Out of Latvia

One of the many paths I tread on lightly from time to time that I’d like to pursue more seriously in some future reincarnation is the sociology of knowledge. I am fascinated with the way information gets passed on, who picks it up, how and why. How is it, as Foucault documented in Madness and Civilization, that what some people consider crazy, others consider perfectly normal? How do scientific paradigms shift? How did homosexuality go from being a behavior to an identity, from a sin to an illness to a source of pride, as attitudes shifted and categories were shuffled?

The other day, I got into a fun exchange with a bunch of friends over Wagnerian opera. Most of my friends, like me, find him too ponderous to take in large doses. We want our music more readily digestible. But we also end up having to admit there’s more than a little there there, if only we had the patience to give it its due. I have to remind myself regularly that I once hated the same Richard Strauss I now think wrote some of the most beautiful music ever written.

That discussion opened the door to all sorts of exchanges about musical preferences. People began sending me YouTube pieces to listen to, and I spent an entire day following up on their suggestions.

What a glorious way to get from morning to night. I used to take time to do that when I lived in Japan, not just visit old friends in music, but set myself up for musical surprises. I think it’s a habit I need to get back into.

After listening to some exquisite pieces (Barber’s Adagio for Strings, for example, and Wagner’s Liebestod, from Tristan and Isolde), I began branching out to some less lofty old friends. I love Russian folk songs and the silliness of Max Raabe and Japanese enka, (provided it’s sung by talented professionals – the lesser karaoke versions can drive you to join the NRA.) And of course there are all those sucker pieces out there, like Schlafe, mein Prinzchen, Schlaf Ein.

I found myself thinking back to that time a dozen or so years ago when I went to a concert with Taku’s mother and got blown away by music I had thought belonged in the same category as Lawrence Welk. Most Japanese popular music had left me cold. There is a Japanese way of being cute that is like bamboo under the fingernails, and the dumb costumes and the coyness and the reedy voices of untalented skinny people… You know what I mean. I just wasn’t interested.

But Mama had been accompanying me to opera and I owed her the favor of letting her show me some of her turf in return. And that’s how we ended up at a Kato Tokiko concert. For the whole story on the impact of that evening, see http://hepzibahpyncheon.blogspot.com/search?q=Kato+Tokiko .

First thing I did at intermission was buy all her albums so I could over time learn many of her songs. Kato Tokiko is no longer an obsession, but I go back to her from time to time.

Yesterday, after playing all day with music of all stripes, I suddenly realized I might get some of the questions about the origin of Kato Tokiko’s signature piece, "A Million Roses."

I had started digging twelve years ago, but getting information was hard. Today, now that the internet has opened up the world, that is no longer the case. There was a wealth of information on how this song had come to be and how it had made its way around the globe.

And what does this have to do with the sociology of knowledge? Well, it turns out that alongside the question, how did this song become so popular in places like the Soviet Union and Japan, there is another question I wanted answered – how is it that a composer like Raimonds Pauls, the composer of the original melody, can be a household name not only in Latvia but all over the former Soviet Union and absolutely unheard of in our part of the world? The answer to that has to be at much political, I suspect, as cultural. But maybe not. In any case, I decided to see what I could find out.

As it turns out, for Pauls to be Latvian means he was also a citizen of the Soviet Union. Which means he spoke and worked in Russian. Which means that in addition to being a jazz musician from Riga, he was able to make the political connections that would enable him eventually to become Minister of Culture. In fact, he was at one point in line to become President of Latvia, if he had not turned the job down to continue with his music.

Somewhere along the line he began a friendship with the Russian popular singer, Alla Pugacheva (pronounced –chova) and worked with the well-known Russian poet, Andrei Voznesensky, to create a second version of his popular Latvian song, "Dāvāja Māriņa" ("Mara has given"). In the original Latvian, written by dissident Latvian poet, Leons Briedis, the song was about a woman bewailing the fact that the mythical Latvian goddess Mara, although she gave her a child, failed to give her the luck she needed to go with raising the child. It’s a melancholy theme, a folk song, with a simple melody in which the notes move up and down the scale much of the time only one step at a time.

Curiously, when the song moved into Russian, Voznesensky made it a dramatic love song about an artist who sold all that he owned, his house and all his paintings, to buy a million red roses to lay out in the square outside the window of an actress he had fallen in love with. She looks out the window, thinks it’s some rich fool and leaves town. The artist lives on in poverty, the woman barely retains the memory of the flowers.

Here’s where the story gets interesting. Because Pauls was not only a composer, but a political figure, his standing in the Soviet bloc countries meant he was able to take his show on the road, enabling the people of all the East bloc countries to become familiar with him. There is a Polish version, where the red roses become white roses and at least two Finnish versions. Finland, while not in the Soviet Block, is just across the water from Estonia and from St. Petersburg, and this suggests it is well within the Russian cultural sphere. Although, come to think of it, it might have entered from Latvia, since the words are not a translation of the Russian version.

But how, I wondered, did it make the leap all the way to Japan, where anybody over 50 and a whole lot of younger people as well can hum the melody for you. I took note of the fact that Kato Tokiko was born in Manchuria during the war to parents with a love of things Russian. She toured the USSR in 1968 and has included places like Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Vietnam and Cuba as well as western countries in her concert tours. During the 60s, her husband was jailed for protesting the Vietnam War, and it’s pretty clear her intent is not to be limited by Cold War boundaries. Not pro-Russian, in other words, necessarily; just not anti-Russian. My guess is not that she took the song for political reasons – there is absolutely nothing I can see about the song that is political – but simply because she was familiar with Alla Pugacheva and/or Pauls, and was open to adapting it. She (I think she wrote the words) kept the starving artist story of the Russian version, and so successful was she at this that the song became her signature piece.

Since Korea and Vietnam, like China and Taiwan and other places in Asia, have long since begun absorbing Japanese popular culture, it’s not surprising that the song has become a success in its Korean and Vietnamese versions, as well.

On YouTube, I managed to find dozens of versions of the song, far more than any sane person might want to take in. I don’t recommend you go down the entire list of what I managed to come up with, but I think you might enjoy, as I did, noting how when the song traveled across cultural boundaries, it took on new color.

Originally a folk song, the kind of music sung by people with too much hair, it has been taken up by rock music singers, Korean girls with traditional instruments, a Japanese shakuhachi player, and a Latvian rap singer singing to half the population of Latvia, with the masses joining him on the choruses. And all the while, nobody on this side of the planet seems to be remotely interested. Just not on the radar.

And this “return” to Latvia – if that’s what it is – raises the question of how political it is for this many people to be gathered in one place, singing in Latvian a song written by a Latvian poet on the outs with the Soviet power structure that made it round the world (but only in the eastern hemisphere) because it went into Russian. Particularly since the original song is based on Latvian mythology and has nothing to do with a million roses given by some lovesick artist. Politics and culture intersect here, with Vietnamese, once hostile to everything Japanese, now taking in the song, one assumes, because they (like many Japanese) believe it is Japanese, the Japanese taking it in because of a love of things Russian, the Poles and Finns, once hostile to the Russians, taking it in presumably because it is Russian, the Russian version written by a Russian Soviet citizen whom Khrushchev once humiliated in public for being disloyal, and the song finding its way back home into a modern rap version, sung by a rapper wearing a jacket with Latvia written across it (why?) – in English.

I’m listing the versions in no particular order. Because some of you will not have a day to give over to this obsession of mine, I have limited the fifty or so versions I have managed to collect to a mere fifteen. If you don’t have the time or the interest to do the whole pile, at least have a look at Kato Tokiko’s version, to see where the Asian leap began, and at the Korean version, for pure loveliness, and the Latvian rap singer version, just to see how the song made its way back home to be transformed into a form its composer probably never conceived of when he wrote it back in 1981. Oh, and tap in quickly (but don’t stay, if the bubbles get to you) to see the original Russian version, hair and all.

“Don’t miss” versions:

1. A 1989 Kato Tokiko version, sung at a gallop (the way I think comes across the best)
2. A 1983 Alla Pugacheva Russian version, where there’s a race between the bubbly musical arrangement and her hair for attention (the hair wins) (two minutes or less of this will probably do)
3. My personal favorite: The “IS (Infinity of Sound) girls” singing a Korean Version: (The first couple of minutes are worth watching for a look at the instruments, but if you don’t speak Korean you may want to skip to minute 2:25 where the song begins. It may grab you slowly, and perhaps not at all, but I think it is definitely worth listening through to the end.)
4. The original Latvian version
5. A modern rap version by the Latvian rapper, Ozols

There are a couple other performances of the Japanese versions I would recommend:

6. Kato Tokiko (not in her best voice) singing it to a lovely shakuhachi accompaniment:
7. Ito Yukari, singing a revised version of the lyrics, at half speed

And if you’re the in-for-a-penny, in-for-a-pound type, and have an appreciation of the absurd (and, in some cases, a strong stomach), there’s:

8. A Finnish version (with Swedish subtitles), sung by well-known Finnish singer Vera Telenius
9. A Vietnamese version, with dancing inspired by Alla Pugacheva’s hair
10. A Japanese Women’s Chorus version
11. A sing-along karaoke version, in Japanese with Roman letters
12. A Helsinki street musician’s version
13. How about a Japanese animation dancer in a velvet dress on a balcony by the sea?
14. A Polish version, "Milion białych róż," maybe, if you prefer white roses?
15. A Russian rhumba version by the vocal group Cosmos
16. Alla Pugacheva, updated in 2002, singing it at Kato Tokiko’s gallop speed, with Pauls at the piano looking bored out of his gourd, and hair suffering from yet another viral attack – but you can get an idea of how the song has worked its way into the Russian consciousness.

Some time ago, in another “musical surprise” session, I became aware of how big a role choral music played in the Estonian consciousness, with Estonia's "To Breathe as One" festival getting some 37,000 performers, singers, dancers and musicians on stage, and an audience of 200,000. Now this footnote to a song I got to know in Japan has brought me into another of the Baltic nations. The deeper I go, the more rewarding I am finding the trip. Before signing off here, let me just give you a small taste.

Here’s Raimonds Pauls doing a group sing. (Hang in there on this one – it gets better as it goes along)

And here’s that young group of talented singers called Cosmos you saw doing "A Million Roses" in Russian in #15 above. Turns out they’re Latvian. Listen to what they can do.

And here they are doing an invitation to Latvia

Silver tongued devils.

I’m on my way.

Appendix A
Russian version, as sung by Alla Pugacheva
Music by Rolands Pauls and lyrics written by Andrei Voznesensky for Alla Pugacheva
(with English and German translations of same)

Жил-был художник один
Домик имел и холсты
Но он актрису любил
Ту, что любила цветы
Он тогда продал свой дом
Продал картины и кров
И на все деньги купил
Целое море цветов

Миллион, миллион, миллион алых роз
Из окна, из окна, из окна видишь ты
Кто влюблен, кто влюблен, кто влюблен и всерьез
Свою жизнь для тебя превратит в цветы

Утром ты встанешь у окна
Может сошла ты с ума
Как продолжение сна
Площадь цветами полна
Похолодеет душа
Что за богач здесь чудит
А под окном чуть дыша
Бедный художник стоит

Миллион, миллион, миллион алых роз
Из окна, из окна, из окна видишь ты
Кто влюблен, кто влюблен, кто влюблен и всерьез
Свою жизнь для тебя превратит в цветы

Миллион, миллион, миллион алых роз
Из окна, из окна, из окна видишь ты
Кто влюблен, кто влюблен, кто влюблен и всерьез
Свою жизнь для тебя превратит в цветы

Встреча была коротка
В ночь ее поезд увез
Но в ее жизни была
Песня безумная роз
Прожил художник один
Много он бед перенес
Но в его жизни была
Целая площадь цветов

Миллион, миллион, миллион алых роз
Из окна, из окна, из окна видишь ты
Кто влюблен, кто влюблен, кто влюблен и всерьез
Свою жизнь для тебя превратит в цветы

Миллион, миллион, миллион алых роз
Из окна, из окна, из окна видишь ты
Кто влюблен, кто влюблен, кто влюблен и всерьез
Свою жизнь для тебя превратит в цветы

English translation:

There once was an artist
He had a cottage and canvases
But he loved an actress
who loved flowers
He sold his house
Sold his paintings and his shelter
And with all the money he bought
a sea of flowers

A million, million, million scarlet roses
From the window, from the window from the window you see
One who loves you so intently that he will
turn his life into flowers for you.

In the morning you wake and stand at the window
Maybe you’ll think you’re still dreaming
The area is full of flowers
Your soul trembles
What millionaire is playing this trick?
But beneath the window, barely breathing
Stands the poor painter.

A million, million, million scarlet roses
From the window, from the window from the window you see
One who loves you so intently that he will
turn his life into flowers for you.

A million, million, million scarlet roses
From the window, from the window from the window you see
One who loves you so intently that he will
turn his life into flowers for you.

The meeting was short
The train took her away in the night
But in her life there was
This song of roses beyond reason
The artist lived alone
He endured many hardships
But in his life there was
An entire square of flowers

A million, million, million scarlet roses
From the window, from the window from the window you see
One who loves you so intently that he will
turn his life into flowers for you.

A million, million, million scarlet roses
From the window, from the window from the window you see
One who loves you so intently that he will
turn his life into flowers for you.


German translation:

Eine Million purpurner Rosen

Es war einmal ein Künstler,
Er besaß ein Häuschen und Gemälde.
Aber er liebte eine Schauspielerin,
Eine, die Blumen liebte.
Da verkaufte er sein Haus,
Verkaufte seine Bilder und seine Bleibe,
Und mit dem ganzen Geld kaufte er
Ein ganzes Meer aus Blumen.

Eine Million, eine Million,
Eine Million purpurner Rosen
Siehst du vom Fenster aus, vom Fenster aus,
vom Fenster aus.
Wer verliebt ist, wer verliebt ist,
Wer ernstlich verliebt ist,
Der verwandelt sein Leben
Für dich in Blumen.

Morgens stellst du dich ans Fenster,
Vielleicht hast Du den Verstand verloren,
Wie die Fortsetzung eines Traumes,
Der Platz ist mit Blumen gefüllt.
Die Seele erstarrt:
Was für ein Reicher lässt sich hier so gehen?
Und unter dem Fenster, kaum atmend,
Steht der arme Künstler.

Eine Million, eine Million,
Eine Million purpurner Rosen
Siehst du vom Fenster aus, vom Fenster aus,
vom Fenster aus.
Wer verliebt ist, wer verliebt ist,
Wer ernstlich verliebt ist,
Der verwandelt sein Leben
Für dich in Blumen.

Die Begegnung war kurz,
Der Zug führte sie in die Nacht hinaus,
Aber in ihrem Leben war
Das Lied der Verrücktheit nach Rosen.
Der Künstler lebte bis an sein Ende allein,
Der Arme machte viel durch,
Aber in seinem Leben war
Ein ganzer Platz aus Blumen.

Eine Million, eine Million,
Eine Million purpurner Rosen
Siehst du vom Fenster aus, vom Fenster aus,
vom Fenster aus.
Wer verliebt ist, wer verliebt ist,
Wer ernstlich verliebt ist,
Der verwandelt sein Leben
Für dich in Blumen.

Appendix B
(Partial) Finnish version
rewritten by Vera Telenius

Taas ruusut käy kukkimaan,
Tuoksua täynnä on maa.
Mietteeni sinne taas vie,
Missä on ruusuinen tie.

Nuoruuden rakkaus on
Kaunis ja koskematon,
Katseet ne kertovat vain,
Katseestas onnen mä sain.

refrain:
Miljoona, miljoona, miljoona ruusua,
Tuoksua, tuoksua, tuoksua rakkauden,
Muistoja, muistoja, muistoja tuoksut tuo;
Tunteen ja katseen ensirakkauden.

Tunteen niin kaihoisan saan,
Ruusun kun nään hehkuvan.
Syömeni kultaa se on,
Tunne tää arvaamaton.

Tuskaa ei lauluni soi,
Vaikka sua saada en voi.
Paljon mä sain kuitenkin:
Ruusuisen tien muistoihin.

refrain

Maailma suuri ja maa
Kauaksi voi kuljettaa.
Ruusuissa piikkejäkin,
Joskus ne pistävätkin.

Appendix C
(English translation of Korean version)

Way in the past I came from a star far away
Heard a small voice telling me
Go give love and return.

Only when loving
Will flowers bloom will the million flowers bloom
Only with sincere love
Will roses of love bloom.

Without hate, hate, hate in our hearts
Love giving lavishly, lavishly
Will we have millions millions millions of flowers bloom
And I will be able to return to my beautiful longed for land of stars.

Many tears of anquish have been shed, what is true love
Many tears of anquish have been shed what is true love
There were so many people separated it was a very sad world.

After many seasons had past
After he gave of his all
Like a light suddenly
That love embraced me.

Without hate, hate, hate in our hearts
Love given lavishly, lavishly
Will we have millions millions millions of flowers bloom
And I will be able to return to my beautiful longed for land of stars.

Now if all should leave me
Love will remain
The one that came to me from that star
Waited so long
Being together with him
many more flowers will bloom
Becoming one we will return to the eternal star.

No more hate no more hate
Only giving lavishly of love
Will the million clusters of flowers give bloom
And I will be able to go to the longed for and beautful land of stars.

Appendix D
(Original Latvian Version – first verse and chorus only)

Kad bērnībā, bērnībā
Man tika pāri nodarīts,
Es pasteidzos, pasteidzos
Tad māti uzmeklēt tūlīt,
Lai ieķertos, ieķertos,
Ar rokām viņas priekšautā.
Un māte man, māte man
Tad pasmējusies teica tā:
Piedz. (Chorus)

Dāvāja, dāvāja, dāvāja Māriņa
Meitiņai, meitiņai, meitiņai mūžiņu,
Aizmirsa, aizmirsa, aizmirsa iedot vien
Meitiņai, meitiņai, meitiņai laimīti.

Appendix E
(Latvian rap singer Ozols’ version)

Dāvā man to ko tu vari iedot
Piedod man par to par ko tu vari piedot
Bet atgriežoties atpakaļ pagātnē bērnībā
Saku tev taisni sejā tur viss nebija kārtībā
Tu kaut kur es arī kaut kur
Vai tā kāds savā starpā attiecības uztur
Skatoties pa logu ārā gaidot tevi atpakaļ
Tāpat kā toreiz man šodien sāpes nāk atpakaļ
Šī nav pirmā nakts un šī nav arī pēdējā
Es sēžu viens zaudējis ticību visam savā istabā
Kāds tomēr nebija savos uzdevuma augstumos
Bet tā ir mana pieredze un es no viņas neatsakos
Tas nebija paaudžu konflikts tā bij vienaldzība
Un tas ka es šodien par to runāju tā nav atklātība
Tas ir atskats pagātnē un mūsu saistības
Mūsu prieks mūsu sāpes mūsu attiecības

Piedz. (Chorus)

Dāvāja, dāvāja, dāvāja Māriņa
Meitenei, meitenei, meitenei mūžiņu
Aizmirsa, aizmirsa, aizmirsa iedot vien
Meitenei, meitenei, meitenei laimīti

Un tagad es šeit viens
Un apkārt nav neviens
Seko vēl viens sitiens
Tas asāks kā dūriens

Tagad šodien šeit tāpat kā tur toreiz
Es pārvarēšu šīs sāpes un tās mani neuzveiks
Es nenosodīšu šeit absolūti nevienu
Un no šīs pieredzes es mācīšos tikai vienu
Nenomest malā tos ko nedrīkst nomest
Šķirtās mātes es ar jums un jums nedrīkst pārmest
Šī pasaule nav godīga pret jums vēl joprojām
Un pārāk daudz mēs viens otru šeit nosodām
Bet šī vienaldzība pret mani kas tev līdzi nāk
Tevi no manis ar vien vairāk spēj attālināt
To visu varēja mainīt bet tu to nemainīji
To visu varēja pagriezt bet tu uz kaut ko gaidīji
Tu daudz sāpes radi tu nevari noliegt to
Bet es esmu ar tevīm neskatoties ne uz ko
Mūs daudz lietas šķir bet daudzas arī vieno
Tu man es tuvākais cilvēks tev jāzina to

Piedz. 2x

Dāvāja, dāvāja, dāvāja Māriņa
Meitenei, meitenei, meitenei mūžiņu
Aizmirsa, aizmirsa, aizmirsa iedot vien
Meitenei, meitenei, meitenei laimīti

Appendix F
(Japanese translation of Russian version)

百万本のバラ一人の画家が住んでいた. 彼は家とカンバスを持っていた. でも、
彼は1人の女優に恋をした
彼女は花が好きだからと
彼は絵画も、
屋根から丸ごと家を売って金をつくり花の海で彩った
＊百万、百万、百万本の赤いバラ
窓から、窓から、窓からあなたは見る
誰の愛なの、誰の愛なの、誰の愛なの熱心な
あなたのために彼の人生は花に移った
その朝、あなたは窓辺に立って
きっと心を失うだろう
夢の続きなのかしら？
広場は一面が花であなたは震える
このイタズラはどこかの億万長者のお遊びかしら？
でも窓の下には貧しい画家が息をひそめている。
＊繰り返し会えたのはほんの一瞬
その夜彼女は旅にでる
でも彼女の人生にこの奇妙なバラの歌は残る
画家は孤独に生きた
苦しい生活に耐えながら
でも彼の人生には
広場を埋め尽くした花の思い出が残った
＊繰り返し

Appendix G
(Japanese song version, as sung by Kato Tokiko)

小さな家とキャンバス　
他には何もない
貧しい絵かきが
女優に恋をした
大好きなあの人に
バラの花をあげたい
ある日街中の
バラをかいました

百万本のバラの花を
あなたにあなたにあなたにあげる
窓から 窓から見える広場を
真っ赤なバラでうめつくして

あの朝彼女は
真っ赤なバラの海を見て
どこかのお金持ちが
ふざけたのだとおもった

小さな家とキャンバス　
全てを売ってバラの花
買った貧しい絵かきは
窓のしたで彼女見ていた

百万本のバラの花を
あなたわあなたわあなたわ見ている
窓から 窓から見える広場は
真っ赤な真っ赤なバラの海

出会いはそれで終わり
女優は別の街へ
真っ赤なバラの海は
はなやかな彼女の人生
貧しい絵かきは
孤独な日々を送った
けれどバラの思い出は
心にきえなかった

百万本のバラの花を
あなたにあなたにあなたにあげる
窓から 窓から見える広場を
真っ赤なバラでうめつくして

Appendix H
(Japanese song version, in romaji)

Chisana ie to kyanbasu hoka ni wa nani mo nai
Mazushii ekaki ga joyuu ni koi wo shita
Daisuki na ano hito ni bara no hana wo agetai
Aru hi machijuu no bara wo kaimashita

(Chorus 1)
Hyakumanbon no bara no hana wo
Anata ni anata ni anati ni ageru
Mado kara mado kara mieru hiroba wo
makkana bara de umetsukushite

Ano asa kanojo wa makkana bara no umi wo mite
dokoka no kanemochi ga fuzaketa no da to omotta
chisana ie to kyanbasu subete wo utte bara no hana
Katta mazushii ekaki wa
mado no shita de kanojo mite ita

(Chorus 2)
Hyakumanbon no bara no hana wo
anata wa anata wa anata wa mite’ru
Mado kara mado kara mieru hiroba wa
Makkana makkana bara no umi

Deaii wa sorede owari joyuu wa betsu no machi e
Makkana bara no umi wa
Hanayaka na kanojo no jinsei
Mazushii ekaki wa kodokuna hibi wo okutta
Keredo bara no omoide wa kokoro ni kienakatta

(Chorus 1)
Hyakumanbon no bara no hana wo
Anata ni anata ni anati ni ageru
Mado kara mado kara mieru hiroba wo
makkana bara de umetsukushite


Appendix I
(Polish translation of Russian version)

Milion pąsowych Róż

Żył sobie jeden malarz
miał domek i płotna
zakochany w aktoreczke był
ktora kochała kwiaty

sprzedał on swoj dom
spryedał obrazy i krew
i za wszystkie pieniadze kupil
cale morze kwiatow

Milion, milion pąsowych róż
i z okna widzisz ty
kto y miłosci ogromnej
swoje zycie dla Ciebie

zmienił w kwiaty

Wstajesz rano przy okne
moze oszalałaś czy co?
moze to dalsza czescsnu
widzisz za oknem pełno kwiatow

chłodnieje dusza
co za bogacz tu cudaczy
a dod oknem ledwie żywy
biedny malarz stoi

Milion, milion pąsowych róż
i z okna widzisz ty
kto y miłosci ogromnej
swoje zycie dla Ciebie

Spotkanie było krótkie
w nocy ją pociąg zabrał
ale w jego życiu była
pieųśń tamtych róż

Przeżyl malarz wiele sam
wiele biedy zniósl
ale w jego życiu był
caly choryzont kwiatów




_________