"Vapaa Venäjä" (Free Russia) is a working class song style, known for its many Finnish text versions and recordings.
The track is originated from
Vasily Agapkin compositions,
Farewell of Slavianka. The author or authors of Finnish words are unknown, but the translation has been speculated after the civil war since the
Finnish Reds move to USSR after its loss in the
Finnish Civil War.[1] Thanks to its contagious tone, the song became popular in Finland and popular in the 1920s. [2]
The track is used as a
marching song for the Finnish Reds.
In the 1920s, the song was particularly popular among
American Finns. In the United States, there were as many as four different versions of the song. In the first versions recorded by Otto Pyykkönen, there was a different lyrics compared in the later album of
Jukka Ahti.
In Copenhagen, with a clay disc recorded on the B side, Warnys Danse
Orchestra plays "Vapaa Venäjä". The first recording made in Finland was the 1955 Rytmi-note made by Solistiseitika Otava. The first song made in Finland was the recordings of Reijo Frank from 1969.