Finnish punks Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät caused a stir when they won Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu with their short but powerful song “Aina mun pitää”. It clocks in at just 85 seconds, but as the lyrics show, there’s plenty packed into the song.
“Aina mun pitää” is a song of frustration. PKN’s lead singer Kari lists all the rules and restrictions of his life – “Aina mun pitää siivota/Aina mun pitää tiskata” – “I always have to clean/I always have to do the dishes”. The fun police are hard at work – “Ei saa mennä koneelle/En katsoa telkkarii/En saa edes nähdä mun kavereita” – he’s not allowed to go to the computer, watch television or see his friends. It’s just as well he has his punk band to have some fun with.
Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät are known for singing about the frustrations of ordinary life they experience as people with learning disabilities, but there’s a lot in the Aina mun pitää lyrics that people of all abilities can relate to. After all, the dishes aren’t going to clean themselves.
“Aina mun pitää” live performance – Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät (Finland)
“Aina mun pitää” lyrics – Pertti Kurikan Nimipäivät (Finland)
Lyrics
Aina mun pitää siivota
Aina mun pitää tiskata
Aina mun pitää käydä töissä
Aina mun pitää käydä lääkärissä
Ei saa mennä koneelle
En katsoa telkkarii
En saa edes nähdä mun kavereita
Aina mun pitää olla kotona
Aina mun pitää hoitaa tehtäviä
Aina mun pitää syödä kunnolla
Aina mun pitää juoda kunnolla
En saa syödä karkkia, juoda limua
En saa edes juoda alkoholia
Aina mun pitää levätä
Aina mun pitää nukkua
Aina mun pitää herätä
Aina mun pitää käydä suihkussa
English translation
I always have to clean
I always have to do the dishes
I always have to work
I always have to go to the doctor
I am not allowed to go to the computer
I am not allowed to watch television
I am not allowed to see my friends
I always have to be at home
I always have to do chores
I always have to eat well
I always have to drink well
I can’t eat candy, drink soda,
I can’t even drink alcohol
I always have to rest
I always have to sleep
I always have to wake up
I always have to shower
Wow, for reals, this is the first time I’ve really generally understood the song. A song full of dented frustrations, not only by Down Syndrome patients, but to merely every single person with handicaps, physical or mental, where people can be total jerks towards handicapped people and that is this song telling them, like they are no less of a human, they’re humans as everyone else is.
Wow, for reals, this is the first time I’ve really generally understood the song. A song full of d
@Alex They’re quite self-explanatory. If you don’t understand them, you must be more handicapped than the people who wrote them.
Well the lyrics really make no sense to me.
Beautiful