Prompt 3A: The Blue Dream

One of the first songs I remember learning as a child is a Finnish lullaby that my grandmother loved to sing to my sister and I. She still hums and sings it to herself and, given the chance, would still probably send us to sleep with it even now. It is called "The Blue Dream" ("Sininen Uni") and tells of the Sandman (Nukkumatti). All of his clothes are blue and made of dreams, he eats ice-cream made out of dreams, carries the blue book of dreams, and drives a blue car that purrs "surrur surrur." Every night, he tiptoes into children's bedrooms and drives them to the blue land of dreams in his car. In that land, there is a golden forest with a golden tree in which the bluebird of dreams sits and sings the children to sleep.

Listening to this song again brings back associated memories that I had forgotten. In particular, there was a children's TV show in Finland that my sister and I would watch right before going to bed. I can picture my mother and grandparents sitting in the kitchen behind us and talking while we sit in our pjs or dance along to the music that's playing. It's strange to be able to place myself in a situation to which I haven't given any thought in years and the resulting emotion is one of almost reluctant nostalgia; I feel as though I am still too young to look back on anything as "the good old days," and yet in spite of this there is a very clear sense of simplicity and innocence associated with the memory that has been lost over the years.

One detail that stands out to me is the melancholy tune of the song, I had not thought about it before because I had not tried to hear it through American ears before. A recurring element of traditional or classic Finnish music is sorrowful-sounding melodies and it quite often has nothing to do with the lyrics. To someone who has not heard it before, I could see how this lullaby might sound more depressing than soothing, but for me it has always been linked to happy memories.

The song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCMI91DCTRg

The lyrics in Finnish:
http://www.jalam.org/lastenlauluja.htm#Sininen%20uni

An English translation:

Every night when the lights go out and real night falls,

The Sandman gets up and knocks softly on the door.

He tiptoes in his sleepy slippers,

He tiptoes through the door and jumps behind the wardrobe.

And he has a sleepy cap and a blue, sleepy belt,

And a piece of ice-cream made of dreams which he eats with his little teeth.

And he has a blue car, and his car, it purrs like this:

Surrur surrur and it leaves towards the blue land of dreams.

And his little umbrella is completely tilted,

And he carries the blue book of dreams under his arm,

And he takes the children to the blue land of dreams in his car,

Surrur surrur, a blue, dreamy road leads the way there.

And there is a golden forest, and in the forest a golden tree,

And in the tree sits the bluebird of dreams with a golden beak,

And that bluebird, it lulls the children,

It sings its sleepy song, lalala lalala lalalaa