Starting points

1. Atte OksanenDr. Soc. Sci., MA, adjunct professor of social psychologyDepartment of Social Research, University of TampereFinnish Youth Research Network, HelsinkiImages of Addiction in Rock Culture (2009-2011, The Academy of Finland)Drinking to Death Social Diagnosis of Traditional Masculinity in Finnish Metal Lyrics

2. Starting points • Oksanen (2003) Murheenlaakso[Vale of Tears: Masculinity and Death in Finnish Metal]. Helsinki: Ministry of Social Affairs & Health • Images of alcohol in Finnish metal music lyrics • Relevant theme in metal music with Finnish lyrics • Research material • Lyrics by TimoRautiainenja Trio Niskalaukaus (n=28), Kotiteollisuus (n=101) and Viikate (n=155) • Elegia [Elegy] song (2002) by Trio Niskalaukaus: An unlikely hit song • Analysis • Critical and clinical (G. Deleuze): Cultural texts as tools and openings to socio-psycho-cultural events • Narratology (E.g. S. Rimmon-Kenan, M. Bal), semiotics (U. Eco)

3. Finnish Cultural Studies of Alcohol:A Short Introduction • Drinking and Finnish folklore: alcohol as a independent entity  stronger than the man (S. Apo 1999) • Finnish drinking and externalization of self-control (P. Alasuutari & J. Siltari 1983; P. Sulkunen et al., Urban Pub 1983/1997) • Cosmic loneliness of Finnish men in Finnish films (P. Falk & Sulkunen 1983) • Transgressive drinking as a break from everyday life: sociability and liminality (A. Maunu & J. Törrönen 2007) • Drinking as a minimum of identity for Finnish males (M.G. Soikkeli 2006)

4. Finnish metal music and images of alcohol • Traditional heavy metal and hard rock (1970-1980): a bastard version of rock – and an extreme version of rock excess • Peer Günt: Bar Tender (1987): ”I’m gonna mess around” • Dark and extreme metal (e.g. black, death) (1990s): death & misery • Only few examples of songs about drugs and alcohol • Sentenced: Nepenthe (1995): ”Drink to forget /and drown all your sorrows” > alcohol in the context of suicide and depression • Sentenced: Noose (1996): “I’ll drink the booze to depress myself / then I take the rope and express myself” • Pagan and folk metal bands (2000s): happy-go-lucky drinking songs • Korpiklaani: Beer Beer (2005), Let’s Drink (2006), Happy Little Boozer (2006), Vodka (2009): “From beer I get really drunk / Beer, beer / I need more beer” & ”Drinking is good for you” • Not popular in Finland despite the success in Middle-Europe

5. Finnish metal in Finnish: a unique sub-genre • Bands from eastern Finland • Early precursors of the late 1980s and early 1990s: Mana Mana and Lyijykomppania • Viikate, Kotiteollisuus and Timo Rautiainen ja Trio Niskalaukaus started around 1997 • Mainstream success in the 2000s: especially among middle-age men • Social need for bands that discuss openly social problems? • Social critique in songs: unemployment, greed, consumer culture • Male tragedies with bitter sense of irony • Drinking, violence, depression and suicides (by various methods) • Countryside nostalgia of earlier decades (especially Viikate)

6. Elegia [Elegy] (2002) by Trio Niskalaukaus 1-2 Joi poika senkin kuukauden / Ja aikaan kauniin aamunkoiton He drank all that month as well / And as the day broke, beautiful, 3-4Hän kouristeli itkien / Nyt viina veisi voiton He twitched and wept / Now the drink would beat him 5-6Niin äiti saapui huoneeseen / Valituksen kuullessaan His mother came into the room / Hearing his cries and moans 7-8Hän vaiti katsoi juoneeseen / Kalmankalpeaan She stood there, silent / Watching him, pale as death 9-10 Veti verhot ikkunaan / Ja otti tuolin alle She drew the curtains to / And took a chair 11-12Kun poika yski / verta lattialle While he was coughing / Blood onto the floor 13-14Mitään sanottavaa ollut ei / Käsi tarttunut ei toiseen There was nothing to say / No hand sought another hand 15-16Äidin katse ulos vei / Aamuaurinkoiseen The mother turned her gaze / Out to the morning sun 17-18Niin kului tunti, toinenkin / Ja hiljeni sen pojan peti An hour went by, and another / And the son’s bed grew quiet 19-20Ja äiti ylleen haalarin / Ja saappaat jalkaan veti And she pulled on her overall / And a pair of rubber boots 21-22Yli pellon pahaisen / Laahusti naapuritaloon Across a meagre field / She trudged to the neighbours 23-24 Astui varoen / Vähäiseen valoon Stepping carefully / Into the faint light 25-26 Ei kiire vaivannut kysyjää / Vain yhdestä oli huoli She took her time about it / She only had one thing to ask 27-28Soittakaa kirkolle / kun poika äsken kuoli Would you phone them at the village / For my son’s just gone and died Lyrics by Jarkko Martikainen Translated by Heli Mäntyranta

7. Via Dolorosa • Elegia represents a realistic scenario from eastern Finland • See studies on alcohol mortality (e.g. P. Mäkelä 2001) • Masculinity as tragedy in Finnish metal • Aesthetics of knife, bottle and rope • Metaphors of painful road = one rocky road without other routes • Sisu as a negative concept: stubbornness, bitter march toward the end • Shame: drinking and suicide as an escape solution • Drinking refers to loneliness and eventually to death • Destructive male socialization • Kuolleen miehen kupletti [A Song of A Dead Man] by Viikate (2004) Kyllä mies kivun kestää / mutta ei häpeää [Man can take the pain, but not the shame] Trio Niskalaukaus, Nyt on mies! (2001), lyrics T. Rautiainen, transl. A. Oksanen

8. Discussion • Cultural narratives (J. Phelan 2004) • “Masculinity in crisis” as a cultural narrative in Finland • Culturally importance: mass media, TV, Films, books • Alcohol is still considered stronger than the man • Negative definition of identity (cf. American emphasis of survival narratives) • Images of vulnerability and coping with alcohol problems? • Finnish metal (in Finnish) underlined (at least in the beginning of the 2000s) the social context of male tragedy • A discussion of such problem is a start for a cultural change