Mari Boine - Vuoi Vuoi Mu

Vuoi Vuoi Mu
Mari Boine
Idjagiedas



Vuoi mu gollelottas
Vuoi mu beaiveidjalottas
giehka ja goaskin
Vuoi mu spalfu
Vuoi mu spalfu
miellevuol besiinis
Vuoi mu idjaloddi
ravddahis geahcastagainis
Vuoivuoi mu
Vuoivuoi mu

Vuoivuoi daid iluid
Vuoivuoi daid iluid
skeaikkigavnnasmeriidisguin
Vuoi daid morrasiid
Vuoi daid morrasiid
salteganjalmearaidisguin
Vuoivuoi daid buollasiid
Vuoivuoi daid buollasiid
vuoi gesiid mearehis bahkaid
Vuoivuoi mu
vuoivuoi mu

——-

Vuoi my little yellow bird
Vuoi my summer night bird
cuckoo and eagle
Vuoi my swallow
Vuoi my swallow
with nest under riverbanks
Vuoi night owl
with limitless vision
Vuoivuoi me
Vuoivuoi me
Vuoivuoi joy
Vuoivuoi joy
with hearty laughter
Vuoi sorrow
Vuoi sorrow
with oceans of salty tears
Vuoivuoi winter frost and cold
Vuoivuoi winter frost and cold
vuoi summer with burning hot days
Vuoivuoi me
Vuoivuoi me


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The Sami chant, the yoik, traditionally had a dual function. On the one hand, it was, and still remains, the distinctive musical expression of the Sami. The yoik is used "to remember people", to characterize individuals, animals and landscapes. It can be described as a melodic-rhythmic lecture, in which rhythm is paramount and less emphasis is put on the verbal description of the lyrics. The yoiker’s task is to use music and images to create an emotion or atmosphere that then evokes the person, animal or place yoiked. In the pre-Christian religion, the yoik formed an important part of religious ceremonies. In such ceremonies, the shaman added a rhythmic accompaniment to the yoik by beating his drum. This dual function is the reason why some people even today see the yoik as sinful and therefore incompatible with Christian religious life.

As early as the 17th century the yoik was banned by law. Anyone breaking the law was to be punished severely. The reason the yoik was banned and condemned at this time was that the period saw the beginning of Christian missions among the Sami, and the yoik was seen exclusively as an expression of pre-Christian religion.