History sung

Recently we were listening with Wang Wei along a whole night to the songs of the Spanish Transition, comparing those years with those of the change of regimes in Eastern Europe. During that night we decided that we would post for each other some songs now and then that put into words the history as it was personally experienced, and that thus became “hymns” for a generation, as they say in Spanish.

Such songs, in spite of their popularity in their own countries, are almost always unknown beyond their borders. They are never translated, and when their melody is occasionally borrowed it is always provided with a new text. Only if you take into consideration how many such songs you know and love in your own language – and hereby we ask the benevolent Reader to share with us her or his own ones – then you realize how important dimensions of the history of all the other countries remain unknown to you, even if you perhaps know the languages of some of them.

At the same time it is exactly the local notoriety of these songs that makes it difficult to write about them in one’s own language. For what could I tell about them that my compatriots do not know? If it were not for the deliberate bilinguism of our blog, we would prefer to write about them only in English, so that Wang Wei – or Pei Di – would translate them only into Spanish or Hungarian, respectively. Under the circumstances, however, we cannot but keep in mind an ideal reader who is a foreigner but nevertheless reads well Hungarian or Spanish; and consequently we also expect our benevolent Reader to keep in mind that these posts have been written for such an ideal reader and to benevolently forgive us the references to things too well known to her or him.

It is even difficult to label these posts in their original languages. In English most of such songs are called “ballads” and those who sing them “ballad singers.” In other languages there is no word for the genre, but yes for their authors-singers, like the Spanish and Italian “cantautores” and “cantautori”, or the Russian “бард”. In Hungarian, however, neither the genre nor its singers have a term of their own, although both of them exist since the medieval minstrels and the wandering chronicle-singers of the Turkish wars to János Bródy and Dusán Sztevanovity (the latter has just published in print his complete lyrics written since the '60s with the title Csak szöveg [Just texts]). Finally, while keeping “ballad” as our English label, in the Hungarian version of the blog we decided to adopt the label “énekelt versek” (“poems sung”) coined by the great performer Ferenc Sebő in the '80s which also indicates how much this genre has borrowed from written poetry, both from medieval minstrels and Renaissance chronicle-singers and from modern authors.


As this thread started from the songs of various changes of regimes, let us open our sounding gallery with the song of the Hungarian change of regime undergone by ourselves, the Happy times by Zorán Sztevanovity.

(Those who read some Hungarian, here can find a fascinating short biography of the two brothers of Serbian origin, the singer Zorán and the poet Dušán whose father, having fought as a Serbian partisan against the Nazis, suffered several years of persecution, imprisonment and tortures in the '50s as a member of the Yugoslavian embassy of Budapest for resisting to the claims of autocracy of both Tito and Stalin. One of their most famous songs, also quoted below, bears reference to these events.)

Interestingly, the experiences of the years of change in the late '80s and early '90s, bringing with themselves the interruption of so many friendships falling on the other side of the unexpectedly and irrationally outlined new ideological borders, will be also familiar to our Spanish readers, albeit not in the perspective of twenty, but rather of eighty years. We specifically call the attention of our foreign readers to such polysemic idioms like “camp” (peace camp, pioneer camp, labour camp), or “digging a pit” (“gravediggers of capitalism” and the Hungarian proverb “who digs a pit for others will fall in it himself”), as well as to such idiosyncrasies like the unspecific great purpose or the never-falling sun of glory that will also sound familiar to those heirs of the world empire of Emperor Charles V (above which the sun never fell) who have lost it through a long series of defeats.


Dusán Sztevanovity (text) and Zorán (song):
Boldog idő (Happy time) (from the CD Az élet dolgai (The things of life), 1991)

So proudly stood the camp in the very middle of the world and we had a tent of our own and her and me in it It was a tremendously bright age the Sun shone day and night and we discovered the great purpose: she me and I her. It was a great life The song was echoing on The heart was drumming for that was a beautiful, happy time no wine, no money, only me and her That was a beautiful, happy time happy time In the daytime we mostly digged pits: the beautiful future already came up to the shoulders and we were always on the top once me and then her Tell me anything, but I liked that damned past time because there was the tent in it and her and me in the tent It was a great life The song was echoing on The heart was drumming for that was a beautiful, happy time no wine, no money, only me and her That was a beautiful, happy time only me and her, happy time And then the camp suddenly collapsed in the very middle of the peace and the tent buried us under itself with me and her in it And by when we finally crept out there was no camp, only bad weather and we set out to seek for a new tent this way me and that way her In front of us there was the large horizon and I already see that this will be the beautiful happy time no problem, no money, no wine, no woman This will be the beautiful happy time no money, no woman happy time

Olyan büszkén állt a tábor Pont a világ kellős közepén És a miénk volt egy sátor Benne ő, és benne én Az egy roppant fényes kor volt Éjjel-nappal a Nap sütött És a nagy célt felfedeztük Engem ő, és én meg őt Nagy élet volt Az ének szólt A szív dobolt Mert az volt a szép boldog idő Se bor, se pénz, csak én meg ő Az volt a szép boldog idő Boldog idő Nappal főleg vermet ástunk Már vállig ért a szép jövő De mi mindig fölül voltunk Egyszer én, máskor ő Mondhatsz bármit, nekem tetszett Ez az átkos múlt idő Mert a sátor ott állt benne És benne én, s benne ő Nagy élet volt Az ének szólt A szív dobolt Mert az volt a szép boldog idő Se bor, se pénz, csak én meg ő Az volt a szép boldog idő Csak én meg ő, boldog idő Aztán összedőlt a tábor Pont a béke kellős közepén Maga alá gyűrt a sátor És benne ő, és benne én S mire lassan előbújtunk Tábor nincs, csak rossz idő Megyünk sátor után nézni Erre én és arra ő Előttünk áll A tág határ S én látom már Hogy az lesz a szép boldog idő Se gond, se pénz Se bor, se nő Az lesz a szép boldog idő Se pénz, se nő boldog idő

Two other songs serve for footnote to this one. The Volt egy tánc (There Was a Dance), written on the melody of Leonard Cohen’s “Take This Waltz” and published on the same CD – it could have not even been published earlier – sums up the history of the fifty years coming to a definitive end in 1989, through the personal history of the author’s and singer’s parents: from pre-war years, the last time when there was dance and brooch and culture in Hungary through the darkness of the fifties to the hopeless provincialism of the three decades of the so-called “Kádár era”. There’s not much to explain about this either. We call the attention of the foreign reader that the “dreadful car” is a synonyme of the idiom “fekete autó” (“black car”, e.g. “the black car came for him” = ‘he was arrested by the secret police’) that in those years put deep roots in colloquial Hungarian.


Dusán & Zorán Sztevanovity: Volt egy tánc (There Was a Dance) (From the CD Az élet dolgai (The Things of Life), 1991)

A show-white ship was sailing on the river and the boy and the girl pressed close to each other a colorful lampion was shining on the sky like the brooch on the deep blue vest And the board was filled with music, they played a slowly swinging romantic song ay, ay, ay, ay, there was a dance, a dance as beautiful as you only see in movies And the trains set off, one after the other and the boy was standing at the window and the old, hardeded soldiers in the wagon were just laughing at him: If you are a man, hide your tears – what will you do when coming to the battlefield? Ay, ay, ay, ay there was a dance, a dance and perhaps there will be a continuation one time A dance, a dance, a dance, a dance and through the flames, death and smoke a white ship is sailing And the trains came back, one after the other – some peaceful years we did merit too – and then came that dreadful car and it silently stopped in front of the house. And Mom was standing at the window and waiting for my father for years again. Ay, ay, ay, ay there was a dance, a dance perhaps there will be a continuation some time And the brooch was not enough to buy any more coal and the third winter passed away and an early morning they rang the bell three times and my father stood at the door It did not matter that we already had nothing the great pawnshop swallowed everything ay, ay, ay, ay there was a dance, a dance and perhaps there will be a continuation indeed A dance, a dance, a dance, a dance and through the prison, solitude and hope a white ship is sailing But the news and cannons were speaking again in fact, why should life be different? and we pressed all we had in two suitcases but we already did not manage to leave Now they watch the TV in silence where another world is shining and they don’t call anyone to account for the long series of stolen years Because dreams were lost for nothing like the clothes left in the pawnshop Hm, there was a dance a dance, a dance and sometimes they believed there would be a continuation

Hófehér hajó úszott a folyón S összesimult a fiú s a lány Színes lampion fénylett az égen Mint a brosstű a mélykék ruhán És a fedélzet zenével megtelt Szólt a ringató, lassú románc Aj, aj, aj, aj Volt egy tánc, volt egy tánc Ilyen szépet csak filmekben látsz És a vonatok indultak sorra És a fiú az ablakban állt És a vagonban nevettek rajta A harcedzett vén katonák Hogyha férfi vagy, rejtsd el a könnyed Mi lesz veled, ha a csatában jársz Aj, aj, aj, aj Volt egy tánc, volt egy tánc Talán egyszer még lesz folytatás Egy tánc, egy tánc, egy tánc, egy tánc És a lángon, a halálon, füstön át Úszik egy fehér hajó És a vonatok megjöttek sorra Néhány békeév nekünk is járt Aztán jött az a rettegett autó És a ház előtt halkan megállt És a mama az ablaknál állva Újra évekig apámra várt Aj, aj, aj, aj Volt egy tánc, volt egy tánc Talán egyszer még lesz folytatás És a brosstűből szénre már nem telt És a harmadik tél is lejárt És egy hajnalon csöngettek hármat És az apám az ajtóban állt Azt se bántuk, hogy nem volt már semmink Mindent elnyelt a nagy zálogház Aj, aj, aj, aj Volt egy tánc, volt egy tánc Talán mégiscsak lesz folytatás Egy tánc, egy tánc, egy tánc, egy tánc És a börtönön, magányon, reményen át Úszik egy fehér hajó De már szóltak a hírek s az ágyuk Mondd, az életük miért lenne más És mi mindent két bőröndbe gyűrtünk De már nem ment az elindulás Már csak csendesen nézik a tévét Ahol ragyog egy másik világ És ők nem kérik senkin se számon Az elrabolt évek sorát Pedig semmiért vesztek el álmok Mint a zálogban hagyott ruhák Hm, volt egy tánc Volt egy tánc, volt egy tánc S néha elhitték, lesz folytatás

And finally the same hopeless atmosphere is immortalized in another footnote song, the Vasárnap délután (Sunday Afternoon), as we have undergone it ourselves. When I look inside, I clearly see in front of me even today the stale silence and choking desperation of the empty city in a Sunday afternoon. When I tried to present this to Wang Wei as the quintessence of Eastern European existence, illustrating it precisely with the Vasárnap délután, he just laughed and cited to me the Portuguese fados speaking about the same unbearableness of Sunday. So small is this our world.


Dusán & Zorán Sztevanovity: Vasárnap délután (Sunday Afternoon) (From the CD Zorán III, 1979)

On Sunday afternoon the city dies a little bit and the shopwindows are somehow paler On Sunday afternoon a real ice cream is a real pleasure and sometimes I feel an old fragrance On Sunday afternoon, after the long and silent lunch Mom always put the nice clothes on me At the door she combed my hair and she did not pay attention to my demand to let me dress all the week like this. na - na - na - na - Sunday afternoon na - na - na - na - Sunday afternoon On Sunday afternoon the faces of the girls are a little bit nicer and the big boy promised to come home by ten The shoes are shining on the parquet floor of the dance school and a few pairs manage to perform the figure On Sunday afternoon was it that I got to know you your brother was playing chess with my father at us we were teenagers and I talked heaps of crap to you and we tried and found how good love was On Sunday afternoon perhaps anger is more silent, too and the divorced father can see his little son Relatives from the countryside pay visit to the newborns and all the flowers are bought up at the cemetery of Farkasrét. On Sunday afternoon was it that I saw you again and it all happened again as at one time You did not grew much more adult, neither I more serious and we knew beforehead how good it is to love On Sunday afternoon my time silently passes away and sometimes I feel as if you were nearing on Sunday afternoon is always too close the evening when I know you’ll never come again On Sunday afternoon the city dies a little bit and the shopwindows are somehow paler On Sunday afternoon nothing has happened since long only sometimes I feel an old fragrance

Vasárnap délután a város meghal egy kicsit És valahogy sápadtabbak a kirakatok Vasárnap délután egy igazi fagylalt jólesik És néha érzek egy régi illatot Vasárnap délután a csendes, hosszú ebéd után A mama rám adta mindig a szép ruhát Az ajtóban még megfésült és nem hallgatott rám Ha kértem, hadd járjak így egész héten át na - na - na - na - vasárnap délután, na - na - na - na - vasárnap délután Vasárnap délután a lányok arca kicsit szebb S a nagyfiú ígérte tízre hazajön A tánciskola parkettjén a cipők fényesek És néhány párnak a figura összejön Vasárnap délután volt mikor megismertelek A bátyád apámmal nálunk sakkozott Kamaszok voltunk és sok hülyeséget beszéltem neked És kipróbáltuk, a szerelem jó dolog Vasárnap délután talán a harag is csendesebb S az elvált apa láthatja kisfiát A vidéki rokonok látogatják az újszülötteket És Farkasréten is elfogy a sok virág Vasárnap délután volt mikor viszontláttalak És újra megtörtént, ahogyan egy régi napon Te sem lettél felnőttebb és én sem komolyabb És előre tudtuk, szeretni jó nagyon Vasárnap délután az időm csendesen megy el És néha úgy érzem, máris érkezel Vasárnap délután az este mindig túl közel Mikor tudom, hogy többé nem jössz el Vasárnap délután a város meghal egy kicsit És valahogy sápadtabbak a kirakatok Vasárnap délután már régen semmi sem történik Csak néha érzek egy régi illatot