I Still Cant Write Music @SallaKanerva

Salla Kanerva Five years ago I wrote my very first song ever, aptly titled "I Can't Write Music". It's sequel time. #TBT to terrible webcam recordings and that shabby brown sweater, which I wore again for this video 100% coincidentally! Guess the more things change, the more they stay the same!

Anyway, happy songwriting anniversary to me, and I hope y'all enjoy this! :D

LYRICS:

I can’t believe that I still can’t write music
Like, there’s a real chance I’m now worse than before
This song took forever, and it’s not that clever
Sometimes I wonder what I keep doing this for
I’m not sure I know anymore

Once in a while will I finish a song and feel great
And then procrastinate for a year
No inspiration and less motivation,
It is not my strong suit to concentrate and persevere
That much has become clear

I’ve spent these past five years trying to convince myself
That I can do this, that I can compose
I wrote this to show it, but hell, we all know it
This song is most likely a rip-off, that’s just how this goes
Nothing new there, I suppose

This song was meant to be longer and better
But what a surprise that was not meant to be
So yeah this song sucks but I give zero fucks
Cause at least I wrote something and right now that’s plenty for me
And what’ll come next, guess we’ll see
Come back in five years for part three

updated 9 years ago

I Still Cant Write Music

Salla Kanerva 2017-03-09 | Five years ago I wrote my very first song ever, aptly titled "I Can't Write Music". It's sequel time. #TBT to terrible webcam recordings and that shabby brown sweater, which I wore again for this video 100% coincidentally! Guess the more things change, the more they stay the same!

Anyway, happy songwriting anniversary to me, and I hope y'all enjoy this! :D

LYRICS:

I can’t believe that I still can’t write music
Like, there’s a real chance I’m now worse than before
This song took forever, and it’s not that clever
Sometimes I wonder what I keep doing this for
I’m not sure I know anymore

Once in a while will I finish a song and feel great
And then procrastinate for a year
No inspiration and less motivation,
It is not my strong suit to concentrate and persevere
That much has become clear

I’ve spent these past five years trying to convince myself
That I can do this, that I can compose
I wrote this to show it, but hell, we all know it
This song is most likely a rip-off, that’s just how this goes
Nothing new there, I suppose

This song was meant to be longer and better
But what a surprise that was not meant to be
So yeah this song sucks but I give zero fucks
Cause at least I wrote something and right now that’s plenty for me
And what’ll come next, guess we’ll see
Come back in five years for part three

Iowa (by Dar Williams) Baritone Ukulele Cover

Salla Kanerva 2025-10-05 | Yeehaw 🤠🏳️‍🌈

I'm trying to lower the threshold of posting covers online again and to get through the insane backlog of cover ideas I've been sitting on for years and years. So here goes one!

Feikkaa (by Maija Vilkkumaa) Baritone Ukulele Cover

Salla Kanerva 2025-09-22 | Vuoden semi-ironinen voimabiisi ✨️

Time Machine (by Autoheart) Ukulele Cover

Salla Kanerva 2024-01-21 | Calling this the "feverish bedroom sessions" version 'cause ya girl is siiiiick. I was in no way, shape or form prepared to sing or film today, but then the vibe struck me and I figured eh, why not. My camera settings were extremely off, I look like garbage and my voice is not doing great but AAAHHH WELL. Does this look like a professional operation regardless?

Anyway, Autoheart has been my absolute number one favourite band for the past few years and I'm jazzed to finally have figured out a song that's actually in my range all the way through, that's a miracle for sure. And I really do love this song. It's been very fun learning to sing it, though I am still in early enough stages to not even bother trying to look at the camera lol. It is what it is.

Enjoy I guess!

Ei puolikasta (Kaj Chydenius/Kristiina Halkola) Piano + Vocal Cover

Salla Kanerva 2023-08-27 | Dedicated to my lovely mum, whose request this song was ❤️

Extremely long time, no see! Since my last video I have, among other things, moved apartments and gotten a new camera, so I am still very much figuring out my set-up and the sound is a bit funky perhaps. But ah well. Glad to be back all the same! I became obsessed this song as soon as mum suggested I cover it, and it's a very fun one to sing, both musically and lyrics-wise. Consider this my 30th birthday anthem I guess, since that also just recently happened! Here's to not living life by halves!

A Thousand Years (by Christina Perri) Ukulele Cover [for Emma and Louisa ❤]

Salla Kanerva 2022-07-07 | MY BEST FRIEND IS GETTING MARRIED TODAAAAAY!! Well, today in Australia, tomorrow (5 am in fact lmao) in Finland. But anyway MY BEST FRIEND IS GETTING MARRIED and I'm not there because she had the absolute audacity to fall in love with this awesome Australian lady and I am very sad about it. The not being at the wedding part, that is. So here's my stupid last minute contribution to the day.

I was hired to perform this song at a wedding two years ago and I immediately messaged Emma like "lmao this cheesy ass song" and she was like "...I actually really like that song 🙈", and then I listened to it a few times and was like "OH SHIT SO DO I". And then we immediately made it about a ship we both love, as you do. But anyway since I can't be there to sing cheesy songs at her wedding in person, this video will have to do.

It's not very good, I'm very out of practice playing the song and it's an absolute murder on the fingers so my strumming is fully terrible (including that total anticlimax of an ending which I decided to leave in for lols and because my hands were too tired for another take), but I hope the message comes across. Message being, you two have done so much waiting and I'm SO INCREDIBLY HAPPY FOR YOU BOTH that this day is finally here! I hope you have a fantastic wedding and I will be there, sobbing over Zoom at 5 am like best friends do! Happy wedding day, love you!! ❤

Esmeralda (by Birdeatsbaby) Piano + Vocal Cover

Salla Kanerva 2022-03-31 | Question to self: Why do I always film my covers when my hair is at its absolute ugliest???? We may never find the answer. Also my posture is terrible lmao oops.

Anyway, back on my bs with another BEB cover! Esmeralda is one of my favourite songs from The World Conspires, and I've been dying to cover it for a long time! If you, too, would like a crack a it or any other BEB song, do visit their Bandcamp and buy their sheet music! They're so useful and fun to learn and I obviously couldn't do my covers without them! birdeatsbaby.bandcamp.com

And if you can, support Birdeatsbaby on Patreon! patreon.com/birdeatsbaby New stuff coming VERY VERY SOON! 👀

Feast of Hammers (by Birdeatsbaby) Vocal + Piano Cover

Salla Kanerva 2021-10-18 | Sorry not sorry about yet another Birdeatsbaby cover. This one's for a special occasion, because today is the TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY of my first BEB cover, The Trouble, which I uploaded on October 18, 2011. That's so wild to me! I do not recommend giving that a watch or a listen, the quality of the video, the recording and my voice and piano playing are all somewhat subpar by today's standards :'D But oh well, I stand by it. Originally I was going to commemorate this anniversary by redoing The Trouble, but I didn't manage to rehearse it well enough in time. So stay tuned for that sometime in the future, I guess. And in the meantime, this!

Hope you enjoy!

Support Birdeatsbaby on Patreon: patreon.com/birdeatsbaby

Tastes Like Sympathy (by Birdeatsbaby) Piano + Vocal Cover

Salla Kanerva 2021-06-04 | Wow, I did not intend to return to the Birdeatsbaby well this soon after my previous cover. I was actually working on an entirely different cover on the ukulele (which is why, once again, my aesthetic is about as wrong for this song as possible lmao), but after like seven takes, my fingers were in so much pain that I had to take a break and I was like "eh what the hell, I'll jam on the piano for a bit instead". ...And then I just got a good take of this song I've been working on for like the past decade??? Funny how it goes sometimes.

Anyway, I think we're far beyond the point where I care about how much BEB I shove down your throats so NO REGRETS, HAVE AT IT! Maybe next time it'll be something else, but also quite probably not. You'll just have to stick around to see!

Box of Razorblades (by Birdeatsbaby) Piano + Vocal Cover

Salla Kanerva 2021-05-28 | me: sings one of the saddest, most anguished songs out there

also me: does so clad entirely in florals and bright colours

love a good contrast

Anyway hey hi, back at it again with - shocker - another Birdeatsbaby cover! Never stop the madness. This is my favourite track off their latest album, The World Conspires, and I've been forcing my neighbours to listen to me bellow it day in, day out all spring. Sorry not sorry.

If you haven't put the pieces together in the past decade of me covering this group, BEB is my absolute favourite band out there, and if you've been enjoying my covers, I promise you'd enjoy the originals even more! So do yourself a favour and head over to either their Bandcamp at birdeatsbaby.bandcamp.com or Patreon at patreon.com/birdeatsbaby and give them a listen. Cheers!

Have a good, florally dramatic summer, y'all!

Sorry Haha I Fell Asleep (by Egg) Ukulele Cover

Salla Kanerva 2021-02-11 | Just one of those songs that I heard completely by chance on Spotify and immediately knew I had to cover. I literally first heard this like on Tuesday, so my attempt at it is a bit rough (but not as rough as my looks after many months of semi-isolation lol) and I'm reading the lyrics off my computer as you can clearly tell. But who cares! I really love this song, and relate to the lyrics to an uncomfortable degree. So thanks for this massive mood of a song, Egg, whoever you are! :D

Mountains O Things (by Tracy Chapman) Ukulele Cover

Salla Kanerva 2021-01-11 | it's the horribly overgrown quarantine hair for me

Anyway hi, back at it again in 2021. New year, same rarely updating mess of a YouTube channel. But I have a couple of covers in the pipeline now that the sun is slowly starting to make more appearances and I don't feel horrible and exhausted all the time. Just most of the time. So I have a bit more energy and more opportunities to film stuff. I should probably get to the requests people made [checks watch] last March at some point, but we'll see.

This was a request I made for myself, because ever since I covered If Not Now... last spring I've been itching to do more Tracy Chapman covers. Her songs are so much fun to sing and play. Her vocals in this song especially are so incredible that I feel like I definitely didn't do it justice by a mile, but I just love singing this song and wanted to get it out there so here we are. Still pretending my messy covers are an artistic choice 2k21!

Hope y'all like it and hope to be back with more tunes soon!

The Sailors Wife (by Birdeatsbaby) Vocal + Piano Cover

Salla Kanerva 2020-09-11 | Phew! I've been planning this cover for a good part of a decade now and here it finally is! My ultimate plan was to do a version with both vocal tracks, including the harmonies and everything, but that would require playing with microphones and editing software, and all sorts of work I just wasn't feeling up to at the moment, so you get this for now. I think I will do a proper version later on, but that probably won't include a video. We'll see.

This was like take 700, because I kept messing up either the piano or the lyrics and I wanted this cover in particular to be as good as it could be. Which, funnily enough, means that you can definitely tell when the adrenaline about getting close to the end without messing up kicks in and my vocal control goes straight to hell! :'DD Or at least I can! It's just very funny to me. But regardless, I am finally finally happy enough with the end result to share, so here we are!

Fun fact: This is my 10th Birdeatsbaby cover across almost as many years! BEB is easily the band from whom I've covered the most songs, which is probably unsurprising! I love their music so fucking much, and they are the most fun to sing and play. And I'll give you a hint, this definitely won't be my last... :D

Armaan läheisyys (by Toni Edelmann) Vocal/Piano Cover

Salla Kanerva 2020-08-02 | Another request by mum and a deviation from my usual style. I can't play the piano parts to this well at all (and tbh I mostly improvised them by ear because I could not find any sheet music for them) and the interlude is a disaster but OH WELL! This was kind of a birthday/mother's day gift to my mum and I promised her a recording so, very belatedly, HERE'S A RECORDING! Thanks for the request and fun learning mission, mum! :D

(Also the reason I was tossing my head a lot is that there was a hair in my mouth the entire time and I was trying to get rid of it xD)

Dont Dim Your Light for Anyone (Thea Gilmore) Ukulele Cover

Salla Kanerva 2020-04-29 | I have found this song very comforting in these weird, trying times and I hope you do too! Thea Gilmore is a genius, and her album Small World Turning is an absolute masterpiece. Go listen to it right now!

"I don't know why things get this tough,
But I know you and you're enough
Every darkness has to take its turn,
So give your fire a little time to burn"

Know Your Name (by Mary Lambert) Ukulele Cover

Salla Kanerva 2020-04-26 | Happy Lesbian Day of Visibility!!! Apparently I am physically incapable of covering the songs that people actually requested from me and will instead sing literally anything else. OH WELL! But I felt like today is the perfect day to finally pay tribute to one of my favourite ladies in the world, Mary Lambert. She is the queen of happy-sad (and sometimes just super sad) sapphic jams and I love love love her. Please make sure to check out her music and poetry, she is truly in a class of her own. Anyway, this is my little tribute to her and all the other lesbian ladies out there on this wonderful day! Stay radiant and support trans women!

My Arms Will Open Wide (by Birdeatsbaby) Cover

Salla Kanerva 2020-04-09 | Well well, back to basics. This song wasn't requested by anyone in particular, but Denise reminded me of my love of BEB and that made me realise I've been listening to them for a good decade now and I got nostalgic! So here's a good ol' BEB cover - and on piano to boot! I haven't really rehearsed this song in years so I fumbled around quite a bit (curse you Mishkin, and your complicated piano outros! :'D) and the camera angle is the actual worst and so on and so forth, but WHATEVER! Shedding my perfectionism is part of the plan with this ongoing cover project. So I hope you'll indulge me in quest to be okay with mediocre performances, lol.

Anyway, hope your isolations are going well, stay strong and stay inside!

If Not Now... (by Tracy Chapman) Ukulele Cover

Salla Kanerva 2020-03-27 | Long time no see! I asked my friends and family for cover requests to kill time while self-isolating and here is the first instalment. Feel free to make requests of your own if you have a song in mind you'd like to hear me sing!

This one was requested by my lovely mother and I was more than happy to oblige! I love Tracy Chapman, and chances are this will be the first of many covers of her songs that will show up in the upcoming weeks... So keep tuned if that's your thing! Or even if it's not, I have plenty of other things in the pipeline as well. Anyway, keep on hanging on, everyone!

Kosketusta vailla vapiseva mies (by Vuokko Hovatta)

Salla Kanerva 2018-10-26 | Cover Friday woo! That's a thing right? Oh well.

More Finnish because I've been in a mood for it I guess. I was originally going to cover another song by Vuokko Hovatta on the ukulele, but that is just low enough that my vocal cords need to be in a particularly good mood for it to work and today they clearly weren't so I switched to this instead. Perhaps you can tell by my aggressive hammering that my piano/keyboard skills are a bit rusty but oh well, got the job done.

Also sorry about the white girl in a white dress in front of a white background thing, let's just pretend that this is a Halloween video and I'm dressed as a ghost. Okay? Okay.

Paper Forest (In The Afterglow of Rapture) (by Emmy the Great) Ukulele Cover

Salla Kanerva 2018-06-15 | I have a new phone and I can't seem to figure out which lens to look into, so sorry about the shifty eyes! :D Anyway, I love this song and it's a joy to sing. Hope you like it!

Näin minä vihellän matkallani (Scandinavian Music Group) Ukulele Cover

Salla Kanerva 2018-05-27 | More Finnish, as requested by some of my friends! Same band, though, because why not. I really love this song and the lyrics, really did not love recording this because my camera died like seven times and the angle is terrible, but WHATEVER. Not everything needs to be perfect.

Hope y'all like it!

Suicide Hotline (by The Prettiots) Ukulele Cover

Salla Kanerva 2018-02-10 | TRIGGER WARNING for suicidal ideation and depression in the lyrics! The song is pretty light overall, but these themes are discussed so if you find them triggering, maybe skip this one.

Blah blah been a long time etc. Immediately when I heard this song I knew I had to cover it, and here it is! I suck at ukulele riffs that you have to pick instead of strumming so the playing is a bit laboured at times but oh well. Hope you like it!

Then OK (by Julia Nunes) Ukulele Cover

Salla Kanerva 2017-08-01 | Cover time - on a Tuesday, surprisingly! Either way, I'm back with more Julia Nunes, whom I adore and who is totally my ukulele idol. Safe to say my fumbling strumming does not do her songs justice! Still, I love this song, and I hope my rendition is not a total act of blasphemy...

Hope you like it, I like comments, shares, likes, you know the drill! Until next time!

Vieläkö soitan banjoa? (by Scandinavian Music Group) Ukulele Cover

Salla Kanerva 2017-05-28 | Cover Sunday returns! It occurred to me that I make way too few covers in my mother tongue, that being the glorious mystery language, Finnish. So I figured I'd begin to remedy that by covering a long time favourite by Scandinavian Music Group.

It's by no means a pretty cover, but it has yet again been way too long since I uploaded anything, so it was time to get down and dirty with a quick, semi-effortless cover to get me going again. No regrets!!

Wet Sand (by Red Hot Chili Peppers) Ukulele Cover

Salla Kanerva 2017-02-12 | Phew, Cover Sunday returns after a bit of a break! What can I say, life happens. Anyway, I'm not entirely satisfied with this cover, mainly because I had so much difficulties keeping the lyrics straight that focusing on getting those right took most of the fun out of it, and the frustrating chords at the end kinda made for a fumbly finale, but ah well. Part of my nearly weekly cover project is to rid myself of excess perfectionism, so I shall take this as an exercise in doing just that!

I hope y'all like this anyway! Until (hopefully) next week!

Its A Sin (by Pet Shop Boys) Ukulele Cover

Salla Kanerva 2017-01-22 | Hello and happy Cover Sunday! This time I'm returning to the requests made by my friends back in August, this time with some 80s awesomeness aka Pet Shop Boys! This song was requested by my darling Wolfey, I hope you like it! :)

As per usual, sharing is caring and feedback is appreciated (even though I suck at responding to your lovely comments!) so feel free to give me your thoughts in comments! Until next time!

Ampersand (by Amanda Palmer) Cover

Salla Kanerva 2017-01-08 | Cover time, this time reminding you that I do, in fact, still use instruments other than the ukulele... Well, the piano anyway! Oldies might remember that I had a cover of this song up on my channel yeeeaaars ago, but that one was not very good and did not have me playing the piano myself, so I took it down. But this has been one of my favourite songs to sing and play for ages, so it didn't feel right not to have a cover of it on my channel. So it was re-cover time! It's not a perfect take, but ah well. Life isn't perfect!

Feedback and sharing much appreciated, as always! :)

Cool Thanks (by Julia Nunes) Ukulele Cover

Salla Kanerva 2017-01-01 | Hello hello and happy 2017! The ukulele cover-stravaganza continues in the new year with one of my more recent favourites. I discovered Julia Nunes all the way back in last February, and I've been desperately in love with her ever since! This song in particular is my fave, even though literally nothing in it applies to me as I quite literally live on compliments, abhor open conflict and obsess over birthdays, but ah well :D Still had to cover it!

I hope you enjoy and feedback and sharing is always much appreciated!

The Art of Suicide (by Emilie Autumn) Ukulele Cover

Salla Kanerva 2016-12-22 | Well, this one has certainly been a long time coming, although I never planned to make it a ukulele cover... Ah well! Anyway, I used to have a vocal cover of this song on my channel waaay back when, but it was pretty bad in quality of both sound and singing, so it has been long since deleted. However, a week ago on December 14th it was the 10 year anniversary of my EA fandom (!!!!!), so I felt it was finally time for a redo.

This has been one of my favourite EA songs since day one, and it was a delight to finally cover it. I was persuaded by Saya to make it a ukulele cover instead of the more traditional piano version I had in mind, but I hope y'all don't disapprove! Anyway, I will probably write a much longer, sappier 10-year anniversary post on some other social media platform to express my feelings, but all in all: Thanks for a weird, dramatic and lovely 10 years of EA fandom! Special thanks to those who have stuck around on my channel since the very first EA covers some 7 years ago, if any of you remain! You're hardcore! xoxo

In My Mind (by Amanda Palmer) Ukulele Cover

Salla Kanerva 2016-12-11 | Insanely long time no see! I promised some time in the autumn that I would try to get back into the habit of filming covers more frequently, but alas, camera troubles and procrastination have kept me from it until now. But now I finally make my triumphant (?) return with a cover that's been a looooong long time in the making, Amanda Palmer's In My Mind, one of my favourite songs.

This one is dedicated to my lovely friends Marie and Jarmila who requested that I cover this! Thanks you two! xo

I Wish I Wasnt [Original song]

Salla Kanerva 2016-03-21 | Well. It has certainly been a while since I last published any original songs. One year today, to be precise. That's the longest I've gone without finishing a song since I started four years ago, and it has really been a bummer. I've been working on a few songs during that time, but nothing has been finished and I haven't been pleased with my ideas at all. This one isn't much of a masterpiece either and also it's still more of a demo than a finished product, but I felt that if I went more than a year without putting out anything original my head would explode, so eh! I'm trying to re-learn to be less critical of my songwriting in general, since that has always been the main obstacle preventing me from doing it. There's a reason my first ever song was called I Can't Write Music... Anyway, I hope you like this, rough as it is, and any and all feedback is very very welcome!

Also I think this is my first angsty ukulele song! My art is evolving! XD

And here are the lyrics:

Wake up too early in the morning feeling like I haven't slept at all
Still carrying the broken fragments of my dreams, I've kept them all
Inside me I can feel the thunder
Floods trying to pull me under
And when I can swim no longer
Will I float or drown? I wonder.

Check my mail for new rejections from the jobs I need to stay alive
I need to get my shit together and I promise that I've tried
So hard but it is not so easy
I am fighting, please believe me
All the world wants me to be invisible, please can you see me?

The world is burning
Can you feel it
My mind is broken and I fear
That I can't heal it
I feel like there’s been a mistake
There are too many people awake
I wish I wasn't

Thinking of the past I do not see how this is how I’ve come to be
So full of fight but tired of everything – what do they want from me?
My silence? I will keep on screaming
Amplify the pain I'm feeling
Hoping I could wake up from this nightmare but I am not dreaming

The world is burning
Can you feel it
My mind is broken and I fear
That I can't heal it
I feel like there’s been a mistake
There are too many people awake
I wish I wasn't

So fucking angry
I’m sick of feeling
My heart is broken and I know
That it’s not healing
I do not think that I will survive
There are too many people alive
I wish I wasn't
I wish I wasn’t

Me singing Parasol (by Tori Amos)

Salla Kanerva 2015-12-03 | Well now, here's a little throwback Thursday video for you, in that Parasol was one of the first covers I made for this channel aaallll the way back in 2010. And while I'm not entirely pleased with this cover, at least I can safely say it's a hella lot better than the one I made back then :'DD So that's something! Anyway, this was requested by my lovely choir friends so I dedicate this to them! Also considering re-covering my other Tori cover from 2010 sometime soon so keep tuned!

Self Esteem (by Garfunkel and Oates) Ukulele Cover

Salla Kanerva 2015-10-19 | Didn't I say there would be more Garfunkel and Oates?? Perhaps you didn't expect that to mean this soon but it is what it is! Another favourite of mine, Self Esteem! This is the version that's on their latest album Secretions. Hope y'all like it!

You, Me and Steve (by Garfunkel and Oates) Ukulele Cover

Salla Kanerva 2015-10-17 | I finally discovered the amazingness that is Garfunkel and Oates recently, and since most of their songs are 1) very easy to play and 2) very ukulele driven, it was only a matter of time before I covered one of them. This is the first, and one of my faves, but more G&O is definitely to follow so keep tuned! Woop!

Me playing Hands of Orlac (by Birdeatsbaby)

Salla Kanerva 2015-09-15 | Aaand I'm back! With more Birdeatsbaby, how entirely surprising! :D Anyway, I love this song and I've been asked to cover it quite a few times so here it finally is! The Bullet is also in the works, as are some older ones, so keep tuned for even more BEB soon-ish! :) Feedback is welcome as always!

Polly (by Nirvana) Ukulele Cover

Salla Kanerva 2015-07-16 | More ukulele cover requests huzzah! This one was requested by my dearest online mum Saya, many thanks! I love this song and it's a joy to play and sing but BOY did this take forever to get right! Either I messed up the ukulele or if I got that right I certainly got the lyrics wrong etc etc... But I came, saw and conquered anyway! More requests are still welcome!

When I Grow Up (by Garbage) Ukulele Cover

Salla Kanerva 2015-07-14 | Part two of ukulele cover requests! This one was requested by my dearest Gigi! Many thanks for the request and also making me listen to Garbage because I do not listen to enough Garbage! What a band!

I Knew You Were Trouble (by Taylor Swift) Ukulele Cover

Salla Kanerva 2015-07-13 | I'm currently enjoying the somewhat disappointing summer weather in the middle of the woods with my family, so I figured I'd use my spare time wisely and cover some songs I've been requested to sing! This is the first one and it was requested by Tumblr user gadgal. Many thanks!

Also, I am still accepting cover requests so if you've got a song in mind you'd like to hear me sing accompanied by the ukulele, let me know and I'll see what I can do!

Me singing Giant Woman (by Rebecca Sugar)

Salla Kanerva 2015-07-06 | I have recently given up my life for the amazingness that is Steven Universe and the songs from that show are just too damn catchy! This one in particular has been stuck in my head for days and I won't stop playing it on my ukulele much to the neighbours' torment, so I finally figured I'd try to get it on video. And here it is! Steven Universe is the best and everyone should watch it!

Me singing Ghosts (by Birdeatsbaby)

Salla Kanerva 2015-04-30 | Part two of today's Birdeatsbaby double feature! I've been working on this cover for a while, but now I finally have the sheet music so I could do it properly! Hurrah! Love this song!

Me singing Drinking in the Day (by Birdeatsbaby)

Salla Kanerva 2015-04-30 | Today is a Birdeatsbaby double feature on this channel so keep an eye out for the next one! I finally got around to covering something from The Bullet Within, BEB's INCREDIBLE newest album! Eternal thanks to Mishkin for making the best music and also providing me with the sheet music! You're the best!

Less Than Three [Original song] || Lyrically Aggressive #1

Salla Kanerva 2015-03-21 | Welcome to Lyrically Aggressive, my new song project dedicated to cheerful ukulele tunes calling out the bullsh*t of the awful people in our lives! Do you want me to give someone who pisses YOU off the musical middle finger? Head over to http://lyricallyaggressive.tumblr.com and submit your story!

Big thanks to the lovely person who requested this song! As a disclaimer I will state that this song does not reflect my feelings and I am simply expressing the views of someone else, although through a creative lens of my own, of course.

And here are the lyrics for clarity:

Once upon a time
I fell for you
It was quite complicated but I thought
You cared for me too
For a while you let me think
We’d be okay
But you’re a cheating little coward
And here’s what I would like to say

Do you even know
How much it hurt
To have you say you care but then you’d go
And leave me in the dirt
I really loved you and thought you
were my best friend
But you just used me and abused me
And now it has to end

I let you see my scars and bruises
And I opened up my heart
But you just took advantage
And you tore it all apart
Now I finally see
How awful you were to me

There was a time my feelings
Made me blind
I couldn’t see how you’d pretend to care
And then leave me behind
Was it fun to keep on
Stringing me along?
You said you loved me but then
How you could have treated me so wrong

How could you be so cruel to me
When I was always there for you
You can’t just keep me on the shelf
Waiting for you to want me too
I deserve much more
I don’t even need you anymore

I really hope you’ve changed your ways,
I hear that you have someone new
I hope you treat her well, I’m sure that
She deserves better than you

You can keep your less than threes
because your heart means
Less and less to me

If you think this song is about you, it probably is [Original song]

Salla Kanerva 2015-03-04 | ...unless you're too obtuse to realise.

And here are the lyrics, in case you missed the point:

I wrote this song for you
And I hope you’re happy, friend
But even more I hope you take the hint
And see this has to end
The way you keep harassing people
You claim to appreciate
I hate to tell you this
But you’re a d*ckhead, mate

I truly am perplexed
By your behaviour towards those
Who kindly stick around and listen
To you whine about your woes
I do applaud their patience and I think
They’re more than you deserve
I gotta say
You’ve really got some nerve

The friendzone’s not a thing
And you’re behaving like a creep
You take advantage of your friends
And still think you’re the one who’s deep
You’re not special or artistic
You’re just whiny and a pain
Try to get the f*cking hint
Into your brain

It never ceases to amaze me
How some people are so rude
To think their friends must owe them something
Just for being a decent dude
But have I got some news for you, man
Nobody owes you squat
So please back off
You freaking goddamn twat

Take a good look in the mirror
And think about who’s losing
Think about the things you say
And just f*cking stop abusing
All the people who are kind enough
To deal with all your shit
Now leave them the f*ck alone
You f*cking tit

Me singing Young And Beautiful (by Lana Del Rey)

Salla Kanerva 2015-01-23 | So a while ago a friend suggested I covered something of Lana Del Rey's and I happen to really love this song and it's right in my range so here we are! This took me an eternity to record so I apologise for any mistakes, I got tired of reshooting over and over again. Anyway, I hope you all like this and do check out my other covers and original songs if you are so inclined!

Me singing What If (by Emilie Autumn) RE-COVER

Salla Kanerva 2014-09-28 | So I asked people on facebook to give me song suggestions I could cover, and my beloved Amy suggested I re-did something I covered when I was younger. So I thought what better a song to re-cover than the first one Amy ever heard from me - and currently the oldest public cover on my channel, Emilie Autumn's 'What If'.

I'd been waiting to do this cover again for a long time but I wanted to do it on an actual piano because it just sounds SO much nicer. Unfortunately the camera, tripod, piano and I are rarely in the same space anymore, so this had to do. Also if you're wondering why I'm wearing a corset, it's because I was re-creating my outfit from the original cover video I did almost 5 years ago! Sheesh, it's been so long!

Anyway, hope you enjoy! It's far from perfect still, but at least a whole lot better than in 2009! :D

Everything You Need [Original Song]

Salla Kanerva 2014-08-16 | Written for all my witchbabes who attended Veronica Varlow's Parlour today! You inspire me so much and I wanted to do something creative to remind us all that we're going to be okay and our dreams are possible. Like we learned today, FEAR = Forgetting Everything is All Right! I love you all so much, especially my darling witchmama Veronica - and I hope to see you again in the magic parlour! Mwah! xoxo

Lyrics:

I’ve been waiting for so long
for someone to tell me
That it’s alright and I
Need someone to take my hand
and lead me and guide me
through the night

And sometimes I forget that I’ve
Made it this far and I’m fine
Won’t regret what I’ve done
The past can stay behind
Now it’s time to turn my eyes up to the sky
And fly

Everything you need, my dear, is right in front of you
And everything you want to be is there inside of you
And the world’s gonna tell you your dreams will not help you along
So just fuck what they say and then prove them all wrong
You should know there is nothing that you cannot do

[Interlude]

Everyone feels lost sometimes
In need of someone
To show us the way and I
Know we all can find a friend
To walk beside us into the day

And although there are days when it
Feels so damn hard to survive
Just remember you’re beautiful and you’re alive
No one has to take on the whole world on their own
You’re not alone

Everything you need, my dear, is right in front of you
And everything you want to be is there inside of you
And fear’s just forgetting that everything is all right
So just hold your head high and put up a fight
Every day is a chance to make your dreams come true
And I’m so proud of you

I Am An Ocean [Original Song]

Salla Kanerva 2014-06-10 | Heya! Long-ass time, no see on the original song front! This song has been a work in progress since January, so I figured 5 months is long enough to sit on this and finally put a demo version online for the world to see. It's NOT finished and I did not perform it flawlessly, but it's gonna have to do for now. I will most likely tweak both the lyrics and structure in the future, but I hope this version isn't too horrible to listen to. :D

CONSTRUCTIVE FEEDBACK WANTED AND APPRECIATED! Aaand as usual here are the lyrics to those who can't decipher my failure of an accent:

1. I am an ocean, I'm shoreless and powerful
You can cause me no pain
You are so much more limited and yet you have
The same amount of salt in your veins... too

2. I am an ocean, I have ghosts inside of me
I guess I'm not free of blame
I could've drowned you, always crashed against you
And you would've done the same... to me

But I have the power to grow
There's so much more to me than you will ever know
I tried telling you so
But all you could see was my surface and nothing below

3. I am an ocean, I'm deeper and stronger
Than you ever anticipated
You thought me much shallower, sweeter and smaller
You had no idea how I hated...

4. ...You for not letting me carry you silently
Yet I dragged you back to the shore
Each time you decided that you'd had enough of me
But I don't want that anymore... Do you?

It took you too long to see
That you'll never own me because I will always be
Changeable as the sea
'Cause I am an ocean so don't you ever cross me

I am an ocean I'm shoreless and powerful
You can cause me no pain

Everything in "I Am An Ocean" © Sally Slander

Me singing Through Ten Walls (by Birdeatsbaby)

Salla Kanerva 2014-01-07 | Here we are again! Happy 2014 everyone and have a new cover! I've been attempting to cover this song for over 6 months but only now did I finally manage to get all the difficult parts close enough to right for me to dare to post this online. The interlude is far from perfect as is my singing at some parts, but oh well! I promised Mishkin I would cover this, and cover this I did! :D I hope you like it!

The Road Is Open (A Song for Veronica)

Salla Kanerva 2013-11-12 | Download an mp3 recording (with harmonies!) of this song HERE: http://db.tt/maPUZyJt

I was chatting with Veronica on Twitter last night when I couldn't sleep and we were rejoicing the reaching of $70k when suddenly I came up with the idea that I want to write a song for her inspired by Revolver. Cut to 2:30 am when I have lyrics done and now, 16 hours after I started writing (including 7 hours of sleep) the song is finally ready. It's pretty basic as I'm not used to writing songs this quickly, but I quite like it! I hope Veronica does too.

It's the first song I've written in almost a year so I'm glad I got it done! :)

Lyrics:

Come take me away my darling
I wanna see the world through your eyes
I wanna see fires burning
I wanna commit a thousand crimes

Please take me to Vegas baby
There's not enough light for me to shine
Stuck here in the state of dreaming
I need to go now before I die
Before I die

The road is open
The road is open
And I need to see it through
And I need to go with you

Please run away with me honey
The road is long but we'll survive somehow
As long as you stay beside me
Just hold my hand and run when I say now
When I say now

The road is open...

And we'll send them a post card
Saying if they come asking
You never saw anything at all

The Road Is Open © Sally Slander

You Belong To Me (aka REVOLVER KICKSTARTER HELL YEAH!)

Salla Kanerva 2013-10-18 | REVOLVER KICKSTARTER: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/veronicavarlow/revolver-a-road-trip-romance-in-exile-feature-film

I'm having a one person party to celebrate Veronica Varlow and Burke Heffner's movie kickstarter getting over $7,000 dollars in its first HOUR! That's some crazy shit right there! This is the song that was featured in the film's original concept trailer and I've loved it ever since, which is why I'm now covering it on my trusted ukulele as a congratulations for VeVa and Burke!