The song takes its title ( VAIKKA ENKELIN KIELTÄ PUHUISIN) from the Bible, Corinthians 13:1 - "If I speak in the tongues of men or angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal."
I first met filmmaker Pirjo Honkasalo when we were both teenagers. Her mother Leena, who passed away only last year, was my father's younger sister. I was four years old when my father took his little brood (my mom, my two brothers and myself) from Finland to Boston, Masachussetts to pursue his studies at M.I.T. All the wonderful relatives I would wait years to meet again stayed behind and prospered in Finland! What a joy it was to spend my summer holiday at the age of 16 in Finland, re-discovering connections with my extended family (on maternal and paternal sides) of aunts, uncles and beautiful, brilliant cousins.
'The 3 Rooms of Melacholia" (clip: below) is one of Pirjo's finest docmentaries; disturbing though it may be, this is a film you ought not to miss.
"A searing examination of the unrelenting Chechen conflict, observed through the prisms of a Russian military boys academy, a war-torn town and a children's refugee camp." (imdb)
Who was Einar Aaron Swan? Apparently, a very important figure in the world of early 20th century JAZZ in the United States! And until now, I knew nothing about him. Did you?
We can thank writer/researcher Sven Bjerstedt for digging up all that could possibly be known about “Swan” (his family name upon immigration to the USA - original was Joutsen). You can download the whole 80 page PDF on the Swedish-Finn Historical Society’s website for easy reading.
In Bjerstedt’s own words:
"I have always loved the song “When Your Lover Has Gone” by E. A. Swan and was very surprised to suddenly one day find out that Swan’s first name was Einar. It most definitely seemed to have a Scandinavian ring to it. I asked everyone I could think of for information on Einar Swan. Nobody seemed to know anything at all about him. That made me really curious..."
For a shorter biography, and to listen to some recordings of Swan’s works, go to the “Internet’s Original (1988) Composers and Lyricists Database”.
(Excerpted from "Internet's Original...") "Einar Aaron Swan was “b. March 20, 1903, Fitchburg, MA, USA, died August 8, 1940, Greenwood Lake, NY, USA. (Stroke). Age: 37. multi-instrumentalist/composer/lyricist/arranger, né: Einar William Swan. He later replaced 'William' with 'Aaron' of Finnish parents in Fitchburg, MA. (Photo credit: Worcester Telegram, April 24, 1927). In 1899, his father, Matti Aleksinpoika Joutsen (b. Oct. 7, 1877, Evijärvi, Finland) emigrated from Finland, and in America, changed his name to John Matthew Swan. In 1900, Einar's mother (née: Edla Maria Aaltonen. b. April 1, 1877, Koski, Finland) emigrated. Apparently, Edla was a fine singer."
You can also listen to Swan’s music on Jazzstandards. The writer on this site confirms Swan’s reputation as one of the most prolific and successful songwriters of his day:
“ ‘When Your Lover Has Gone’ was featured in the 1931 film Blonde Crazy, a comedy about con artists that starred James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Ray Milland, and Louis Calhern. The song was immediately picked up by some of the top recording artists of the time: Ethel Waters and Her Ebony 4, Benny Goodman, and Louis Armstrong.”
Video Gem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKMxIVFRMdU
