The first steps of Sans Parade were taken in July 2009, when the singer-songwriter Markus Perttula played his acoustic guitar in a sunny yard in Turku. He was performing as a warm-up act for the Finnish artist Eleanoora Rosenholm. One of the people in the audience was Jani Lehto, who had been looking for a singer for his new project that aimed to capture and mix the delicacies of orchestral chamber pop and the extrovert confidence of indie rock. After the show, these two musicians met and immediately found mutual ambitions and ideals in music. Markus even had a name ready for the new band and in the following week they had their first songs recorded. This is how Sans Parade came to be – suddenly and without a warning.
The discography of Jani Lehto began to form in the end of the 1990s, when a vast and restless field of electronic music flourished in his hometown Turku. In those times, Jani's musical starting point was in the happy and collective atmosphere of house music parties. However, the first decade of the new millennium, and his participation in a disco house duo Star You Star Me and later in a darker electro pop band Déclassé, took Jani further away from these carefree times and from deep and subtle sequencer patterns. The final step in his personal development is now Sans Parade. The optimistic one-liner vocal loops of his house period have transformed into nuanced stories and synthesizers have been traded for acoustic instruments, in which every small crack in the wood and the pressure of the player's fingers create their unique sound.
“A Ballet in the Sea is a great example of what I wanted to do. Everything is based on the text and the text is based on a story – real events that I happened to witness. None of the artistic decisions are based on witty resourcefulness, but on rejecting and accepting the musical solutions that actually tell something about the reality the song conveys. From the songs in the album, A Ballet in the Sea is perhaps the most straightforward and also has the shortest arc of events: everything was seen in ten minutes through a small window in a cruise ship cabin.
The atmospheric sounds of A Ballet in the Sea combine a brave use of studio equipment with the organic nature of acoustic instruments. On the rhythm track, every mallet hit on an empty tin can is different, but the final sound was actually their convolution to create a sound of the inside of a 20 metre spherical gas container. The piano, on the other hand, is as honest as can be: the clangs and distorted r esonances of the misused sixty-year-old instrument are clearly audible on the album and have also become a vital part of the piece, rather than some disturbances to be edited away.
Also, the use of sheer force is important to Sans Parade. Sometimes, when you don't know how to be poetic, you have to express yourself by shouting.”
Markus Perttula was born into a family of musicians. His blue-walled home in Southern Ostrobothnia was filled with instruments: a grand piano, a spinet, a small church organ, violins, a trumpet, etc. At the age of nine, Markus started classical music training with double bass as his main instrument. A career in music took a swift turn, when Markus moved to Turku, to study English instead. Also, the double bass couldn't fit into his dorm room, so an old nylon string Landola guitar borrowed from home made its way to Markus' life. A decade of classical training had ended but a decade of life as self-taught singer-songwriter had began. This led to a creative burst in songwriting alongside extensive performances with different rock bands and folk ensembles.
Having played Sergei Rachmaninov's Vocalise as the double bass soloist in front of a full orchestra in his adolescence, it felt like a natural step for Markus to now be the singer in a group like Sans Parade, in which musicality of the pieces are highly developed to express the innermost feelings and meanings behind the lyrically romantic and existential matters.
The third driving force of Sans Parade is Pekka Tuppurainen. Pekka, now residing in Stockholm, has a different musical background from Markus and Jani with his involvement in jazz and improvisational music scenes. Pekka's previous work, extremely experimental jazz-based art music published by Ilma Records, received recognition and high praises among the professional circles. In Sans Parade sessions, Pekka has given an irreplaceable input to group dynamics, sometimes even leading to heated debates about the music's direction and musical actions. The long struggle also took its toll, when Pekka left the band for a short while just to return with more enthusiasm and motivation than before. Perhaps this struggle also worked as a binding force towards the completion of the creative process. It surely lifted Sans Parade above the average indie pop to a more inspiring level, maintaining the immense beauty and accessibility of the band's music.
Since the beginning of 2010, there have been eight musicians playing in the studio sessions, participating in this musical endeavour that spiralled into the monumental ocean of sound now known as Sans Parade. The first single, including the songs The Last Song Is a Love Song and A Ballet in the Sea, was published in August 2012 by Solina Records along with a music video showing the artistic talents of Elli Vuorinen and Jani Lehto. The eponymous album was finally published in February 2013 to a critical appraisal with quotes such as “You’ll hardly find something as deeply affecting as this somber jewel.” (nbhap.com) and "Rich on the ever-present Scandinavian melancholy, swooning highs, whispering lows and sweet hooks, which all in all adds up to a very solid debut effort" (allscandinavian.com).
www.sansparade.com
1989
Sans Parade Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
On a journey over wheat fields
Passing walls of spruces
They had something
To conceal
Behind the evergreen
Monsters you'll never see
Too shy to be visible
The sunlight keeps blinding me
I shouldn't be wandering
On my own again
Look over my shoulders
A towering maple tree
Behind me swaying leaves
A beacon still guiding me
Just keep that in memory
The scent of the leaves
The stones of the wall
The iron gate
And in the garden
She ran amongst the plum trees
She smiled and I thought I was in love
Like the tales told
She had the sparks, fireworks
She smiled and I thought I was in love
Like the tales told
Was there something in me
Or was it just time
I still wander
To the place where every road's a circle
That never ends
Now towering high-rise blocks
Lights on but no one's home
Spirits protecting her
How I wanted to believe
The echos still follow me
Strike me down onto the floor
The beacon's still gleaming on
Won't fade from my memory
But it's too late and all a dream
She burned all her diaries
And plumes of soot covered the trees
I watched it in misery
But in 1989
The stones of the wall
The iron gate
And in the garden
She ran amongst the plum trees
She smiled and I thought I was in love
Like the tales told
And then the leaves turned crimson red
The garden gate rusts evermore
Like the tales told
The song “1989” by Sans Parade is a nostalgic journey through memories of the past, and the emotions that come along with remembering them. The song begins with the artist reflecting on their childhood, describing their journey through wheat fields and spruces, and a feeling that there was something hidden behind the evergreens. The lyrics talk about the monsters that play shadow games, hiding in the trees, and the sunlight that keeps blinding the artist as they journey on their own. The words “too shy to be visible” signify the artist’s unease of facing their fears and confronting them.
However, the artist is guided by a beacon, a towering maple tree swaying behind them. The song paints a beautiful image of the scent of the leaves, the stones of the wall, the iron gate, and the garden where the artist ran amongst the plum trees. It is here that they remember being in love like the tales told. There is a strong sense of nostalgia as we journey with the artist through their past experiences.
As the song moves forward in time, things change, and the landscape transforms. Instead of towering maple trees, high-rise blocks stand tall with lights on but no one at home. The artist still remembers the spirits protecting the garden, and how they wished to believe in a fairy tale. However, the echoes still follow them, striking them down onto the floor, reminding them that life is not always kind. As the song comes to an end, we are reminded of how precious memories are, even though they are just a dream. The artist describes how all that is left is the memory of how the leaves turned crimson red, the garden gate rusting evermore, and memories of 1989.
Line by Line Meaning
I was only a child
I was a young and innocent person at the beginning of my journey
On a journey over wheat fields
I was traveling across fields of wheat towards my destination
Passing walls of spruces
I went past walls of spruce trees
They had something
The walls of the spruces hid something from view
To conceal
The purpose of these walls was to keep whatever was behind them hidden from sight
Behind the evergreen
Whatever was concealed was hidden behind the walls of the evergreen trees
Monsters you'll never see
There were monsters lurking there, but I couldn't see them
Playing their shadow games
The monsters were playing games of concealment and staying out of sight
Too shy to be visible
These monsters were too shy or scared to expose themselves
The sunlight keeps blinding me
The brightness of the sun made it difficult for me to see
I shouldn't be wandering
I shouldn't be wandering around alone
On my own again
I was once again alone on my journey
Look over my shoulders
I felt like I had to constantly look back and be cautious of potential danger
A towering maple tree
There was a large maple tree standing tall
Behind me swaying leaves
The leaves of the tree behind me swayed back and forth
A beacon still guiding me
This tree served as a guide and reminder of my path
Just keep that in memory
I needed to remember the significance of this tree as I continued forward
The scent of the leaves
I could smell the leaves on the trees
The stones of the wall
I noticed the stones of the wall as I walked by
The iron gate
There was an iron gate that blocked my path
And in the garden
As I passed through the gate, I entered a garden
She ran amongst the plum trees
I saw her running amongst the plum trees in the garden
She smiled and I thought I was in love
I felt a connection to her and thought I was in love
Like the tales told
This was like a fairy tale, as if it was straight out of a storybook
She had the sparks, fireworks
She had a spark within her that seemed to light up the world around her
Was there something in me
I wondered if there was something within myself that drew me to her
Or was it just time
I questioned if it was just the timing of our meeting that made me feel this way
I still wander
I'm still wandering and searching for answers
To the place where every road's a circle
I'm searching for a place where my path leads me in a continuous circle
That never ends
A place that leads me in a continuous loop without a distinct end point
Now towering high-rise blocks
I see high-rise buildings towering above me
Lights on but no one's home
Although these buildings are lit up, no one seems to be living there
Spirits protecting her
I feel like there are spirits or forces that are protecting her from harm
How I wanted to believe
I hoped that these spirits would keep her safe from harm
The echos still follow me
I can still hear echoes of the past
Strike me down onto the floor
These echoes strike me to the ground and make me feel vulnerable
The beacon's still gleaming on
Despite all of this, the beacon from the maple tree still shines brightly in my mind
Won't fade from my memory
I will always remember the significance of that tree and what it represented to me
But it's too late and all a dream
However, it's too late to change the past and it all feels like a dream now
She burned all her diaries
She destroyed any written accounts of the past
And plumes of soot covered the trees
The fire that destroyed her diaries left behind a residue of soot that coated the trees
I watched it in misery
I watched all of this in sadness and despair
But in 1989
Despite everything that's happened, in my mind, it's still 1989
The stones of the wall
I'm still fixated on the stones of the wall and their significance
The iron gate
I'm still fixated on the iron gate and its significance
And in the garden
In my mind, I'm still walking through that garden and seeing everything as it once was
She ran amongst the plum trees
I can still see her running amongst the trees
She smiled and I thought I was in love
I'm still fixated on her smile and what it meant to me
Like the tales told
I'm still holding onto the idea that this was like a fairy tale and could have been something great
And then the leaves turned crimson red
But eventually, the leaves turned red and signaled the end of something
The garden gate rusts evermore
The gate to the garden grows rusty and old
Like the tales told
Just like in a storybook, this tale has come to an end
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Pekka Aleksis Tuppurainen, Jani Lehto, Markus Perttula
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Christian Cadio
Plaisir à revoir ces artistes de notre bonne variété française.
Ça fait chaud au coeur .👍👍👍♥️
NOUREDDINE GUEDRIA
Une belle compile et de belles chansons et mélodies!
Charles Albert Meyer
On la eu, merci à tout ces artistes de cette époque 🎸🎼🎤❤
Xavier-Joseph PEREZ
Contrairement à ce que l'on pourrait croire, le Groupe Kaoma est un groupe français fondé à partir d'ancien musiciens du groupe Touré Kunda d'une chanteuse brésilienne, Loalwa Braz, disparue tragiquement en 2017 ! C'était une époque où la musique apportait plus de joie dans la vie des gens qu'à l'heure actuelle. Je cherche encore pourquoi !
Nasro nasro
Je suis de ton avis de nosom jours on s'enfiche de la perfection et des valeurs modales
sylvie tunon
Xavier-Joseph PEREZ
En effet , vous avez raison , je les ai connu personnellement étant présente au montage / création du premier
« Tube de l été » par TF1 et 2 ptimalins ....
1989 !!!! Donc il y a 30 ans!!!!!.... donc vous aviez 30 ans de moins ....
Aymeric
Simple l'argent est au centre avant non
Kgu Hij
@Rock Faut dire que maintenant tellement de choses sont interdites. Et il y a beaucoup plus d agressions. On vit un peu dans la peur ok il y a le fait qu on est plus vieux mais fanchement on vit avec une pancarte interdit et dangereux et attention.
Benoît FOURNEL
Ouais enfin c'est surtout le plagiat d'un groupe bolivien a grand coup de TF1 et orangina :) par un producteur revenu de vacance du bresil :)
Sandy
Un bon moment ! Que de bons souvenirs Merci