I learned both mean a song? But when is one used over the other? And i am guessing biisi is a loan word, from where? Kiitos
Biisi is slang, laulu is not.
Biisi is more often used to refer to pop-songs, you’d not hear an orchestral piece be called a “biisi”. Laulu, like song, usually refers to music with vocals, while biisi does not necessarily have to refer to something with lyrics. Calling Darude’s Sandstorm a “biisi” would work, but calling it a “laulu” would not.
According to the finnish etymological dictionary, biisi is from the the english word “piece”. The finnish word for “piece” is “kappale” and can also be used to refer to a song, or in fact any “piece” of art, kinda like in english.
I would not use ‘laulu’ when talking about contemporary music, it sounds wildly dated. Laulu also tends to refer only the vocals, or that least comes off as dismissive of the rest of the piece.
Biisi indeed works with popular music but is not appropriate for classical compositions (sävellys). Instead of ‘biisi,’ I would generally use ‘kappale.’ It does not, however, work for all pieces of art, one would not refer to a painting or a sculpture as ‘kappale.’
