Mökkitie [English translation]

June of '86

Our Sierra1 was almost new

Dad filled up the car, mom packed snacks

I was already sitting in the back seat

Smiling from ear to ear with my seat belt fastened

Dingo was singing about a girl in a leather coat2

Grandpa told stories of the Continuation War3

About corporal Rokka4

I didn't understand anything back then

I just enjoyed my summer vacation

Dad please let me do the driving on the cottage road

I promise I'll carry water to the sauna

I remember the rocks and stumps on this gravel road

In my mind I was Henri Toivonen5

A rally idol of little boys

Dad laughed, mom was afraid to look

The summer was over and I was told

There won't be any more trips to Evitskog6

My parents divorced and the cottage was sold

Yesterday I went for a drive on the cottage road

It took less time than I remembered

The familiar routes have changed into black surfaces7

Grandpa is no longer telling stories about the war

He's pushing up daisies at Honkanummi8

Now I understand the story better

And I appreciate what he has done

Dad please let me do the driving on the cottage road

I promise I'll carry water to the sauna

I remember the rocks and stumps on this gravel road

In my mind I was Henri Toivonen

A rally idol of little boys

Dad laughed, mom was afraid to look

1. Ford Sierra, produced 1982-1993 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Sierra2. "Nahkatakkinen tyttö" by Dingo https://lyricstranslate.com/en/nahkatakkinen-tyttoe-girl-leather-coat.html3. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuation_War4. A character in the novel "The Unknown Soldier" by Väinö Linna https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Unknown_Soldier_(novel)5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henri_Toivonen6. Evitskog is a small village in Kirkkonummi municipality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evitskog7. Translator's interpretation: The old gravel road to the cottage has been paved with asphalt8. He's dead and buried at Honkanummi (a cemetary in Vantaa)