Cure for Studio Fatigue: Polka!

Randall asks: "How do you keep awake and concentrating during long work stretches?"

James Gurney: "First I try some yoga stretches, then I take a walk, and then I have a cup of coffee. If those don't work, I resort to polka. 

Here's the Finnish favorite Säkkijärvi polkka"), also called the "Karelian-Finnish Polka." (Link to YouTube)

As you listen to it, you have to turn up the volume, get up out of your chair, jump around a bit, and shake your hands around.

Helene Schjerfbeck (Finnish, 1862 – 1946) Dancing Shoes

The lyrics to the polka are about the young and the old dancing together to celebrate life under the open sky. The people are also sad that they lost some of their beloved forests to enemy invaders. Even the horses are "clenching their teeth and lamenting." But at least they have their polka, the song says.



The Swingle Singers also did a mysterious and lively a capella version. (Link to YouTube)