Back to bedlam*

While I don’t feel like stringing together a worthwhile and readable posting, forgive me harnessing someone else’s words (or lyrics, not the first and not the second time I recourse to them) to mark the (this time) definite ending of one chapter in my life and doubts whether it has not coincided with a new beginning. Doubts, since the chemistry is a missing piece and mere desire rarely burns long.

Carnival
The wheels fly and the colors spin
Through alcohol
Red wine that punctures the skin
Face to face
In a dry and waterless place

If I could through myself
Set your spirit free
I'd lead your heart away
See you break, break away
Into the light
And to the day
To let it go
And so to fade away

She runs through the streets
With her eyes painted red
Under black belly of cloud in the rain
In through a doorway she brings me
White gold and pearls stolen from the sea
She is raging
She is raging
And the storm blows up in her eyes
She will...
Suffer the needle chill
She's running to stand...

Still

Did I ask too much
More than a lot
You gave me nothing
Now it's all I got

You miss too much these days if you stop to think
You lead me on with those innocent eyes
You know I love the element of surprise
In the garden I was playing the tart
I kissed your lips and broke your heart

Sometimes I feel like I don't know
Sometimes I feel like checkin' out
I want to get it wrong
Can't always be strong
And love it won't be long...

And if you look, you look through me
And when you talk, you talk at me
And when I touch you, you don't feel a thing

I tied myself with wire
To let the horses run free
Playing with the fire until the fire played with me
The stone was semi-precious
We were barely conscious
Two souls too smart to be in the realm of certainty

* While all quotes are taken from U2 songs, the very title of the post comes from a different artist.

All is quiet on New Year’s Day

Not at my best today ;-) so will try keep my message short, yet not necessarily simple.

Year-end days are a time of compiling summaries; beginning of a new year is the time of making resolutions. I am not fond of neither of the turn-of-year activities. The former stands no chance of turning back time and erasing unfortunate past events; the latter sooner or later brings about frustration, since most promises made to oneself are not kept.

If I am to make a summary, 2016 was a year of breaking points.

The first one was rethinking my relationships with people before and after writing this post. I kept the record of mess in my head for posterity nearly in the eve of running across someone else’s wife and mother of two little girls, not fully satisfied with her marriage. We fell for each other instantly, but after a few months (when I think I’ve grown mature) I decided to terminate this dead-end arrangement…

Besides, I realised my job, though brings me self-fulfilment, is dead-end in terms of prospects of promotion, relocation and pay rise). Today my approach to what the New Factory offers me is even more pessimistic than three months ago and if I am to fend-off burning frustration, a change in 2017 seems inevitable.

If you still wish to do some exercise, take the trouble to indulge in what I have encouraged my friends to do in the last days of 2016. Recall what compliment you were most often paid in 2016 and which one pandered you the most. This should speak volumes about what you are good at and what you can develop.

Time for a set of wishes for 2017!

No human is perfect, but each human exhibits strengths and weaknesses. A human who strives (not obsessively) for perfection will realise and make good use of the former and fight, but not necessarily hide the latter.

The only pain is to feel nothing at all. Hollow life is the worst that can happen, I would rather wish you some painful experiences than uneventful, repeatable days. May 2017 be an eventful year! I believe the balance of good and bad luck in the universe is retained, so whenever cruel fate puts you to a test, lots of good people will come around, lend a helping hand and show they care. That’s at least what I observed in 2016 and what has filled me with faith in brighter tomorrow.

Winter wonderland

At long-last, the veritable winter has turned up. First days of January brought harsh frosts (day-time highs below –10C), yet the first winter episode was snow-free. The first proper snowfall was witnessed on Friday, 15 January; lasted since early afternoon until late evening and covered the ground with eleven centimetres of brand-new white powder. For comparison, maximum snow cover during the previous winter (on 9 February 2015) reached 4 centimetres (and melted right away).

The sight I woke up to behold on Saturday a week ago. While it had snowed temperature had been barely below zero, hence the snow was wet and thick. No wonder trees were bending under its weight. Temperature overnight had fallen to some –6C, hence shyly shining sun did not cause snow caps to drop.

Afternoon. After a bright morning sun has been occluded by clouds. I stroll around to gloat over the magnificence of winter. The sight caught from ul. Zimowa in NI brings to mind “White as snow” by U2. A pity we had not enjoyed such weather during Christmas. Peaceful, slightly dark, silent place. May the moment last!

Further up to Mysiadło, where side streets have not been cleared of all snow, rather it has been beaten and its compact layer is vehicle- and pedestrian-friendly. For inhabitants of terraced houses any bigger snow precipitation is a challenge, since front-yards and drives are too tiny to heap up masses of fallen snow.

Walking east, I get to premises of bygone PGR Mysiadło. Swathes of land covered with snow and a row of trees marking a boundary of the capital bring to mind… labour camps in Siberia. The association does not seem legitimate, since the only common element is a relatively large piece of flat land under the snow…

As I strut about towards ul. Puławska I notice heavy snow has not deterred motorists from moving about (I drove nearly 40 kilometres on that day, so why do I grumble?). Yet traffic jams congest side roads in Piaseczno. Here, clogged up ul. Wiśniowa, towards ul. Łabędzia, where a queue of cars before intersection with ul. Puławska is half a kilometre long. Situation is worsened by the fact some drivers use summer tyres useless in such conditions – setting a car in motion on ice is nearly impossible.

Here comes our saviour. Ul. Raszyńska in Piaseczno, tractor with a plough removes some of the snow from the street and puts down sand on it. Road clearance on roads governed by Piaseczno is a crying shame. Back yesterday, a week after the snowfall many roads were still covered with frozen slush…

And the outcome of the plough’s work. Worse than the day before. This is a regular ice, fortunately clearly visible, so less treacherous. Drive slowly, operate all pedals gently and use engine braking in advance to slow the car and provided no object cuts in on you unexpectedly, you should avoid going into a skid.

Here, an example of a frequent unsocial behaviour. The egg trader (or someone hired by him) has got rid of snow from their drive by shoving into onto the public street. The “move it away from myself (into no-one’s territory)” way of thinking is not what I put up with…

Last Sunday, level crossing in NI. Construction crews carry on working despite unfavourable weather. A weeks ago western track was ripped off nearly by the station in Nowa Iwiczna. Good to see works move on despite the winter.

And another snap of rail tracks, this time from ul. Mleczarska, the coal line. The Sunday was a gloomy day, yet the snow-covered earth brightened it up. Much healthier for one’s mood than a grey day with drizzle.

One more picture of snow-covered fields. Further from Warsaw in Mazowsze such landscapes splay out into the horizon. Here in the distance we see development in Stara Iwiczna and not very old housing estates in Piaseczno (where flat supply overhang is record-high, yet prices are not much lower than in some outer districts of Warsaw which enjoy better transport links with the city centre).

Monday, foggy morning seen from ul. Sarabandy. My journey to work lasted on that day nearly two hours (left home at 7:05, reached the office at 8:55), I guess longer than ever. Ul. Puławska was unusually congested; besides, waterworks crew dug up ul. Sarabandy at its northern end. I ended up driving there and back slowly and then, to avoid dense traffic on ul. Puławska, I turned right into ul. Karczunkowska and took a detour via Dawidy Bankowe (ul. Starzyńskiego was one huge ice rink).

Yesterday. Temperature overnight fell to –13C, morning greeted with clear blue skies and hard rime, setting on trees. Picturesque sights to lap up before they disappear for a while. Forecasters predict thaw is due tomorrow and within a fortnight winter is unlikely to return.

In the afternoon I took a bus to Pyry and marched into the forest. To my surprise, Las Kabacki was not chock full of ski-runners and walkers. Quite disappointing given the weather was conducive to enjoying gorgeousness of the winter which will soon be gone.

Heading towards the bus stop, I take a shot of ul. Puławska from the footbridge over the artery. Note the white shade of asphalt. Road clearance in Warsaw, compared to Piaseczno where the town’s services have buggered it up all along, seems beyond reproach, yet massive amount of salt on the streets are the price to pay. The footwear deserves watering when I get to the office and then at home, not to let salt mix up with the leather. The car looks horribly (in some spots the bodywork is virtually white) and is due for a decent wash-up as soon as thaw arrives. Roll on spring!

Until the end of the world

Haven't seen you in quite a while
I was down the hold just passing time
Last time we met was a low-lit room
We were as close together as a bride and groom
We ate the food, we drank the wine
Everybody having a good time
Except you
You were talking about the end of the world

I took the money
I spiked your drink
You miss too much these days if you stop to think
You lead me on with those innocent eyes
You know I love the element of surprise
In the garden I was playing the tart
I kissed your lips and broke your heart
You...you were acting like it was
The end of the world

In my dream I was drowning my sorrows
But my sorrows, they learned to swim
Surrounding me, going down on me
Spilling over the brim
Waves of regret and waves of joy
I reached out for the one I tried to destroy
You...you said you'd wait
'til the end of the world

 

If there is a perfect song on the leitmotiv of guilt, the U2’s song is for me an undisputable candidate for it.

According to the most common interpretation, the lyrics illustrate the last momenta of the relationship between Judas Iscariot and Jesus, told from the perspective of the former. References to biblical story, including the last supper, betrayal in the garden and Judas overwhelmed with pang of conscience appear clear, but somehow I have never been fond of this elucidation. Mentioning ‘being close together like bride and groom’, or ‘playing the tart’ verges on hinting on a homosexual relationship between Jesus and Judas Iscariot, which would have been a pure sacrilege.

From the first time I heard it, in late 2002, I have construed the song as a confession of a man who seduced a woman and is full of remorse on account of his deeds. “Until the end of the world” has besides and thus has a very personal dimension for me.

Today, while sitting about in an empty office, trying to oversee content-related aspects of a new supporting IT tool for underwriters (incidentally, I believe this will be a huge botch-up, the implementation phase reveals this is bound to fuck things up, rather than revamping the current process, this always happens when a man is harness to serve its tools, not other way round), I let my mind drift away and pondered upon relationships between women and men, or rather a single facet of them, namely why usually women pair up with older man. The reasons why men fall for younger women are quite obvious (albeit I have not reached the age when younger girls would impress me and still prefer a bit older ones), while motives behind women’s preference of older males remain a bit puzzling for me. I know women seek mature, responsible, wealthier guys, but are these the only reasons? Is it the matter of cultural stereotypes, stating a male should be older? I believe in the era of thriving liberties such prejudices should not play any role. Among the readers of this blog there are surely men married to much (more than 5 years) younger women, so maybe they wield the key to the door? Or maybe before posting comments they should take their wives’ advice?

Tomorrow the main opposition party will host a debate of economists on its recently announced economic agenda, by many hailed as disastrous for public finances. Many renowned economist are expected to turn up, albeit some eminent figures, such as dr hab. Leszek Balcerowicz and governor of the central bank, prof. Marek Belka declined to attend it. The debate will be held tomorrow at 10:00 a.m., so I will not be able to keep track of it and hope I will find an extensive on-line transcript of it. This will help me not only assess key proposals in PiS’ economic agenda, but also review the economists’ stance on it. I hope the discussion will be purely substantive and I am looking forward to more such initiatives. PiS have finally showed they want to do something to move Poland forward, rather than simply slating the government (faring worse and worse indeed).

Meteorologists are forecasting a full-blowm summer to come over around the next weekend. Temperatures in the last days of September are said to hit +30C which would mean record-breaking temperatures during astronomical autumn. So if this comes to a pass, the coverage of the debate might be delayed by one week, so I am apologising in advance. If the last of the summer beckons, resisting to indulge in outdoor activities would not be forgiven.

Offline

Went through an involuntary Internet-rehab over the last week. The extent of the therapy wasn’t actually full, as I had access to most websites at work, but access to private e-mail, blogs, bank and brokerage accounts, allegro or facebook is blocked there, hence I was devoid of some entertainments offered by the Web. Truth be told I didn’t miss surfing the Net much, so it seems I’m not addicted to it(yet), but having no access to the Internet is inconvenient. I couldn’t read nor comment on any blogs, I couldn’t speculate in stocks, paying bills on-line was impossible, I didn’t know how my friends were keeping. Maybe the reason why I didn’t miss it much was that I had to work overtime over the week and back at home I wouldn’t have found much time to turn the computer on anyway. In fact my notebook was switched off for five days (antivirus software warnings of outdated protection popped up immediately), for the first time since September 2009…

The reason for being cut off the rest of the world was a defective Huawei (pron. ch**owy) modem delivered by Cyfrowy Polsat (hereinafter: CP). Buying their services was a memorable rough ride, but using it was all downhill since then. Until it worked…

The Chinese modem (piece of sh*t) began to spin out of control in November. It developed a despicable habit of disconnecting and reconnecting whenever it felt like doing so. This was a bit annoying, but I put up with this, as it didn’t impede much using the Internet. On 5 December it also began to transfer data at its discretion. Over the previous week most of time it didn’t upload nor download any data, but at times it roused up and did its job, until it went into a stand-by mode again. Last Saturday I went with it to several shops of CP, but none had any other modem to lend to us for the time of the repair. Finally an assistant recommended us to skip the intermediation of CP’s customer service and turn directly to Huawei repair centre, located in Piaseczno, who should check the modem off-hand and fix it overnight.

On Sunday, just after publishing the post on the blog, my modem gave up the ghost for good. My father took the modem to the repair centre on Monday. They promised to check it overnight and get in touch as soon as possible. They hung back on contacting us, so my father called them on Tuesday. They replied the modem was broken down beyond repair and under warranty would be replaced for a new one, free of charge. Unfortunately they had just run out of the devices and waited for the delivery of new ones. We called them for a few consecutive days and asked them when they expected the delivery. Finally on Friday they blatantly declared Christmas was coming and the new supply wouldn’t come in by the end of the year. The sods there didn’t give a shit about the fact that their customer would have to stay offline for some four weeks and pay the monthly fee for the Internet connection as usual. Shocked by the insolence of the repair centre I demanded my modem back, but it turned out it wasn’t an easy task for the sods to reverse the order which was being effected. I saw red, but despite having my blood pressure sent rising, I quickly realised they couldn’t do it to me. I was the owner of the modem and the sods could not seize my belongings, so I threatened to sue them for stealing my stuff. It worked. I called my father and he picked it up, together with the repair report, in the meantime I arranged borrowing another modem from CP shop in Piaseczno. My father did me a favour, handled the complaint procedure again and brought the lent modem home.

On Friday evening (or night) I returned home late from a corporate X-mas booze-up, additionally I looked like a drowned rat, as the pouring down rain left me totally sodden. Sodden and moderately befuddled, I didn’t feel capable of operating technical devices, so I decided to plug in the borrowed modem on Saturday. On Saturday I made an attempt to use the device, but it also turned out defective. The modem from CP shop lacked drivers and software and my computer couldn’t detect the content of its internal disk. I drove (no hangover so I assumed alcohol level in my blood was negligibly low) to CP’s shop and asked there to transfer modem drivers and CP software to my pendrive. I had to go there twice because for the first time they had given me the wrong software (from a different modem) and at last I needed to call CP customer service helpline to get the support in installing it…

Now it works, but things haven’t straightened out yet. I don’t how long my modem will be under repair, I don’t know if the opinion of the repair centre will be the same and if the new one will work properly. Right now I’m thinking how to get back on CP for the quality of their customer service. I’m not vindictive towards people, but powerful corporations that mistreat their customers must not go unpunished and their sins won’t be absolved. What sort of compensation should I demand? I don’t need apologies, they’re duty bound to provide me with a new modem under warranty, but how about claiming exemption from monthly Internet connection charges? Am I entitled?

Two readers marked my previous post as “well-argued / clear”, so a quick follow up – I’m still emotionally unstable and the magnitude of instability is very volatile.

Maybe due to what I described last week I’ve become disturbingly indifferent to current political and economic issues. I wasn’t focused the outcomes of EU summit held on 8 and 9 December, sovereignty marches staged on 30th anniversary of declaring martial law haven’t impressed me (my take on the martial law hasn’t changed since two years), nor did the end of Polish presidency to the EU. Yesterday in the evening, back online I found out stock markets are poised for a very bearish Christmas period (technical analysis and macro factors back this scenario) and may hit this year’s new low by the end of the year. Cesaria Evora and Vaclav Havel passed away - happens

I let things drift, every destiny should be fulfilled.

What no man can own, no man can take.
(U2, Yahweh)

You miss too much these days if you stop to think
(U2, Until the end of the world)

The two quotations reverberate in my mind and emerge from an enormous tangle occupying my head and giving way to clear thinking only when I concentrate at work or drive a car.

I let things drift, let the destiny fulfil itself.

Next week – another follow up to the story of my ex-classmate.

Story of my life*

Lit upon this just a moment ago, reluctant to rant over Bernanke's dithering, Poland under construction (maybe next week), independent members of monetary polic council backing a specific party or an insolent lout who said members parliament who hail from the countryside had gone bananas...

Random memories, teenage years, put into sublime words

11 September 2001

It's early fall

There's a cloud on the New York skyline

Innocence dragged across a yellow line

21 May 2011

True love can never be rent

But only true love can keep beauty innocent

20 September 2002

I took the money

I spiked your drink

You miss too much these days if you stop to think

You lead me on with those innocent eyes

You know I love the element of surprise

11 October 2002

Did I ask too much, more than a lot?

You gave me nothing, now it's all I got

12 October 2002

Three o'clock in the morning

It's quiet and there's no one around

Just the bang and the clatter

As an angel runs to ground

Just the bang and the clatter

As an angel hits the ground

5 November 2002

You say when he hits you, you don't mind

Because when he hurts you, you feel alive

Is that what it is?

Red lights, grey morning

You stumble out of a hole in the ground

A vampire or a victim

It depends on who's around

23 January 2003

Carnival

The wheels fly and the colors spin

Through alcohol

Red wine that punctures the skin

Face to face

In a dry and waterless place

14 February 2003

And if you listen I can't call

And if you jump, you just might fall

And if you shout I'll only hear you

14 April 2003

So sad to beseige your love so head on

Stay this time

Stay tonight in a lie

I'm only asking but I...

I think you know

28 June 2003

She runs through the streets

With her eyes painted red

Under black belly of cloud in the rain

In through a doorway she brings me

White gold and pearls stolen from the sea

She is raging

She is raging

And the storm blows up in her eyes

She will...

Suffer the needle chill

She's running to stand...

27 March 2004

You know he got the cure

You know he went astray

He used to stay awake

To drive the dreams he had away

He wanted to believe

In the hands of love

2 April 2004

I'm a man

I'm not a child

A man who sees

The shadow behidn your eyes

5 April 2004

You say love is a temple, love a higher law

Love is a temple, love the higher law

You ask me to enter, but then you make me crawl

And I can't be holding on to what you got, when all you got is hurt

29 June 2004

I want you to know

That you don't need me anymore

I want you to know

You don't need anyone

Or anything at all

28 September 2004

And we live by the side of the road

On the side of a hill

As the valley explode

Dislocated, suffocated

The land grows weary of its own

26 November 2004

And you feel like no-one before

You steal right under my door

And I kneel 'cause I want you some more

I want the lot of what you got

And I want nothing that you're not

18 March 2005

You were pretty as a picture

It was all there to see

Then your face caught up with your psychology

With a mouth full of teeth

You ate all your friends

And you broke every heart thinking every heart mends

You speak of signs and wonders

But I need something other

I would believe if I was able

But I'm waiting on the crumbs from your table

31 May 2005

Listen to me now

I need to let you know

You don't have to go it alone

And it's you when I look in the mirror

And it's you when I don't pick up the phone

Sometimes you can't make it on your own

11 September 2005

Oh, oh, oh...on borderland we run...

And still we run

We run and don't look back

I'll be there

I'll be there

Tonight

Tonight

14 October 2005

The glass is cut

The bottle run dry

Our love runs cold

In the caverns of the night

We're wounded by fear

Injured in doubt

I can lose myself

11 December 2005

Time? time...

Won't leave me as I am

But time won't take the boy out of this man

8 April 2006

No, nothing makes sense

Nothing seems to fit

I know you'd hit out

If you only knew who to hit

14 July 2006

You had to win

You couldn't just pass

The smartest ass

At the top of the class

27 July 2006

Desert sky

Dream beneath a desert sky

The rivers run but soon run dry

We need new dreams tonight

1 January 2007

If I could throw this

Lifeless lifeline to the wind

Leave this heart of clay

See you walk, walk away

Into the night

And through the rain

Into the half-light

And through the flame

If I could through myself

Set your spirit free

I'd lead your heart away

See you break, break away

Into the light

And to the day

To let it go

And so to fade away

To let it go

And so fade away

21 December 2007

Blinded you lost your way

Through the side streets and the alleyway

Like a star exploding in the night

Falling to the city in broad daylight

24 January 2008

It's no secret that a conscience can sometimes be a pest

It's no secret ambition bites the nails of success

7 August 2008

When I first met you girl

You had fire in your soul

What happened to you face of melting now?

25 September 2008

You're in my mind all of the time

I know that's not enough

if the sky can crack

there must be some way back

to love and only love

23 October 2008

One step closer to knowing

24 December 2008

See His mother dealing in a doorway see Father Christmas with a begging bowl

Jesus sister's eyes are a blister ... The High Street never looked so low

3 March 2009

Now this dry ground it bears no fruit at all

Only poppies laugh under the crescent moon

The road refuses strangers

The land the seeds we sow

Where might we find the land as white as snow

1 April 2009

It's not a hill, it's a mountain

As you start out the climb

24 July 2009

At the moment of surrender

I'm falling to my knees

I did not notice the passers-by

And they did not notice me

14 July 2009

You had to win

You couldn't just pass

The smartest ass

At the top of the class

24 Septmeber 2009

I must be an acrobat

To talk like this

10 April 2010

In the wind we hear their laughter

In the rain we see their tears

Hear their heartbeat

We hear their heartbeat

19 May 2010

You can dream

So dream out loud

You know that your time is coming 'round

So don't let the bastards grind you down

31 May 2010

He went deeper into black

Deeper into white

Could see the stars shining

Like nails in the night

22 August 2010

In my dream I was drowning my sorrows

But my sorrows, they learned to swim

Surrounding me, going down on me

Spilling over the brim

4 November 2010

Haven't seen you in quite a while

I was down the hold just passing time

Last time we met was a low-lit room

20 November 2010

Jesus can you take the time

To throw a drowning man a line?

19 March 2011

And it’s already gone too far

You said that if you go in hard

You won’t get hurt

30 June 2011

You had to win

You couldn't just pass

The smartest ass

At the top of the class

25 August 2011

If I could, you know I would

If I could, I would

Let it go...

This desparation

Dislocation

Separation

Condemnation

Revelation

In temptation

Isolation

Desolation

Let it go

* Compiled solely from U2 lyrics

Achtung Baby!

The post appears accidentally – a speaker in the radio reminded me about the anniversary – one of the most remarkable albums of U2 and in the history of rock music was released exactly eighteen years ago.

The radio station played, predictably, the most renowned song form the album, the one you must be familiar with – One. Personally I think it’s the only U2’s popular song to be of real value – mostly those jewels are hidden somewhere in the latest tracks and only those who buy a CD can draw pleasure from listening to them. Achtung Baby also includes such examples of ear-catching sounds and magnificent lyrics.

The Fly – the first single from the album and the presage of the band’s music changeover. Being interpreted as a call from hell also depicts the rotten pop culture of the early nineties.

Until the end of the world – a history of the last days of Judas Iscariot – no matter if you’re a believer or not, this is a masterpiece…

Ultraviolet (Light my way) – a broken relationship in brief.

Acrobat – the band have never got any higher – in case of music, but mostly in case of lyrics. It carries a big, emotional message, laying bare the hypocrisy, it’s a song about being a hypocrite, as once Bono said, but I see there a lot more – broken up relationships, doubts, religion, need for belonging, emptiness overcome by the hope, but above all feeling of being lost.

Politically involved songs / Utwory politycznie zaangażowane / Looking into the past

Probably everybody would agree popular music went on the dogs. Songs with corny, not to say dull lyrics like “I love you baby, love me tonight” top the charts. Most of them do not convey any, even the most simply message. That’s why I’m searching for the songs related to the breakthrough or just ordinary political events, in general related to politics. I came up with fifteen examples and divided them into three groups…

The order is random, do not treat it as a ranking!

I. U2 (my favourite band) songs

1) Sunday Bloody Sunday /1983/ (referring to the Bloody Sunday in Derry, 1972)

Broken bottles under children's feet
Bodies strewn across the dead end street
But I won't heed the battle call
It puts my back up
Puts my back up against the wall

2) Red Hill Mining Town /1987/ (inspired by the miners' strikes in the UK, in 1984 and 1985, after Margaret Thatcher’s government decided to close down the unprofitable mines)

We'll scorch the earth
Set fire to the sky
We stoop so low to reach so high

3) Please /1997/ (about unrest in North Ireland)

So you never knew love until you crossed the line of grace
And you never felt wanted till you had someone slap your face
So you never felt alive until you almost wasted away

4) In God’s Country /1987/ – a depressing and full of metaphors picture of Reagan’s America

Sleep comes like a drug...in god’s country
Sad eyes crooked crosses...in god’s country

5) New Year’s Day /1983/ - the only one song of U2 referring to Poland (inspired by the martial law)

Under a blood red sky
A crowd has gathered in black and white
Arms entwined, the chosen few
The newspapers says, says
Say it's true it's true...
And we can break through
Though torn in two
We can be one

II. Other songs in English

1) The Scorpions – Wind of change /1990/ (pulling down the Berlin Wall, transformation in former communist bloc)

I follow the Moskva,
Down the Gorky Park,
Listening to the wind of change

2) The Hooters – 500 Miles /1989/ (the massacre on Tianannmen Square on 4th June, 1989)

A hundred tanks along the square,
One man stands and stops them never
Some day soon, the tide will turn, and I’ll be free

3) Elton John’s – Goodbye England’s Rose /1997/ (written for the funeral of Princess Diana)

Goodbye England's rose
May you ever grow in our hearts
You were the grace that placed itself
Where lives were torn apart…

4) Bruce Springsteen – Born in the U.S.A. (said to refer to the aftermaths of Vietnam war on American Society’s mentality, but I’m not sure, than used in electoral campaign, but whose?)

Down in the shadow of the penitentiary
Out by the gas fires of the refinery
I'm ten years burning down the road
Nowhere to run ain't got nowhere to go

5) Bob Dylan – Blowin’ in the wind /1963/ (the anthem of pacifists, posing a string of questions about human existence)

Yes, 'n how many deaths will it take, 'til he knows,
That too many people have died ?
Yes, 'n how many years can some people exist,
Before they're allowed to be free ?
Yes, 'n how many times can a man turn his head,
Pretending, he just didn't see ?

III. Utwory po polsku

1) Krystyna Prońko – Psalm stojących w kolejce /1980/ - jeden z nieformalnych hymnów „Solidarności”

Bądź jak kamień, stój, wytrzymaj,
Kiedyś te kamienie drgną,
I polecą jak lawina przez noc, przez noc, przez noc...

2) Lombard – Przeżyj to sam /ok. 1984/, utwór dość dobrze oddaje społeczne nastroje w połowie lat 80-tych, już po zniesieniu stanu wojennego, ale w codziennej szarości i beznadziei.

Przeżyj to sam,
Nie zamieniaj serca w twardy głaz,
Póki jeszcze serce masz...

3) Lady Pank – Mniej niż zero /1986/ - odwołanie do zabójstwa Grzgorza Przemyka, w maju 1983 roku

Twoje miejsce na ziemi tłumaczy
Zaliczona matura na pięć...

4) Obywatel G.C. – Nie pytaj o Polskę /1988/ - może już bez komentarza

nie pytaj mnie
co ciągle widzę w niej
nie pytaj mnie dlaczego w innej nie
nie pytaj mnie
dlaczego ciągle chcę
zasypiać w niej i budzić się

5) Pudelsi – Wolność słowa /2002/ - żeby było z przymrużeniem oka

And now getting off the track...
The next celebrations of 3rd May Anniversary of Passing Constitution bring to mind infinite wave of questions… Are we really entitled to take pride in that anniversary? Indeed, it was one of the first constitutions in the world, an upshot of concerted effort of the country’s elite. But this country had deserved the fate it met. From the its golden age, when Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania covered almost one million square kilometres area it slid into dismay and was eventually wiped off the Europe’s map. That was the fault of Polish nobility that had seen the golden freedom as the virtue of the land they inhabited. In fact, the golden freedom was nothing else but backwardness, partiality, pursuit of one’s interests, heedless of the others. In the West countries were getting richer by accumulating their income. We impoverished ourselves by squandering our wealth. Our Western neighbours were building factories, our barns were empty, but the nobility would throw lavish feasts… Under those circumstances, when Poland was in decay, partitions were inexorable… And the 3rd May Constitution was just the last gasp of crumbling state…

Would you add any other songs to that list?
Comment in both English and Polish are welcome
Zarówno komentarze po polsku, jak i po angielsku są mile widziane

No Line On The Horizon...

I can’t fail to mention the newly (just today) released U2 album. Some commentators say that’s a breakthrough, others suggest this album summarizes thirty years of their activity. Having listened to it several times I guess the applause was a bit premature. Some songs are quite impressing but there are few apparent failures too. The band approaches the image of commercial-success-minded pop star. Music reminds me their best songs, particularly from “The Unforgettable Fire”, but corny lyrics let me down. Actually each song carries a kind of message but that’s not old good U2. From the recent album’s lyrics I picked out almost ninety quotations to set them as statuses on my GG. Having read new lyrics I found about ten. Their songs used to be lofty, used to raise political, social issues (like my blog…). Fortunately, I see one exception – the last song, as typically in their albums – very soft ballad – a confession of war correspondent from Lebanon… If it’s worth hearing – depends on your taste, but I guess it’s at least worth reading…

Cedars Of Lebanon Lyrics

Yesterday I spent asleep
Woke up in my clothes in a dirty heap
Spent the night trying to make a deadline
Squeezing complicated lives into a simple headline

I have your face here in an old Polaroid
Tidying the children’s clothes and toys
You’re smiling back at me, I took the photo from the fridge
Can’t remember what then we did

I haven’t been with a woman, it feels like for years
Thought of you the whole time, your salty tears
This shitty world sometimes produces a rose
The scent of it lingers and then it just goes

Return the call to home

The worst of us are a long drawn out confession
The best of us are geniuses of compression
You say you’re not going to leave the truth alone
I’m here ‘cos I don’t want to go home

Child drinking dirty water from the river bank
Soldier brings oranges he got out from a tank
I’m waiting on the waiter, he’s taking a while to come
Watching the sun go down on Lebanon

Return the call to home

Now I’ve got a head like a lit cigarette
Unholy clouds reflecting in a minaret
You’re so high above me, higher than everyone
Where are you in the Cedars of Lebanon?

Choose your enemies carefully ‘cos they will define you
Make them interesting ‘cos in some ways they will mind you
They’re not there in the beginning but when your story ends
Gonna last with you longer than your friend