Hiski Salomaa
Encyclopedia
Hiski Salomaa, born Hiskias Möttö (May 17, 1891 in Kangasniemi
, Finland
– July 7, 1957 in New York City
, USA
) was a Finnish American
folk singer and song writer. Born in Kangasniemi
, Finland
, Salomaa moved to the Upper Peninsula, Michigan
, in 1908 after the death of his mother. There, he made his living as a tailor
. Salomaa, an active anarcho-syndicalist
, joined the Industrial Workers of the World
and served time in prison as a conscientious objector
during the First World War
.
Salomaa's songs depict Finnish immigrant life in North America and were very popular among the Finnish diaspora
in North America. An interesting feature of Salomaa's is the plain use of Finglish
in his lyrics, making his songs more difficult to understand outside of a Finnish-American or Finnish-Canadian audience. Often referred to as the Finnish Woody Guthrie
, Salomaa's songs paint a picture of the Finnish, working class immigrant experience.
Between 1927 - 1931 Salomaa recorded 18 songs for Columbia Records
. His best known songs include Tiskarin Polkka (Dishwasher's Polka), Vapauden Kaiho (Yearning for Freedom), and Lännen lokari (Western Logger). Salomaa's recordings are considered to be an important part of Finnish recording history because during this period the Finnish recording industry was almost non-existent. In fact, between 1917 - 1925 not a single record was released in Finland.
Hella Wuolijoki
, the head of Yleisradio
in Finland in the late 1940s, broke a Hiski Salomaa record into pieces during a live broadcast because she hated the song Lännen lokari.
Kangasniemi
Kangasniemi is a municipality of Finland.It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Southern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is ....
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
– July 7, 1957 in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
) was a Finnish American
Finnish American
Finnish Americans are Americans of Finnish descent, who currently number about 700,000.-History:Some Finns, like the ancestors of John Morton, came to the Swedish colony of New Sweden, that existed in mid-17th century....
folk singer and song writer. Born in Kangasniemi
Kangasniemi
Kangasniemi is a municipality of Finland.It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Southern Savonia region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is ....
, Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
, Salomaa moved to the Upper Peninsula, Michigan
Upper Peninsula of Michigan
The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is the northern of the two major land masses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan. It is commonly referred to as the Upper Peninsula, the U.P., or Upper Michigan. It is also known as the land "above the Bridge" linking the two peninsulas. The peninsula is bounded...
, in 1908 after the death of his mother. There, he made his living as a tailor
Tailor
A tailor is a person who makes, repairs, or alters clothing professionally, especially suits and men's clothing.Although the term dates to the thirteenth century, tailor took on its modern sense in the late eighteenth century, and now refers to makers of men's and women's suits, coats, trousers,...
. Salomaa, an active anarcho-syndicalist
Anarcho-syndicalism
Anarcho-syndicalism is a branch of anarchism which focuses on the labour movement. The word syndicalism comes from the French word syndicat which means trade union , from the Latin word syndicus which in turn comes from the Greek word σύνδικος which means caretaker of an issue...
, joined the Industrial Workers of the World
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World is an international union. At its peak in 1923, the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. Its membership declined dramatically after a 1924 split brought on by internal conflict...
and served time in prison as a conscientious objector
Conscientious objector
A conscientious objector is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, and/or religion....
during the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
Salomaa's songs depict Finnish immigrant life in North America and were very popular among the Finnish diaspora
Diaspora
A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...
in North America. An interesting feature of Salomaa's is the plain use of Finglish
Finglish
The term Finglish was introduced by professor Martti Nisonen in 1920s in Hancock, Michigan to describe a linguistic phenomenon he encountered in America. As the term describes, Finglish is a mixture of English and Finnish. In Finglish the English lexical items are nativized and inserted into the...
in his lyrics, making his songs more difficult to understand outside of a Finnish-American or Finnish-Canadian audience. Often referred to as the Finnish Woody Guthrie
Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
, Salomaa's songs paint a picture of the Finnish, working class immigrant experience.
Between 1927 - 1931 Salomaa recorded 18 songs for Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
. His best known songs include Tiskarin Polkka (Dishwasher's Polka), Vapauden Kaiho (Yearning for Freedom), and Lännen lokari (Western Logger). Salomaa's recordings are considered to be an important part of Finnish recording history because during this period the Finnish recording industry was almost non-existent. In fact, between 1917 - 1925 not a single record was released in Finland.
Hella Wuolijoki
Hella Wuolijoki
Hella Wuolijoki was a Finnish writer of Estonian origin, known for her Niskavuori series.-Life & career:Wuolijoki was born in Helme, Estonia....
, the head of Yleisradio
Yleisradio
The Finnish Broadcasting Company , abbreviated to YLE , is Finland's national broadcasting company, founded in 1926. YLE is a public-broadcasting organization which shares many of its characteristics with its British counterpart, the BBC, on which it was largely modelled...
in Finland in the late 1940s, broke a Hiski Salomaa record into pieces during a live broadcast because she hated the song Lännen lokari.
External links
- Yearning for Freedom lyrics in Wikisource
- Yearning for Freedom (Vapauden Kaiho) translated lyrics.
- Library of the University of Tampere, Finland
- Article about Hiski Salomaa in NewWorldFinn VOL. 2, # 12, OCTOBER-DECEMBER 2001
- Britain TV article about Industrial Workers of the World and Hiski Salomaa
- Salomaa's songs in the YLE's "Elävä Arkisto" -website