do. because what he does is not easy.

now go forth class and find different vocal styles and textures in his songs! he is a vocal wizard and i love him for it. he is so flipping interesting to listen to.

[bisnes-socks]

aikuinen by käärijä, requested by @lhma

okay the first thing i want to talk about is language and i might be getting into super nerdy territory here, so i'm sorry if that's not what you're after but i have to.

because i love the first word of the song, korkeakouluttamattomuudesta, so much.

"korkeakouluttamattomuudesta huolimatta" the first two words are difficult to translate literally, because english just doesn't have these structures. but what these two words mean together is "dispite not having a university level education".

korkeakoulu = a university, or a university level school

koulutus = education

kouluttettu = a person with an education

kouluttamaton = a person without an education

now the first line or bar of the song is "korkeakouluttamattomuudesta huolimatta mä oon hyväntuulinen" meaning i'm good humoured dispite not having a university level education. five words in finnish, right?

the next line is "joku vois kysyy, että oonko mä hullu, voin vastata että oon hullunkurinen" meaning you could ask me if i'm crazy and i'd say i'm just silly. 12 words in that line, in finnish, right?

but the first line of 5 words and the second line of 12 words have almost the same amount of syllables. 22 syllables in the first line, 24 syllables in the second line.

here's a breakdown of the syllables:

kor-ke-a-kou-lut-ta-mat-to-muu-des-ta

huo-li-mat-ta

mä

oon

hy-vän

tuu-li-nen

-> 22 syllables

jo-ku

vois

ky-syy

et-tä

oon-ko

mä

hul-lu

voin

vas-ta-ta

et-tä

oon

hul-lun-ku-ri-nen

-> 24 syllables

these first two bars are just an excellent example of how creatively rap music uses language, and how much skill and sense of rythm it takes to rap and do it well. 5 words versus 12 words, 22 syllables versus 24 syllables, to fill the same amount of time, to be delivered in a way that emphasises the rhymes in hyväntuulinen and hullunkurinen.

the first line he actually raps before the beat even kicks in, so he almost like establishes his own beat with the first bar by emphasising syllables in a very rythmic way. the beat kicks in right after hyväntuulinen, so he is able to really have fun with the beat, with his delivery of "joku vois kysyy että oonko mä hullu", and then he settles back into the established flow.

i just think these two lines are a really neat way to demonstrate the finnish language and how it works, and how he can use it. i also think "korkeakouluttamattomuudesta huolimatta" as the first two words in this particular song is clever. because korkeakouluttamattomuudesta is not an easy word - it has like three suffixes after another, if i'm counting it right. you could say the same thing in a different way, and in fact most people would say it differently in spoken finnish, say the same thing in more words. it's quite a formal word, at the end of the day. it doesn't stand out in this context too much, because it fits the flow so well, but it is a "big word" if you will, so it's almost like he is sarcastically saying that he can use big words even if he doesn't have a fancy education.

the first two lines are also establishing his use of different voices and vocal approaches in this song.

i talked about his way of changing his vocal style in different parts of his songs here, but Aikuinen is an interesting example of much more subtle changes that actually happen over and over again within one verse.

he starts off with quite an even tone, nothing much to notice about the vocal style, other than of course the high and squeaky delivery of "joku vois kysyy että oonko mä hullu" which, i believe, is meant as a sort of a mocking imitation of someone asking him if he is crazy.

but his voice gets gradually.. harder and more purposeful as the verse progresses, and when we get to "oon kondiksessa, sama se vaikka ne mua koettavat hiillostaa" he's quite sharp with his delivery, really emphasising the sentiment that people getting all up in his business is annoying. and then "oon aikuinen ja päätän siitä mikä vittu mua kiinnostaa" he's really underlining how pissed off he is, especially with his delivery of vittu, which of course is a curse word.

and then this same progression happens through the second verse. which i find brilliant, because it's like the song is demonstrating the fact that he is perfectly capable of discussing his life and choices in an "intellectual" way, but he also gets royally pissed off when people want to shove their own opinions about his choices in his face and down his throat. 

the changes in his vocal style are subtle, but they tell the story of the song really well in my opinion.

when i first heard this song, i remember thinking it was a bit silly. but i quickly learned to truly appriciate and respect how honest the song is. there's a saying/phrase in finnish, "puhua asioista niiden oikeilla nimillä", literally translated as to talk about things using their real names. and that's what i really love about the lyrics in this song. he's not beating around the bush, he is saying exactly what he means and how he feels about the pressures of living your life one way, and about not being interested in that way of life - while also simultaniously struggling with how much the world wants you to feel like a failure if you don't succeed in expected ways. i can really relate to what the song talks about, and how you can feel like a failure for not getting into a school or something, even if you're not actually even interested in school at all. it's a super honest song and i love that.

i also love the beat and the musical aspects of the song a lot, so hats off to Allu once again.

ps. in writing this analysis i ended up making like a whole visualisation for myself about the rhyme schemes in the song. should i make a post about his technical rhyme skills? hmmm.

[jedibinx-deactivated20250404]

Still thinking about how Käärijä turned up in a German airport wearing the Autiomaa music video clothes the day before eurotour and none of us were any the wiser about what was about to befall us

[hika-chachachan]

Not yall only voting for Käärijä 🤣

I bet nobody knows 90% of the other songs, oh well.

[chailattehotte]

He collabed with animal protection? I love him so much 🥺

Source: Twitter

[wednesdayday]

thank u for the tag @alkalinetrios !! <33

shuffle your on-repeat-playlist and let your followers pick their favorite from the first 10!

pick a song

born with a broken heart - damiano david

better way to live - kneecap & grian chatten

angeli - mrfy

skinty fia - fontaines dc

hubba bubba - ski aggu

death of a party - blur

ready to go - käärijä

bug - fontaines dc

cearta - kneecap

losing my religion - r.e.m.

Voting ended onNov 3, 2024

lmao this is probably an easy win for jere

i tag @follivora @blatantlyhidden @king-krisu @j-restlessgeek @lintubintu @theplantbish @zefly @lhma @omppupiiras @seconddoubt @jerichoes @carpblu @kaarijatits @mint-ty @nembzz @l0calgoth @katinkulta @tuituipupu <33

[j-restlessgeek]

Awwwwwww thank you for tagging me(ow) 💛💛💛😸😸😸

Pick a Song :3

Ruthlessness - Jorge Rivera-Herrans and the Cast of Epic the musical

Dangerous - Jorge Rivera-Herrans and the Cast of Epic the musical

Get in the Water - Jorge Rivera-Herrans and the Cast of Epic the musical

No Longer You - Jorge Rivera-Herrans and the Cast of Epic the musical

Just a Man - Jorge Rivera-Herrans and the Cast of Epic the musical

Luck Runs Out - Jorge Rivera-Herrans and the Cast of Epic the musical

Scylla - Jorge Rivera-Herrans and the Cast of Epic the musical

Warrior of the Mind - Jorge Rivera-Herrans and the Cast of Epic the musical

Little Wolf - Jorge Rivera-Herrans and the Cast of Epic the musical

A Work of Art (feat. Shavo) - ICE NINE KILLS

Voting ended onNov 3, 2024

Tagging next without pressure: @rockingpeeble @smimon @figmentrinzler @kaarijatits @jaarijani @funzige-gedachten @mitamicah @chaosofsmarty and anyone else that would like to join is welcome (a little tired so just imagine you got tagged yay)

[kaarijapeach]

thank you for the tag @wednesdayday and @j-restlessgeek 🥰

pick a song

sex=money - käärijä

how could u love somebody like me? - artemas

we fell apart - anguish

filthy dog - joost

love and rage - sueco

money on the dash - elley duhé

ptsd - joost

trafik! - käärijä, joost

fryslân bop - joost, jack parow

heavy is the crown - linkin park

Voting ended onNov 6, 2024

tagging (no pressure <3) @alien-girl-21 @crazy-minded-girl @cutebodyhorror @fuckthemforthis @mint-ty

[fuckthemforthis]

Thanks for the tag Kay! <3

Pick a song!

Še zadnjič - Jet Black Diamonds

Ring - Siddharta

Večvredne romance - Jet Black Diamonds

Niente panico - Ghali

Paprika - Ghali

Šampanjac - Mile Kitić

Pot v X - Siddharta

Umazane misli - Joker Out

Trafik! - Käärijä, Joost

Šta bih ja - Joker Out

Voting ended onNov 4, 2024

Tagging @ne-spivay-ranenko @s4pphic-sh3nan1gans @cat-holding-water @eurovisijan @vecnokriv-nikolicel @leopardom @btw-it-also-travels-in-time @hey--look-a-squirrel if you feel like it :3

[hey--look-a-squirrel]

Yay, this is fun! Thanks for the tag @fuckthemforthis

<33shuffle your on-repeat-playlist and let your followers pick their favorite from the first 10!

Pick a song!

Linkin Park - One step closer

Maneskin - ZITTI E BUONI

Arctic Monkeys - Fluorescent Adolescent

Baby Lasagne - Rim tim tagi dim

Joker Out - Bele Sanje

Mastodon - The Morherload

Oranssi Pazuzu - Muuntautaja

Turisas - Rasputin

Toto - Hold the line

Joker Out - Gola

Voting ended onNov 6, 2024

Tagging @ljubitelj-sonca @sparkles-oflight @graysanatimony @blossom-boo @volturiwolf @korre @fifi-goes-to-hollywood @fried--thoughts @lipsmackingxyoldun @vampmilf @guggi04 @soizoukoi and not tagged people, feel free to join <3 (or to ignore)

(edit AAAAHHH half of my tags aren't working and I don't know why)

edit again, trying tags again: @korre @fifi-goes-to-hollywood @fried--thoughts @lipsmackingxyoldun @vampmilf @guggi04 @soizoukoi

[blossom-boo]

how fun!

pick a song

quema - ryan castro

a little death - the neighbourhood

emotional - the front bottoms

regina - sex pula pistol

dă-mă mama după iura - magnat & feoctist

get up bitch! shake ya ass - victoria, anitta

be my death cult - calabrese

bed chem - sabrina carpenter

undeva în balkani - puya

saoko - rosalía

Voting ended onNov 4, 2024

don't have a many people to tag, but feel free to do it even if you're not tagged and no pressure if you're tagged <3

@paperphilia @sepetajmikolikomehoces @bacoviaoverdrive

[paperphilia]

thanks for the tags 🧡

Pick a song

the vampyre of time and memory - queens of the stone age

glory box - portishead

myynnissä - erika vikman

keep your eyes peeled - queens of the stone age

autiomaa - Käärijä

cha cha cha - Käärijä

bananas - Käärijä

diipimpää - ibe

dopamin - joker out

just - radiohead

Voting ended onNov 4, 2024

sorry Bluza. I’ll put it right when Souvenir Pop is released 💙

tagging @electron-road-suspect @harmaanoita

@mint-ty @izpira-se-zlato @mogoce-nocoj

[electron-road-suspect]

Ah, thanks for the tag, this is fun!

Pick a song

edamame - bbno$, Rich Brian

Samaa taivasta katsotaan - Portion Boys

TRAFIK! - Käärijä, Joost

No Rules! - Windows95Man

Les glaçons - KALIKA, Yelle

Non Stop Vol D'r Op - Snollebollekes

One Night In Tokyo - Beast In Black

Pizza Boy - Everything Everything

Europapa - Joost

10 Years - Dadi Freyr

Voting ended onNov 4, 2024

... what a weird list of songs hahaha.

Tagging @inunanon, @jedibinx, @hika-chachachan, @safetofirst

[hika-chachachan]

Thanks for the tag @electron-road-suspect 💚

Exposing myself.

pick a song

Käärijä - Ready to go

Alliance Ethnik - Simple et Funky

Windows95man - No Rules

Babymetal, Electric Callboy - RATATATA

Lizzo - Pink

Käärijä, Erika Vikman - Ruoska

Käärijä - Huhhahhei

Ultra Vomit - King of Poop

Imitation Pops 宇宙戦隊NOIZ - コマンドNo.0069

Käärijä - It's Crazy, It's Party (feat. Tommy Cash)

Voting ended onNov 4, 2024

Tagging @bisonaari @bisnes-socks @jerejerejere @soizoukoi @zefly (no pressure)

[jerejerejere]

Probably everyone saw already but it just struck me how in the opening shot of the Autiomaa MV Jere's overlapping faces are arranged in such a way that the enhanced reflection of his earring forms a very realistic tear under his eye :') I just think it's neat.

[bisnes-socks]

talking about ready to go on this fine sunday evening

the very beginning of the song, before the guitars come in, and it's just like a synth sound, some backing vocals and bass, reminds me of kinda like old school hiphop. an opening like that could easily lead into a real rap beat, it's giving like early 90's and early 2000's hiphop. i was kind of expecting it to go the rap route when i first heard the song! but nope, in comes a siiiiick metal inspired guitar riff (jukka i owe you my life???) that's some chugging, i am also ready to go with a riff like this. hell of an opening.

his vocals come in one style, transition into another, then a new style for the chorus, and yet another for the second verse. FOUR vocal styles for one song. that's not so typical for pop music these days. i love how fearless he is with vocals in general, he's not afraid of sounding weird or funny. and even with the funny voices, he himself never becomes a joke, because he commits and puts his whole back into it. that is genuenly a skill, to be able to be so playful and still be for real.

and his singing in the chorus is good, very pleasing. i especially love his voice with the word"haluut" like he hits some soft vibrato in the second chorus right there, that is some good shit.

and guys. the way the chorus is built. it's incredible.

the long pauses in between words is so good and so... cunty lmao. it's like he is leaving room for the listener to jump to conclusions, only to call you and your mother and the whole country and culture out for being negative nellies who wish artists would fail (context for that can be read here)

so the first time hearing the chorus is like:

sä (who me?) haluut (oh? i do?) nähä (see what 🫣) ku mä (when you what 😳) flomaan taas ojaan kuraiseen (ooooh snap he said that part out loud)

and like i said it's so cunty, it's so deliciously arrogant to open the whole entire album this way, because there is so much space in the chorus to expect all sorts of things. because it could go anywhere. like...

1. sä -> oh he's talking to me now

2. haluut -> he is calling out something i want and desire. that's very disarming as a listener, makes you feel on edge because whatever he is going to claim that you want, you either have to come to terms with him being absolutely bang on the money correct, which means he sees right through you and you feel exposed, or he is going to say something you don't want, which will be a whole different journey, could be funny, could be offputting, could be anything!

3. nähä -> oop, what is it that he thinks i want to see, is this going a voyeristic route? is he going to expose everyone for being horny for him? whatever it is he is calling everyone voyers, basically.

4. ku mä -> it's so very deliciously arrogant to just straight up make a chorus that starts by him straight up telling you, that you, yes YOU, want to see me [do anything]. he's like. you're obsessed with me, aren't you. and he is RIGHT. makes the listener a bit red in the face, don't you think?

5. flomaan taas ojaan kuraiseen / mokaan ja maitojunaan meen -> aaand (finnish) people know exactly where this is going now. he is calling out the culture, he is calling out the haters, he is calling out the negativity and the vahingonilo (schadenfreude?) in this country. and we know exactly who he is talking to, we all know these people.

KING SHIT.

THE CUNT ON HIM to make this the opening track because we know it's aimed at, you know, like Pekka from Janakkala or whatever, who spent all of 2023 huffing and puffing because he thinks this Käärijä business is ridiculous and a waste of time and so he told everyone who was excited about CCC and ESC that ultimately Käärijä would fail and embarrass himself and the whole country. So Jere knows Pekka from Janakkala is still mad that "mikä lie Käärepaperi se nyt oli" actually succeeded and continues to succeed, so he calls that shit out in the first fucken song. It's like he's saying hi to all the haters who put the record on with every intention of trashing it and complaining about it. and it is them to whom he is being like "why are you so obsessed with me honey, why are you here to peep at me, hmm?"

the gaps in the chorus are like the audio equivalent of awkward eye contact you can't escape. he's saying i fucken see you.

and then the one time he modifies the chorus, he says "mä haluun ajaa tosi kovaa, vaik pelti kolisee, hei baby i'm ready to go" and that's him informing everyone that he's going to continue to do whatever he wants to do, he doesn't care if he gets a bit banged up or bruised on the way, because he is ready. and then it goes back to like "you want to see me fail, but i'm ready to go". the confidence in all that is genuenly admirable and something that this culture needs.

and i think the rest of the lyrics, in the verses, are about that too. he's going full speed ahead because he does not care if he stumbles. he's doing what he wants, what he always wanted, it's his passion, and he no longer has anything to lose. he's not afraid of failure. he knows there are people who want to see him fail, because it would confirm their own sad world view, but he does not give a flying fuck and he's not going to let that kind of mindset affect him. so he is fucking ready to go.

and musically, this song combines all of the käärijä elements really well! like i said, the opening sounds first like old school rap, then like metal, then going into more of a dance beat, the use of different vocal styles, a strong message, proper attitude sprinkled with a lot of humour and some twinkle in the eye. and the way he switches between pronouncing ready to go the finnish way and a more "proper english" way, is also a fun little international Käärijä detail.

a banger of a song with the cuntiest attitude we've seen in a while. incredible.

[kanerva333]

Ready to go gives me literal chills. What a furious opening. The lyrics are saying he knows he is expected to fail and to give up, and he (the little guy from vantaa) is just standing there like BRING IT ON.

He's singing about how he knows "you want me to fall in the muddy gutter". At the end of the song the verse changes into "you want to see me fail and take the milk train".

The infamous milk train... translation from wikipedia: "The milk train was a service train during the Second World War, which during the war took care of, among other things, foodstuffs for the Niinisalo garrison, where there was reserve officer training. Returning on the milk train meant, in military slang, that the cadet had had to interrupt his studies and return to his basic unit as a failed and unpromoted corporal."

Since the war ended, "returning home on the milk train" has been a popular phrase to humiliate anyone who has TRIED AND FAILED at anything at all. Since about the 1980's it has remarkably often been targeted at any and all Finnish artists aiming for an international career. This is very telling of the worldview that Finns (at least millennial and older) have grown up with. Dreaming too big will most likely end up in humiliation. And people most likely want to see you fail.

Words fail me. But what I'm trying to say is what Käärijä did in 2023 was truly historical as a Finn. Didn't take the milk train, returned home as the second best but still the champion.

[kanerva333]

Reblogging this because I wasnt sure it was showing in the tag and would love to hear thoughts on this 🙏 sorry for spamming

[bisnes-socks]

you are so bang on about everything you said about the mindset in finland. like. to any international fans, i think this is something to understand on a broader scale as well.

finland is for some reason just incredibly hostile towards especially musical artists who try to make it abroad. i was actually just talking about this with a friend, and how infuriating it is, that most finnish people are completely unaware of how fucking well several finnish bands and artists do abroad, but they absolutely know every single artist who has tried but failed.

especially in the genre of rock and metal, there are multiple finnish artists who are literally top of the top in their respective genres. finding out about their success is a surprise to finnish people. because they are not talked about here. not until they fucking die or something, then it's all about how they were the nations pride (spoiler alert: they were not treated as such). but everyone can name artists who tried an international career but failed, because their trials and errors have been well documented, ridiculed and mocked.

when jere basically says "you want to see me fail" he means it. finnish (tabloid) media in particular is often completely unnecessarily cruel and mean and there is definitely an air of them almost like secretly wishing artists would fail.

and so that's why it's also important to realise how incredible it is that jere has succeeded and that he continues to succeed, because this wasn't supposed to happen. it does not fit the cultural narrative that finnish artists could go on an international stage, be their bizarre finnish self and succeed. it didn't work out with lordi, their fall from the top after their eurovision victory was once again well documented and well mocked. and it wasn't supposed to work out with käärijä, or at least that is the cultural mindset.

so for him to not only succeed, and be so not afraid of being himself, but then also to call out the culture, out loud, and say listen, i'm ready to go, whatever that means.. that's powerful.

and i know, and most importantly he knows, that him saying all this is going to piss a lot of people off. because if there is one deadly sin in finnish culture, it's being openly proud of yourself and aware of your own skill and abilities.

he is being irritating on purpose and i love that for him.

[i-wasnt-ready-for-this]

I don't 🚫 wanna cry 🥲 I'm not 🚫 the person 🚹 who cry 💦 and I'm not 🚫 saying that because I'm the man 🚹 and ♂️ strong 💪 no 🚫 no 🚫 no 🚫 no 🚫 I'm just ME! 🤗

[bisonaari]

I don't know if it has been done here before because I don't look around, but I have thoughts about the album and I need to share them with someone or I'm gonna go INSANE

Put your tinfoil hats on for my analysis of everything around People's Champion under the cut (probably people have talked about it and I'm just gonna repeat stuff, be warned)

So I've been a bit insane about People's Champion and I've started to think super hard about the order of the songs. I think, in my opinion, that the songs are arranged to tell the story of his life and career from right after UMK 2023 until now.

Ready To Go: This is where we start. Just post UMK, people didn't fully believe in him yet. I remember people saying "oh yeah sweden is sending someone who already won esc, but we're sending… Jere from Vantaa????". Hence the chorus, where people want to see him fail. But he's ready, he knows that he can do it. He's gonna go through and give his EVERYTHING. The mood of the song is really hopeful, with big intense guitar.

Cha Cha Cha: Do I need to explain this one here? I'm still not over this hahaha, I don't think I'll ever be. But this is where events take a turn for him, hence why it's so early in the album, even though it's his biggest song. Because he has so much to say after Cha Cha Cha happened.

Takavoltti: This is where things start to fuck up. He doesn't want to stay on his butt now that he has achieved celebrity and starts to take on so many, many gigs. A lot of us were worried for his health when we saw how much he was performing during summer 2023. But in the song, he says that he only saw opportunities and he just had to continue to take them. It takes a toll on his body. It starts to hurt, but he goes through it. That mad man. Also a couple of times in the song, people ask him to do stuff. Like a little circus monkey. And he just ends up hurting himself.

Ruoska: The bad comments start to really get to him. In the video, Erika and Käärijä are both dressed and perform as aliens. They've completely been striped of their humanity. They're just gimmicks that you can insult anonymously on the internet. Who cares anyway, they chose this life for themselves. It's their own fault. While the previous song was still a bit on the funny side, this one digs straight into the hardships that they feel. There is no more humour, only pain.

Kot Kot: He's still doing too much. While everyone has gone home, he's still drunk on the dancefloor, trying to reach out for friends who were wiser and left. He's being dragged out of there against his will, because he's so stubborn. Pushing through isn't working anymore, and people around him aren't letting him hurt himself anymore.

Skit: An appointment with a therapist. Käärijä is being cut off CONSTANTLY by the therapist, who can't see Jere as a patient. He sees Käärijä, the star. Even when he's trying to seek help, he isn't listened to. Because he's not human anymore for people at that point.

Autiomaa: Käärijä is breaking down. In the video, the therapist from the skit is taking a picture of him during the appointment. The feeling of loneliness and emptiness is around him all the time, omnipresent, eating him alive. He just wants someone to see him as a person, to listen to him, to help him with the void.

Sex=Money: At that point, you know, might as well. You're not human anymore, who cares. Why not try to get some money selling your ass. Who's gonna care anyway, sex sells and that's what people want to see, right? He made so much money on onlyfans, the press is acting shocked that he would even do that. The song is back to a bit light-hearted. My interpretation would be that he just finds the situation ridiculous, and that's why we're getting humour back in the lyrics!

Bananas: I'm not sure how this one fits in my theory, but we're SO back for humour. Kääriä is getting better. I think that in this one he found resolve to just continue going on. He's annoyed because people still only see him as an object, but he has to go through and live his life. Show must go on.

Huhhuhhei: Quite interesting to put a love song in this timeline in the story. But I think it's because he wants to live in the present, and not in anxieties from the past and the fear of the future. He doesn't know if the person sharing his bed is still gonna be there in the morning, but whatever, it's not important. Tonight, they're his and that's what matters. Thinking of tomorrow isn't gonna bring anything good.

It's Crazy It's Party: He's still stuck in the parties, they're around him all the time. He's still doing a million gigs in Finland and in europe. And just as the song is quite close to Cha Cha Cha, he's back at the beginning, the situation hasn't changed much. But this time, by the end, he goes to the party again, by his own will. And this time, he has people around to party with him.

People's Champion: We're back babes. This song is a love letter to people who love him. This is a great wrap around for this album. He's just remembering how everything went, from the start, until this point. Going through every point and emotion we've been through with him during the album. But in the end, he IS people's champion. He did it. He made it. And even with all the hardships, he's with us, when our hearts all sing together. The last line of this album that isn't a chorus is "Thank you everybody, I love you".

What a journey

So something that you have noticed that I've talked a lot is how people don't recognize Käärijä's humanity. He has been made into a kind of creature of gimmicks. You can ask him everything, you can say everything to his face. Whatever, he's a celebrity, not a person.

And this is where that cover is a GENIUS move.

On the cover, there are NO gimmicks. No bolero, no bowl cut, no bare chest with a tattoo. Just his face. You HAVE to watch his face, there is nothing else to see. You have to watch his emotion being raw, he's crying. This is not a pleasant cover to see. And I know, I've had spotify open on his face all day friday while I was working, it felt awful. But it makes you do something.

You have to acknowledge his humanity. And there's no way around it.

I love Käärijä

[ravensofskyhold]

I hope you don't mind me add my thoughts about Bananas and how it fits into the narrative, here:

I think Bananas is the perfect middle stage in him figuring out what people want/expect him to do and what he himself wants to do, between s=m (sex sells, but also has a shock factor. He's found out that suddenly people see him as a sex symbol and the expectations that come with it and tried to play along, but also take control of the narrative) and Huhhahhei (a love song (smth he's said before he doesn't make!) that has a light, fun atmosphere with just a hint of bittersweetness).

Bc Bananas is almost exactly the kind of song the critics and haters, but also the wider public in general, have pigeonholed his music into and expect from him. It's very much a fun party song about a drunk night out with friends and having a hangover the morning after. There's no deeper meaning than that and him feeling good about himself.

And it doesn't have to be! Every song doesn't need to have a serious message and deep meaning! But this is exactly the box a whole lot of people have put his music into and promptly then dismissed everything he does as "just simple party music about being drunk and/or hungover, why are you telling me to listen to it to hear the subtext/deeper meaning, there isn't one"

And that IMHO makes adding Bananas to the album a genius move. Not only does it fit into the narrative (he's still trying to figure out what he wants to do as an artist, but moves from the more generic expectation of sex sells to the other end of scale, to people's expectations of him as an individual artist. People keep saying he makes silly party music, so that's what he makes), but it's also kind of a middle finger to the people who have dismissed all of his music as silly party music? It's like he's saying "hey here's what that song concept by me now would actually look like. Also it's explicitly how good and happy I'm feeling about myself and what I do because people keep looking down on those things". It's him finding fun and light-heartedness in this artistry again.

And after Bananas, we get to Huhhahhei, a song that combines the things he's learned from S=M and Bananas. HHH is kinda a fun, light-hearted party song, but with more substance to it. Flirty and sexual, but in a way he is more comfortable with. He has something to say with his music, but he can wrap (hee!) those messages in fun metaphors and party atmosphere most of the time.

[bisonaari]

I don't know if it has been done here before because I don't look around, but I have thoughts about the album and I need to share them with someone or I'm gonna go INSANE

Put your tinfoil hats on for my analysis of everything around People's Champion under the cut (probably people have talked about it and I'm just gonna repeat stuff, be warned)

So I've been a bit insane about People's Champion and I've started to think super hard about the order of the songs. I think, in my opinion, that the songs are arranged to tell the story of his life and career from right after UMK 2023 until now.

Ready To Go: This is where we start. Just post UMK, people didn't fully believe in him yet. I remember people saying "oh yeah sweden is sending someone who already won esc, but we're sending… Jere from Vantaa????". Hence the chorus, where people want to see him fail. But he's ready, he knows that he can do it. He's gonna go through and give his EVERYTHING. The mood of the song is really hopeful, with big intense guitar.

Cha Cha Cha: Do I need to explain this one here? I'm still not over this hahaha, I don't think I'll ever be. But this is where events take a turn for him, hence why it's so early in the album, even though it's his biggest song. Because he has so much to say after Cha Cha Cha happened.

Takavoltti: This is where things start to fuck up. He doesn't want to stay on his butt now that he has achieved celebrity and starts to take on so many, many gigs. A lot of us were worried for his health when we saw how much he was performing during summer 2023. But in the song, he says that he only saw opportunities and he just had to continue to take them. It takes a toll on his body. It starts to hurt, but he goes through it. That mad man. Also a couple of times in the song, people ask him to do stuff. Like a little circus monkey. And he just ends up hurting himself.

Ruoska: The bad comments start to really get to him. In the video, Erika and Käärijä are both dressed and perform as aliens. They've completely been striped of their humanity. They're just gimmicks that you can insult anonymously on the internet. Who cares anyway, they chose this life for themselves. It's their own fault. While the previous song was still a bit on the funny side, this one digs straight into the hardships that they feel. There is no more humour, only pain.

Kot Kot: He's still doing too much. While everyone has gone home, he's still drunk on the dancefloor, trying to reach out for friends who were wiser and left. He's being dragged out of there against his will, because he's so stubborn. Pushing through isn't working anymore, and people around him aren't letting him hurt himself anymore.

Skit: An appointment with a therapist. Käärijä is being cut off CONSTANTLY by the therapist, who can't see Jere as a patient. He sees Käärijä, the star. Even when he's trying to seek help, he isn't listened to. Because he's not human anymore for people at that point.

Autiomaa: Käärijä is breaking down. In the video, the therapist from the skit is taking a picture of him during the appointment. The feeling of loneliness and emptiness is around him all the time, omnipresent, eating him alive. He just wants someone to see him as a person, to listen to him, to help him with the void.

Sex=Money: At that point, you know, might as well. You're not human anymore, who cares. Why not try to get some money selling your ass. Who's gonna care anyway, sex sells and that's what people want to see, right? He made so much money on onlyfans, the press is acting shocked that he would even do that. The song is back to a bit light-hearted. My interpretation would be that he just finds the situation ridiculous, and that's why we're getting humour back in the lyrics!

Bananas: I'm not sure how this one fits in my theory, but we're SO back for humour. Kääriä is getting better. I think that in this one he found resolve to just continue going on. He's annoyed because people still only see him as an object, but he has to go through and live his life. Show must go on.

Huhhuhhei: Quite interesting to put a love song in this timeline in the story. But I think it's because he wants to live in the present, and not in anxieties from the past and the fear of the future. He doesn't know if the person sharing his bed is still gonna be there in the morning, but whatever, it's not important. Tonight, they're his and that's what matters. Thinking of tomorrow isn't gonna bring anything good.

It's Crazy It's Party: He's still stuck in the parties, they're around him all the time. He's still doing a million gigs in Finland and in europe. And just as the song is quite close to Cha Cha Cha, he's back at the beginning, the situation hasn't changed much. But this time, by the end, he goes to the party again, by his own will. And this time, he has people around to party with him.

People's Champion: We're back babes. This song is a love letter to people who love him. This is a great wrap around for this album. He's just remembering how everything went, from the start, until this point. Going through every point and emotion we've been through with him during the album. But in the end, he IS people's champion. He did it. He made it. And even with all the hardships, he's with us, when our hearts all sing together. The last line of this album that isn't a chorus is "Thank you everybody, I love you".

What a journey

So something that you have noticed that I've talked a lot is how people don't recognize Käärijä's humanity. He has been made into a kind of creature of gimmicks. You can ask him everything, you can say everything to his face. Whatever, he's a celebrity, not a person.

And this is where that cover is a GENIUS move.

On the cover, there are NO gimmicks. No bolero, no bowl cut, no bare chest with a tattoo. Just his face. You HAVE to watch his face, there is nothing else to see. You have to watch his emotion being raw, he's crying. This is not a pleasant cover to see. And I know, I've had spotify open on his face all day friday while I was working, it felt awful. But it makes you do something.

You have to acknowledge his humanity. And there's no way around it.

I love Käärijä

[ravensofskyhold]

I hope you don't mind me add my thoughts about Bananas and how it fits into the narrative, here:

I think Bananas is the perfect middle stage in him figuring out what people want/expect him to do and what he himself wants to do, between s=m (sex sells, but also has a shock factor. He's found out that suddenly people see him as a sex symbol and the expectations that come with it and tried to play along, but also take control of the narrative) and Huhhahhei (a love song (smth he's said before he doesn't make!) that has a light, fun atmosphere with just a hint of bittersweetness).

Bc Bananas is almost exactly the kind of song the critics and haters, but also the wider public in general, have pigeonholed his music into and expect from him. It's very much a fun party song about a drunk night out with friends and having a hangover the morning after. There's no deeper meaning than that and him feeling good about himself.

And it doesn't have to be! Every song doesn't need to have a serious message and deep meaning! But this is exactly the box a whole lot of people have put his music into and promptly then dismissed everything he does as "just simple party music about being drunk and/or hungover, why are you telling me to listen to it to hear the subtext/deeper meaning, there isn't one"

And that IMHO makes adding Bananas to the album a genius move. Not only does it fit into the narrative (he's still trying to figure out what he wants to do as an artist, but moves from the more generic expectation of sex sells to the other end of scale, to people's expectations of him as an individual artist. People keep saying he makes silly party music, so that's what he makes), but it's also kind of a middle finger to the people who have dismissed all of his music as silly party music? It's like he's saying "hey here's what that song concept by me now would actually look like. Also it's explicitly how good and happy I'm feeling about myself and what I do because people keep looking down on those things". It's him finding fun and light-heartedness in this artistry again.

And after Bananas, we get to Huhhahhei, a song that combines the things he's learned from S=M and Bananas. HHH is kinda a fun, light-hearted party song, but with more substance to it. Flirty and sexual, but in a way he is more comfortable with. He has something to say with his music, but he can wrap (hee!) those messages in fun metaphors and party atmosphere most of the time.

[greensolsikke]

[jaarijani]

my experience listening to people's champion