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Truth and Lie / Valhe ja Totuus

by Timi Tamminen

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1.
Truth and Lie 06:52
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With her braided crown, Truth roamed in the calm of the morning Standing among the poor and the crippled while shining her light The insidious Lie saw her, his veiled jealousy roaring "Come rest with me, come in, find some solace from plight" Truth smiled with innocence, accepting his invitation And in no time at all, she slumbered, serene like a child The shrewd Lie tucked her in with his cunning calculation Drinking champagne, getting drunk on his devious pride With the grin of a camel, Lie partied until the morning Singing and belching, dancing with manic delight No one was there to see it, to issue a warning Because when dressed alike, you can’t discern Truth from Lie The bold Lie took Truth's finest outfit and put on her makeup Wearing her fancy shoes, donning her crown He snatched her watch and her dignity during this shakeup And vanished into the twilight without a sound Truth woke up, feeling foggy and violated She sat naked on the bed, tormented by headache Her possessions were gone, in their place was pure desperation So she ran to the streets but no one recognised her face The same poor souls she had smiled with had now turned against her Throwing stones while mocking her, calling her the two-faced Lie “It’s me”, yelled Truth but the people treated her like a stranger She pled to no avail while the police dispersed the crowd Truth tried to prove her name, naked and weeping The police wouldn’t buy it, they said “we know what she looks like” “Truth would never prance naked and scream like a heathen” “She’s gracefully posh and always wears her finest attire” With her sad, impassioned cries Truth's pleas persisted But the men remained unmoved, telling her to go "Leave this place”, they demanded sternly without listening Once so adored, Truth now lives penniless and alone As the noise died down the whispers still largely persisted Some forgot what Truth looked like but some never did Some tried to claim they were her, some said she never existed The brave few still say her name, hoping she’ll reappear For the cruel Lie maintains his facade with outright malignance Giving crumbs of hope like candy from his chariot of gold Don’t be fooled by the words or the hallowed appearance Few see through the vile masquerade Lie upholds Lie is Truth, my friend, you have to believe it Disguised in her clothing, he rides a white horse in the night Wake up, can’t you see, he wears her crown without meaning Wake up before they call you ‘the insidious lie’
2.
Valhe ja Totuus 06:52
lyrics
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Palmikkopäisenä totuus maailmaa kiersi Edessä rampojen, köyhien prameili vaan Ikkunasta valhe hänet nähdessään huusi "Voit levätä luonani, tule sisälle vaan" Totuus noudatti kutsua, lepäsi sängyllä hetken Ei aikaakaan kun nukkui kuin lapsonen maan Valhe peitteli hänet ja avasi shampanjapullon Joi itsensä humalaan, punoen suunnitelman Bulldoggi-kasvoinen valhe vietti näin iltaa Röyhtäillen, nikotellen hän lauleli vaan Jos alasti käymme kuin vastasyntyneet käyvät Ei voi totuutta erottaa valheesta ainutkaan Hän varasti totuuden leningin, kultaisen pannan Änki koreat kengät jalkaansa kiroten tuo Kellon ja lompakon otti ja kadulle juoksi Totuuden hahmossa valhe nyt shampanjaa juo Totuus heräsi kaivaten kultaista pantaa Ihmetellen seisoi valheen huoneessa hän Alastomana kun kadulle kirmaisi, silloin Huomasi köyhien häntä kivittävän "Syytön mä oon", huusi totuus "Valhe on vienyt pukuni, lompakon, kelloni kimaltavan" Köyhät ja rammat kivitti totuutta kunnes Poliisi korjasi väsyneen vaeltajan Poliisi sanoi "totuuden tunnemme kyllä" "Hän kulkee kultaisin vaattein, niin hieno hän on" "Totuus ei koskaan alasti kaduilla juokse" "Ruoskitaan petturi, ruoskitaan jumalaton" Totuus itki, syvää syyttömyyttään kauan vannoi Nyt hän on köyhä ja sairas ja asunnoton Valhe kulkee maailman halki kultaisin vaunuin Puhdasverisen tamman vienyt hän on Voit toivosi heittää, turhaan totuutta säälit Vaikka löytyykin hulluja totuutta puolustamaan Se joskus voi voittaa valheen, mutta huomaa: Vain, jos oppii valheen lailla varastamaan Usein juot vodkaa seurana janoiset veljet Sinä tiedätkö silloin, missä oot nukkunut? Herää ja itke, valhe on paitasi vienyt Herää ja itke, se on arvosi anastanut Herää ja itke! Herää ja itke! Valhe on totuus, usko se veljeni vihdoin Katso, se kiertää sun puvussas maailmaa Herää ja itke, se on vienyt kultaisen kellos Herää ja itke, se tammaasi ohjastaa

about

Inspired by the folk classic of the late Vladimir Vysotsky as well as a great Finnish translation by the Finnish singer-songwriter Turkka Mali (who passed away earlier this month), I wanted to make two versions of this great song in two different languages because I found the message behind the composition particularly relevant today: Lie tricks Truth and steals her identity while the real Truth suffers in silence. For the English translation I wrote, I decided to add an additional level of darkness and desperation to the story by alluding to the fact that Lie doesn't merely steal Truth's identity but also drugs and rapes her. In this period of post-truth politics and increasingly authoritarian control worldwide, the song feels very timeless in its wisdom.

I want to thank my friend Alexander Somov for playing on the song, he is a genius-level accordionist who will make an appearance on a lot of my upcoming songs so keep his name in mind!

credits

released December 31, 2023

Written by Vladimir Vysotsky
Finnish translation by Turkka Mali
English translation by Timi Tamminen
Arrangement, production & performance by Timi Tamminen
Accordion by Alexander Somov

Thanks to Luis for the help with recording the guitar & Bryan Siahaya for the help with recording the bass

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