"Satumaa" is the quintessential Finnish

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...

 tango

Tango music

Tango is a style of ballroom dance music in 2/4 or 4/4 time that originated among European immigrant populations of Argentina and Uruguay . It is traditionally played by a sextet, known as the orquesta típica, which includes two violins, piano, double bass, and two bandoneons...

. It was written by Unto Mononen

Unto Mononen

Unto Mononen was Finnish songwriter and musician. He is known of his numerous tango compositions including the most well known Finnish tango song, "Satumaa"...

, and published in 1955

1955 in music

-Events:*January 1 – RCA Victor announces a marketing plan called "Operation TNT." The label drops the list price on LPs from $5.95 to $3.98, EPs from $4.95 to $2.98, 45 EPs from $1.58 to $1.49 and 45's from $1.16 to $.89...

. The most famous recording is probably the one made by Reijo Taipale in 1962

1962 in music

-Events:*January 1 – The Beatles and Brian Poole and the Tremeloes both audition at Decca Records, a company which has the option of signing one group only...

. The lyrics tell a story of a distant land beyond the sea — a happy paradise — however, the narrator can only reach it in his thoughts. The song has been recorded countless times, mainly by male Finnish tango

Finnish tango

Finnish tango is an established variation of the Argentine tango and one of the most enduring and popular music forms in Finland. Brought to Europe in the 1910s by travelling musicians, Finns began to take up the form and write their own tangos in the 1930s...

 singers.

The most unlikely artist performing it on record is perhaps Frank Zappa

Frank Zappa

Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...

, who played it as a request at a live show recorded in Helsinki

Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

 in 1974. It was released on You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 2

You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 2

You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 2 is a live album by Frank Zappa. Despite the subtitle "The Helsinki Concert," the album is not one complete concert, but was, in fact, assembled from two different concerts performed in Helsinki in 1974...

(although, since the singer, Napoleon Murphy Brock

Napoleon Murphy Brock

Napoleon Murphy Brock is an American singer, saxophonist and flute player who is best known for his work with Frank Zappa in the 1970s, including the albums One Size Fits All, Roxy and Elsewhere, and Bongo Fury...

, cannot speak Finnish, the results are largely incomprehensible). Dweezil Zappa

Dweezil Zappa

Dweezil Zappa is an American rock guitarist and occasional actor.-Early life:Zappa was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of musician Frank Zappa and Adelaide Gail Sloatman, who worked in business. He is the second of four siblings: his older sister, Moon, younger sister Diva and younger...

 and his ensemble Zappa plays Zappa

Zappa Plays Zappa

Zappa Plays Zappa is an American tribute act led by Dweezil Zappa, the eldest son of the late American composer and musician Frank Zappa, devoted to performing the music of Frank Zappa.- History :...

 played a part of the song 6 June 2009 on their concert at the same venue.

The name "Satumaa" is also mentioned in a pop rock

Pop rock

Pop rock is a music genre which mixes a catchy pop style and light lyrics in its guitar-based rock songs. There are varying definitions of the term, ranging from a slower and mellower form of rock music to a subgenre of pop music...

 song "Satumaa-tango

Pitkä ihana leikki

Pitkä ihana leikki is the debut album by Finnish pop rock singer-songwriter Maija Vilkkumaa, released by Warner Music in Finland in August 23, 1999...

" by Finnish Maija Vilkkumaa

Maija Vilkkumaa

Maija Johanna Vilkkumaa a Finnish pop rock singer-songwriter. Beginning her musical hobbies playing piano at an age before school, Vilkkumaa studied in high school where she and her friends set up the band Tarharyhmä in 1990, which broke up in 1995...

.

The song is sometimes called "the national anthem of the Sweden Finns

Sweden Finns

Sweden Finns are a Finnish speaking minority in Sweden. The Finnish-speaking Swedes are not to be confused with the Swedish speaking Finland-Swedes in Finland . In 2008 there were over 675 000 people in Sweden who were either born in Finland or have at least one parent or grandparent who was born...

".