Procol Harum

Beyond
the Pale

Tuhkaa

Homburg : Finnish words by Pertti Reponen

Many thanks to Jukka Voudinmäki who sent BtP these words and translated them into English. 'Finnish is a very rich language, he notes, 'And my translation into English is nearly word-by-word: it can never be compared with Pertti Reponen's excellent lyrics. But this is just a translation, not new lyrics.'

Reponen's lyric picks up the 'ashes' idea from the third line of Keith Reid's original song, and builds a whole conceit around that, in which the ashes are symbolic of a finished relationship (cf 'packed his bags and fled') as well as being the means by which the jilting message is conveyed.

In a sense the Finnish lyric is more literary, therefore; but also it is more conventional than the original, which proceeds with great rapidity from the departure of the 'business-friend' and the observation of the defiled bed (another image Reponen glances at) to some swingeing, Lear-like comments about the collapse of time, the cosmos, and meaning itself, in the wake of the narrator's awakening to his non-belongingness, as revealed in the chorus with its sartorial commentary.

Tuhkaa	Ashes
Kun katse tottuu hämärään, vain tyhjän huoneen nään;	When the look adjusts to the darkness, I just see an empty room;
pöytä orpo yksin seisoo ja sen pintaan painan pään.	an orphan table stands alone and I bow my head to its surface.
En tuhkaa ensin huomaa, se lauseen muodostaa.	I don't notice the ashes at first, it forms a sentence.
Jotain sentään pöydän pintaan hän ehtii kirjoittaa:	She had, however, time to write something on the surface of the table:

"On turha meidän jatkaa, en kestä kauempaa.	"It's no use for us to go on, I won't stand longer,
On mennyt kaikki tuhkaa, enää kääntymään et mua saa".	Everything that's gone is ashes, you won't make me turn back longer".

Kun katson tuhkaa savukkeen, käy muistot eiliseen;	When I look at the ashes of the cigarette, the memories go to yesterday.
oli kerran vuode lämmin, kun mä uskoin rakkauteen.	Once there was a warm bed, when I believed in love
On tuhkaa mun kaikki unelmain, ja huone niin tyhjillään.	All my dreams are ashes, and the room is empty
Vain pöydällä on tuhkaa, ja nuo sanat siinä nään:	On the table there is just ashes and I can see the words in it:

"On turha meidän jatkaa, en kestä kauempaa.	"It's no use for us to go on, I won't stand longer,
On mennyt kaikki tuhkaa, enää kääntymään et mua saa.	Everything that's gone is ashes, you won't make me turn back longer".

Other non-English versions of Procol Harum songs

Procol Harum

Beyond the Pale

Tuhkaa

Homburg : Finnish words by Pertti Reponen

Beyond
the Pale