Anelaid said: Is "into a swamp" the title, or do they mean "play you into a swamp" literally?
They mean it literally. In Kalevala the hero Väinämöinen is challenged by a young witch Joukahainen into a battle of magics. Väinämöinen ends the battle by 'singing' his opponent into a swamp (In Kalevala all the spellcasting is done in forms of poems).
This is why I love these comics. Cool humor and art style, and every now and then some interesting facts about Finnish literature, popular culture and Internet memes.
I laughed badly though when some rapper was performing for some weird reason at the institute I was at - and someone yelled "PLAY PARANOID" to this rapper. Good times.
Combining "Väinämöinen and Joukahainen", "Paranoid" and the Touhou Project in one comic is genial. Marisa's face crowns the achievement quite appropriately.
Bananacat said: Since the first time I saw that joke I am trying to figure it out. The new 4koma doesn't make it any easier...
At concerts, there's always one joker who yells for the performers to play a balls-hard song. It's said to happen in just about every concert. Think of it like a meme, except people are expected to play hard songs instead of mention cake. It gets tedious after a while.
Oh, or to put it in better terms, it's people heckling the performers.
I was at a metal "Guerrilla Concert" once, one certain Stoned/Drunk dick kept asking for Trough The Fire And Flames and kept climbing on stage, the vocalist said "Do that one more time and I bash your face in!", he did it one more time and the vocalist grabed the bass from the bassist and warhammered the dick's face in.
I'd like to add here, that "[verb] someone to swamp" is occasionally used to mean to "[verb] someone under the table". Yes, that includes drinking and yes, the latter is also used in Finnish. As people have noted, the former is indeed from Kalevala, where the hero Väinämöinen (think the fusion of Gandalf and Odin) sinks the young and haughty sorcerer Joukahainen into a swamp by sheer power of poem-singing. Joukahainen is only saved by offering his young and beautiful sister to be married by this dirty old man. You don't mess with a guy who took part in creating the goddamn world.
I was on a big Boy Scouts Jamboree a couple of years back. A running gag was, that someone requested Paranoid at every single performance. Finally at the closing ceremony we got a bass-and-clarinet cover.
Play...Terve! We are the Prismriver sisters!We will play you into a swamp!
A Kalevala reference...."Paranoid". In Finland, "Paranoid" by Black Sabbath has the same status as "Free Bird" in the United States, "Raul Seixas" in Brazil, or "Stairway to Heaven" in the United Kingdom as a song the audience finds great humour in requesting during a concert. So regardless of the band or the style of music they're playing, "Soittakaa 'Paranoid'!" ("Play 'Paranoid'!") can usually be heard at least once during any gig.
