While other folk metal bands began with metal before adding folk music, Korpiklaani started with folk music before turning metal. The roots of Korpiklaani can be traced back to a Sami folk music group under the name of 'Shamaani Duo', an "in-house restaurant band" created by Jonne Järvelä in 1993. An album of folk music (Hunka Lunka) was released under this name before Järvelä relocated and "Shamaani Duo" morphed into "Shaman". Shaman was the second incarnation of Korpiklaani, formed in 1996 which is notable for the heavy use of original native Sámic music elements and lyrics in Northern Sámi. The band's music was based on the folk music of Shamaani Duo. The most widely used elements are the shamanic drum, yoik and humppa. Besides yoik, the vocals vary from clean to rather aggressive growling.
The musical style of Shaman is quite distinctive, especially in the slow songs, due to its entrancing atmosphere created by the monophonic, "narrow" synth sound making the deep contrast to the spacious sound of the acoustic guitar, the shamanic drum and yoik singing. The first recording released under the name of Shaman was the demo single Ođđa máilbmi (New World in Northern Sámi). The video clip shot for the song featured a wolf breaking free from its cage and running into the forest. Besides the single CD the song was included on the band's first full-length album Idja (Night in Northern Sámi, 1999) as well. The band released another album, Shamániac, in 2002. The band underwent another evolution in 2003, and "Shaman" became "Korpiklaani" (with only Järvelä and drummer Samu Ruotsalainen remaining from the last "Shaman" lineup), with the music style to a more conventional folk metal with folk/thrash vocals instead of yoiking. Shamániac had already featured a strong resemblance to the future Korpiklaani style. In fact, the song, "Vuola lávlla", has the same music as the Korpiklaani song, "Beer Beer".
The change in name was accompanied by a change in the music. The traditional yoik vocals and the use of the Northern Sámi language were dropped while the synthesizer was replaced with real folk instruments. Jonne Järvelä credits his work with Finntroll as the catalyst for the shift in emphasis from folk to metal. Their song lyrics are often related to alcohol and partying. According to Jonne Järvelä, Korpiklaani's music would be seen as "old people's music with heavy metal guitars" in Finland.
There has been some collaboration between Korpiklaani and Finntroll, as Samu Ruotsalainen of Finntroll provided session drums for their debut album Spirit of the Forest and Järvelä provided the yoiking for the title track of Finntroll's album Jaktens Tid. Juha Jyrkäs has written some Finnish lyrics to Korpiklaani and from 2011 lyrics are written by poet Tuomas Keskimäki, who writes lyrics in the old Finnish "kalevalametre".
In September 2011 Korpiklaani announced that Jaakko "Hittavainen" Lemmetty would be leaving the band due to personal health issues which made the constant touring and recording impossible. First his replacement was violist Teemu Eerola and later, nowadays permanent member, Tuomas Rounakari. In 2013 accordion player Juho Kauppinen left Korpiklaani and the new accordion player is Sami Perttula.
Hide Your Riches
Korpiklaani Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And the words of the woods
If you can hear the whisper of the wind
And the words of the woods
Then you'll find your way,
Out of the dark to the other side of shroud,
Away from the shroud of mist
If you have the lasting happiness
And the peace in your heart
If you have the lasting happiness
And the peace in your heart
Then you have to hide your riches
From the hungry hunters,
Away from the filthy animals,
Out of snakes' reach
The lyrics of Korpiklaani’s “Hide Your Riches” speak of a journey of self-discovery and finding inner peace, which is often represented through nature. The song begins by establishing the importance of being in tune with nature, particularly the wind and the woods, as a means to find one's way out of darkness and mystery. This can be interpreted as a metaphor for finding clarity of mind and purpose through introspection and connection with one's surroundings. The repetition of the lines "If you can hear the whisper of the wind / And the words of the woods" further emphasizes this idea.
The second half of the song speaks more directly about the need to protect one's inner peace and happiness from those who would try to take it away. The line "Then you have to hide your riches / From the hungry hunters" suggests that there may be those who are jealous or covetous of what we have, whether it is material wealth or emotional fulfillment. In order to maintain our happiness and peace, we must guard it from these negative influences that could otherwise consume us. The use of animal imagery, such as "filthy animals" and "snakes," reinforces this idea of the need to protect oneself from those who would do harm.
Overall, the song encourages listeners to pay attention to their inner selves and take responsibility for their own happiness. It emphasizes the importance of finding peace and contentment within oneself, while remaining vigilant against external threats.
Line by Line Meaning
If you can hear the whisper of the wind
If you are in tune with nature and its sounds
And the words of the woods
And can understand the language of the forest
Then you'll find your way,
Then you will know your path,
Out of the dark to the other side of shroud,
Out of confusion and into clarity,
Away from the shroud of mystery,
Away from the veil of the unknown,
Away from the shroud of mist
Away from the confusion of the mind
If you have the lasting happiness
If you have true contentment
And the peace in your heart
And inner peace
Then you have to hide your riches
Then you must protect what is valuable to you
From the hungry hunters,
From those who would take it from you
Away from the filthy animals,
Away from those whose intentions are impure
Out of snakes' reach
Out of harm's way
Contributed by Evelyn O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
TWO WAY
If you can hear the whisper of the wind
and the words of the woods
If you can hear the whisper of the wind
and the words of the woods
then you can find your way,
out of the dark to the other side of shroud,
away from the shroud of mystery,
away from the shroud of mist.
If you have the lasting happiness
and the peace in your heart
If you have the lasting happiness
and the peace in your heart
then you have to hide your richess
from the hungry hunters,
away from filthy animals,
out of snake's reach.
InexorableRotting
I first discovered this band ages ago (at least 2 years ago), I've always thought they were awesome, but in the past few days I've really started to love them. They've shot up to my Top 10 favourite bands in the space of about 2 days, maybe I'm just starting to get in touch with my Scandinavian heritage.
TWO WAY
If you can hear the whisper of the wind
and the words of the woods
If you can hear the whisper of the wind
and the words of the woods
then you can find your way,
out of the dark to the other side of shroud,
away from the shroud of mystery,
away from the shroud of mist.
If you have the lasting happiness
and the peace in your heart
If you have the lasting happiness
and the peace in your heart
then you have to hide your richess
from the hungry hunters,
away from filthy animals,
out of snake's reach.
kiwi mandzaro
Nie ma dobrych utworów Korpiklaani, wszystkie są zajebiste ;)
Adam Rice
This music lifts depression! Probably how the northern folk stayed sane in all that darkness and snow.
natty features everything
Ay dancing to it keeps the blood pumping and you warm too
Chung'Hee Choi
I personally think its one of they'r best.
antek emigrantek
cudowne uwielbiam to
Yaegara
this song for me conjures up the image of some badass vikings tearing through villages and pillaging the hell out of them.
Maik Bunk
hope the next album will sound more like this
_Smarth_ _Mahajan_
This makes me wanna watch lord of the rings with imitating every dialogue like a metal growl.