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.
Honor
Korpiklaani Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Alone toward the evening,
No use fearing for your life,
When life is drawing to a close.
No use going to the underworld,
In order to escape your time,
You shouldn't take what belongs to you,
No use going to the underworld,
To grieve over your own disgrace,
The time of those who do will never,
Be changed into their honor.
Glory,
Glory,
Gloria.
There is no dying without Glory.
Glory,
Glory,
Gloria.
To life, the land, and to the battle.
Glory,
Glory,
Gloria.
There is no dying without Glory.
Glory,
Glory,
Gloria.
To life, the land, and to the battle.
A Warrior's so glorious,
When stroking his mighty sword,
He has the great honor of,
Going to the underworld.
A soldier who dies for his land,
Has been endowed with a great heart,
The soldier also has glory,
The honor of his native country.
No use going to the underworld,
Ever to end up in disgrace,
A soldiers glory lies within,
The knowledge of his life and land.
But those who want to the underworld,
Barley Heard a thing of honor.
Glory,
Glory,
Gloria.
There is no dying without Glory.
Glory,
Glory,
Gloria.
To life, the land, and to the battle.
Glory,
Glory,
Gloria.
There is no dying without Glory.
Glory,
Glory,
Gloria.
To life, the land, and to the battle.
The lyrics of Korpiklaani's “Honor” emphasize the importance of living a life full of glory and honor, and the futility of seeking refuge in the underworld. The song is addressed to warriors and soldiers, who are advised not to fear death, but rather to embrace it as an opportunity to attain everlasting glory. The lyrics assert that there is no glory in dying a coward's death or escaping one's fate, nor is there any honor in grieving over one's own disgrace. Rather, one's honor lies in living a life dedicated to defending one's country and way of life.
The repeated use of the word "glory" throughout the song highlights its importance. Glory is described as something that cannot be achieved by escaping death or mourning one's defeat. Rather, it is earned through the courage and bravery of soldiers and warriors, who defend their homeland and way of life. The lyrics emphasize that those who embrace death with dignity and honor are the ones who have truly achieved glory.
Overall, "Honor" is a song that celebrates the courage and valor of soldiers and warriors, and calls on them to embrace death with grace and dignity in order to attain eternal honor and glory.
Line by Line Meaning
No use going to the underworld,
In order to escape your time, you shouldn't take what belongs to you, or grieve over your own disgrace, as it will never change into honor.
Alone toward the evening,
As you approach the end of your life, it's pointless to fear for it.
No use fearing for your life,
When life is drawing to a close, there's no point in fearing death.
Glory,
Honor and renown for one's deeds.
Gloria.
A Latin term for Glory, often used in hymns.
There is no dying without Glory.
Those who die without honor, without having fought for their land and life, have died in vain.
To life, the land, and to the battle.
One's honor lies in fighting for one's life and land, and in being willing to go to battle for them.
A Warrior's so glorious,
Being a warrior is a noble and honorable thing.
When stroking his mighty sword,
The warrior's strength and might comes from his weapon.
He has the great honor of,
It is an honor for a warrior to go to the underworld.
Going to the underworld.
Dying in battle, which is a warrior's ultimate destiny.
A soldier who dies for his land,
A soldier who dies in battle defending his homeland is a hero.
Has been endowed with a great heart,
A soldier who dies with valor has a courageous and honorable heart.
The soldier also has glory,
The brave soldier has an honorable and noble reputation.
The honor of his native country.
The soldier's ultimate honor lies in fighting and dying for his country.
But those who want to the underworld,
Those who go to the underworld without honor have not understood the true meaning of glory.
Barley Heard a thing of honor.
They have not heard or understood the importance of honor.
Contributed by Grace E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
nuna nutas
The lyrics flow so much better in Finnish
TheMistrG
Indeed... But I'm really glad they make these translations
mxi xla
the song is still awesome !
Pedro anubitt fenris
this music makes my heart blaze with the folk spirit
62rosangeladoro
PRESENTATION SENSATIONAL! MUSIC VERY VERY GOOD! EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE! HUGS FROM BRAZIL, ROSANGELA D'ORO
illy
The lyrics made me laugh
Freaking awesome song! Gonna buy the album
Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez
Music is the one thing that does not need to be dubbed.
Pen Draig
Grimmjow Jaegerjaquez
I agree
Peter Heller
Another great album en route... \m/
Timosha21
Love it!