Jos rakastat, If You Love, composed by Kaj Chydenius to a beautiful and honest poem by Matti Rossi and performed by Kristiina Halkola, is one of the icons and most beloved songs of the »Nueva canción finlandesa« of the 1970's.

Musica / Music / Musique / Sävel: Kaj Chydenius
Testo / Lyrics / Paroles / Sanat: Matti Rossi (1934-2017)

In 2017, the Finnish people celebrated their 100 years of independence. In 2018, they are thinking or trying to think back to the horrors of a cruel civil war fought between the Reds and the Whites in the early months of 1918, one that left behind 37 000 casualties and a divided nation with bitterness, hatred, grief, shame and open wounds. The agonizing memory of this gruesome war has not been forgotten. Instead and despite countless studies, theses, documentaries, movies, plays and novels, it's been suppressed, hushed up, kept in silence fore 100 years and counting as pointed out by Paleface in this heartbreaking song.

The roots of this song are in Kuolemaantuomitun hyvästijättö (Farewell of the condemned or L'addio del condannato a morte) written by unknown the day before his execution in one of the prisoner camps where some 12 000 Reds were executed, often without trial, or died of hunger... (Continues)

Musica / Music / Musique / Sävel: Eero Ojanen
Testo / Lyrics / Paroles / Sanat: Matti Rossi