Comments on mentisworks: Projekt Warszawiak Lyrics & Translation

Sure thing, and thanks for commenting ^_^. Yeah, ...

2012-01-22T13:43:45.339-08:00

Sure thing, and thanks for commenting ^_^. Yeah, we Polish people can be a strange bunch, lol. Especially American born Polish people... ^_~

ah, that explains :) then congrats on staying flue...

2012-01-22T12:58:28.288-08:00

ah, that explains :) then congrats on staying fluent! i know both some remarkably fluent people who made the effort of learning polish (somehow they felt like they needed it, calling it staying in touch with their roots might be accurate), and the people who are polish but have little knowledge nor interest in it. then again, once i even had the displeasure of meeting (online, luckily) a person who was very polish in her mouth, but when i wrote to her in polish, she wrote me back insulting me as she felt offended i assumed she'd speak polish... O__o that was strange, but well, there's different people everywhere ^_^

translators, professional or not, not much different, i was by no means picking up on that.
thanks for saying it's open for further processing, and once again, for the work and the interest :)

Thanks for your input, much appreciated ^_^. At t...

2012-01-22T12:27:10.491-08:00

Thanks for your input, much appreciated ^_^. At this point I'm probably not going to be able to put additional time into this, but feel free to take this as a template if you feel inclined to make changes ^_^.

Incidentally, I am Polish but have been living in the states for about 17 years now. I'm still fluent, but I didn't get my formative education in Poland. Went to school in Wroclaw for about a year total, though not consecutively, and spent the rest in school in Germany. What that means is that there are parts of the language that are I don't quite understand the full cultural meaning of, and since I'm not a translator this is by no means a professional translation ^_^.

i'd polish this translation up in some tiny pl...

2012-01-22T06:30:23.423-08:00

i'd polish this translation up in some tiny places here and there (pun intended) but generally pretty impressive that someone (who's not polish even) actually took all the trouble translating it. the translation needs more slang tho ;D the song is all slangish with the old brawler feel to it, y'kno?

and like it's already been pointed out, the song has little to do with post war poland, it's carrying on lots of the mid-war varsovian culture - the best time in warsaw's history. about 6 slangs in the town, rich in cultural events and blooming it was. that's the period from when the song (or more precisely the general idea for it, not by the publishing date) is. grzesiuk has incorporated great many ideas and melodies and phrases from the mid-war varsovian period, stuff he didnt invent himself, he was more of a compilator, so parts of what he used are significantly older than 40s.
trying to connect it with 90s is so wrong though xD

Good point. Polish sarcasm and satire rarely seem...

2012-01-17T18:28:42.390-08:00

Good point. Polish sarcasm and satire rarely seems to translate well, and we do seem to have an expansive vocabulary of insults ^_^.

Great translation, but the language wasn't qui...

2012-01-17T18:06:45.417-08:00

Great translation, but the language wasn't quite as bad in the Polish version (trust me, I'm Polish). I also think the song has a bit of tongue-in-cheek in it - little of it is actually meant seriously, unlike a lot of rap today.

Thank you very much ^_^.

2011-11-19T09:44:31.433-08:00

Thank you very much ^_^.

great job:)

2011-11-19T06:52:20.662-08:00

great job:)

Hi Alan, thanks so much for the additional info! ...

2011-07-30T08:35:46.188-07:00

Hi Alan, thanks so much for the additional info! That's very helpful and I appreciate knowing this which I did not come across in my research or in talking to my family. But then we're not from Warsaw either ^_^. I've updated the post to reflect the information you have provided.

Hi, great you've done this! Not an easy task, ...

2011-07-30T01:59:57.642-07:00

Hi, great you've done this! Not an easy task, so well done. However, there are you few things that need changing. First, the song is from the 40s, not the 50s, when Grzesiuk recorded it. This is important, as the bad feelings from the rest of Poland towards Warsaw refer not just to the fact that it's the capital, but that so much money and building materials were diverted to rebuilding Warsaw after it had been completely destroyed (apart from the Praga district) in WWII. In the general context section, the 'Alejami' does not refer to an 'alley', but to the 'Aleje', that is, the main thoroughfares in the centre (Aleje Jerozolimskie etc.). The rock the well-dressed mister trips on is a reference to the fact that Warsaw was still basically a pile of rubble. The general message of the song is, therefore, not only one of local patriotism, but one of survival: our city might still lie in ruins, but our spirit is still alive, and we can take on anyone.

Take care, Alan