Ryan Tate

Journalist in Brooklyn, New York

Rotankolo by Maustetytöt - English lyrics translation

Rathole

Video: Maustetytöt: Rotankolo

Finnish lyrics

Via album liner notes.

English lyrics

Translated by AI with human checking and research.

Thank you lilli m for numerous important corrections.

Tänään oon ottanut
koulusta lomaa
apteekin hyllyltä
lääkettä omaa
pysähdyn torilla siellä ei ketään
taidanpa itsekin
lähteä vetään

Today I’ve taken
a break from school
from the pharmacy shelf,
my own medicine
I stop at the square there’s no one there
I think I might
just take off too

viimeiset kahvit jään
SEO:lle juomaan
hiljaista ollut no
sen kyllä huomaa
painavat aiheet taas soittavat suuta
"pidellyt ilmoja"
"sanopa muuta"

my last coffee I’ll stay
to drink at SEO
It’s been quiet well
you can certainly tell
the same heavy topics make people talk
we’ve had some weather
you can say that again

helvetin ahdistava rotankolo
sääliksi käy nämä ihmispolot
päivät toisiaan
täällä vain toistaa
selittämättä jää tää poissaolo
oon kuusitoista ja niin paha olo
nyt poissaololla
mä aion loistaa
kuin tuppukylän taika
tappamallakaan
ei kuollut aika

a hellishly oppressive rathole
I feel sorry for these pitiful people
the days here
just repeat themselves
this absence remains unexplained
I’m sixteen and I feel so bad
now by my absence
I’m going to shine
like the magic of a backwater town
even killing time
wouldn’t make it die

sateisiin hukkuivat
taas enon pellot
sunnuntaikirkolla
soi juorukellot
taskusta varastin taas röökiaskin
aseman portailla
vaunuja laskin

in the rains drowned
again uncle’s fields
at the Sunday church
the gossip bells are ringing
from a pocket I stole another pack of smokes
on the station steps
I counted the train cars

hyvästi äiti ja
muut kylähullut
ei meistä kuitenkaan
mitään ois tullut
erehdyit jos satuit sellaista luuleen
tapoin vain aikaa, nyt
katoan tuuleen

goodbye mother and
the rest of the village idiots
we wouldn’t have
amounted to anything anyway
you were mistaken if you happened to think so
I was just killing time, now
I vanish into the wind

helvetin ahdistava rotankolo
sääliksi käy nämä ihmispolot
päivät toisiaan
täällä vain toistaa
selittämättä jää tää poissaolo
oon kuusitoista ja niin paha olo
nyt poissaololla
mä aion loistaa
kuin tuppukylän taika
tappamallakaan
ei kuollut aika

a hellishly oppressive rathole
I feel sorry for these pitiful people
the days here
just repeat themselves
this absence remains unexplained
I’m sixteen and I feel so bad
now by my absence
I’m going to shine
like the magic of a backwater town
even killing time
wouldn’t make it die

helvetin ahdistava rotankolo
sääliksi käy nämä ihmispolot
päivät toisiaan
täällä vain toistaa
jossain on oltava minulle paikka
kävelen, liftaan tai lennän vaikka
nyt poissaololla
mä aion loistaa
kuin tuppukylän taika
tappamallakaan
ei kuollut aika

a hellishly oppressive rathole
I feel sorry for these pitiful people
the days here
just repeat themselves
somewhere there must be a place for me
I’ll walk, hitchhike — let’s just go
now by my absence
I’m going to shine
like the magic of a backwater town
even killing time
wouldn’t make it die

Notes

“SEO”

Finnish gas station chain.

“heavy topics make people talk”

Literally, “heavy topics play the mouth,” a manifestation of the versatility with which Finns employ their verb for “to play,” “soittaa.” One plays a phone (calls) and one plays a piano, as lilli m points out.

“we’ve had some weather”

Literally, “held the airs,” more broadly, “the weather has kept.” Understood and used as translated or, more narrowly, “weather conditions have held.” Typically used as conversational filler. Thanks lilli m for help with this.

“you can say that again”

Literally, “say something else,” but used to mean, “I agree.”

“now by my absence / I’m going to shine”

Variation on the idea of being conspicuous by one's absence (“loistaa poissaolollaan”).

“smokes”

From a colloquial, young person’s term for cigarette, “rööki,” itself from the Swedish word for smoke, rök. Thanks lilli m!

Differences from liner notes

Numerous line breaks were added to match pauses in the vocals. Punctuation was added for clarity when there did not seem to be ambiguity in the meaning of the words. Quote marks were added for the same reason.

Corrections

Corrections or other notes welcomed at ryantate@ryantate.com!

More Maustetytöt English lyrics