Kerkko Koskinen is an awarded Finnish composer, who has previously worked w… Read Full Bio ↴Kerkko Koskinen is an awarded Finnish composer, who has previously worked with the chart-topping leftfield pop ensemble Ultra Bra. Koskinen has always been intrigued by big orchestras and his first recording for Ricky-Tick Records, “Agatha” was a logical step towards this direction. It has influences from Lalo Schifrin, Gil Evans and Igor Stravinsky but the result sounds very much like certain Mr. Kerkko Koskinen.

Koskinen recently teamed up with The Five Corners Quintet, when he composed and arranged the score for the National Theater’s play “Othello”. The result brings to mind Miles Davis and his score for the French crime movie “Lift to the Scaffold” (1958). Jazz critic Phil Johnson described Davis’ score as “the loneliest trumpet sound you will ever hear, and the model for sad-core music ever since. Hear it and weep”. That’s pretty much the case with Koskinen’s “Othello” too. Powerful, yet delicate and touching jazz “noir”.

Mayday
Kerkko Koskinen Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Pelkään enemmän kuin milloinkaan
Jos mikään ei muuttuiskaan
Sataisi ylhäältä lämpimästi
Voisi jäädä
Jäädä tänne pysyväsit

Talot tummuvat sateella
Ootan tulvaa täällä laaksossa

Kiivetään vuorelle valoja katsomaan
Onko kaikki vielä paikallaan

Toisinaan sattuu ja toisinaan ei
Hiljainen hätähuuto, mayday
En tahdo ystävää kadottaa
Joka jaksaa, jaksaa vielä odottaa

Toisinaan sattuu ja toisinaan ei
Hiljainen hätähuuto, mayday

En tahdo ystävää kadottaa
Joka jaksaa, jaksaa vielä odottaa

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Kerkko Koskinen's song "Mayday" express fear and uncertainty about the future, and a desire for comfort and stability in the face of that fear. The opening lines, "Pelkään enemmän kuin milloinkaan / Jos mikään ei muuttuiskaan" ("I'm more afraid than ever / If nothing were to change"), set the tone for the rest of the song, as the singer expresses a sense of helplessness in the face of the unknown. The following lines, "Sataisi ylhäältä lämpimästi / Voisi jäädä / Jäädä tänne pysyvästi" ("If it rained warmly from above / I could stay / Stay here permanently"), suggest a longing for a sense of safety and security that the world seems to offer only fleetingly.

The second verse shifts to a more immediate concern, as the singer waits for a flood in a valley and climbs a mountain to see if everything is still in place. This sense of vulnerability and instability is echoed in the chorus, which features the repeated phrase "Hiljainen hätähuuto, mayday" ("Quiet distress call, mayday"), underscoring the urgency of the singer's desire for connection and reassurance. The final lines, "En tahdo ystävää kadottaa / Joka jaksaa, jaksaa vielä odottaa" ("I don't want to lose a friend / Who can keep waiting, keep waiting still"), express a desire for the comfort of friends who can offer support and a shared sense of hope in difficult times.

Line by Line Meaning

Pelkään enemmän kuin milloinkaan
I am more afraid than ever before

Jos mikään ei muuttuiskaan
If nothing changes

Sataisi ylhäältä lämpimästi
If it would rain warmly from above

Voisi jäädä
We could stay

Jäädä tänne pysyvästi
Stay here permanently

Talot tummuvat sateella
Houses darken in the rain

Ootan tulvaa täällä laaksossa
I'm waiting for a flood in the valley

Kiivetään vuorelle valoja katsomaan
Let's climb a mountain to gaze at the lights

Onko kaikki vielä paikallaan
Is everything still in place

Toisinaan sattuu ja toisinaan ei
Sometimes it hurts and sometimes it doesn't

Hiljainen hätähuuto, mayday
A silent distress call, mayday