Lyrics to Nature (Biisisanoittamo)

Jouni Laaksonen 4.5.2020

I was asked to be one of the judges in a competition of lyrics, called Biisisanoittamo. I am no expert in music, but they wanted to have also hikers in the judge panel. And I do like words, yes.

“Kilpailu on nyt auki – osallistu” translates as The competition is now open – participate!

I expect most of the lyrics will be in Finnish, but the rules allow also lyrics in Swedish and English to participate. More information and full rules of the competition can be found (only in Finnish, though) at biisisanoittamo.fi.

If you’d like to participate, the idea is this: Write lyrics where Finnish nature and especially endangered species of plants and animals are in a central role. You can fetch inspiration for example from the Beetles LIFE project (only in Finnish) and the insect species described there.

Screenshot from part of the poster of Beetles LIFE. I added the scientific names under the Finnish names. I have no idea what these insect species are called in other languages, but at least the Finnish names indeed inspire to play with words.

All in all this competition of lyrics is one small part of a big Beetles LIFE project, which is partly funded by the European Union. The competition is arranged by the University of Applied Sciences (Humak). I guess similarity between the project name and a rather famous British band has inspired the competition…

The full rules are in Finnish, but here are some important tidbits:

• The winning lyrics will be composed, the song will be recorded by professionals in a studio, and it will be published.
• The winner will receive a gift voucher (value 180 euros) for a hammock night for two in Nuuksio National Park.
• The lyrics have to be written by you, and they may not have been published before.
• When you participate you give permission to the project, and to EU, to publish and cite your lyrics in social media, bulletins and so on. The copyright is still yours, though. If your lyrics would be used in a commercial way, the project will contact you and you will make a separate deal.
• The competition ends 31st May 2020, so be sure to enter your lyrics at the latest on that day.

If you are interested in music, poems, playing with words, and nature, I think this is an interesting competition!

You can enter your lyrics via this form. Also the form is only in Finnish. If you are interested in participating and you cannot read Finnish, you can contact me. I can translate you the form, which is really very simple. They ask for your name, pseudonym, gender/group, music style and so on, and the last box is where you paste your lyrics.