Mucha na Dziko

KULT

As I've stated in the previous post, I'd rather try to keep content about bands/artists in consecutive posts, so as I ended going a sneak peak of a Kult song, let's dive deep into the music of Kult.

Kult is band formed in 1982 in Warsaw, the capital of Poland (and my hometown), following the disbandment of two other bands led by Kazik Staszewski – Poland and Novelty Poland (which are pretty ****ty names for a band, if you ask me).

For the first couple of years after formation, the band was purely a live band, with no album released up until 1987. They played extensively in music clubs like Remont (polish for refit) and Stodoła (the barn), two of the most acclaimed music venues at the time in Warsaw (they still exist and operate).

Kult's music could be described as punk/new wave/alternative rock in sound, and "anti-system" in character, as most lyrics of songs written under the communist rule, were criticising the state's and party's apparatus, the Catholic Church (which in Poland is a very prominent political figure) and since the democratic transition (1989-1992) the Catholic Church, the corporational/capitalist system and the problems arising in newly formed democracies.

Kult released 13 studio albums up until now, not all of which are particularly good, though the albums "Posłuchaj, to do ciebie" (Listen, it's for you) 1987, "Kaseta" (The Casette) 1989, "Muj Wydafca" (Mi Publeesher) 1994 are truly a delight to listen to.

Here's some examples. Stacked by albums:



Posłuchaj, to do ciebie



The lyrics of "Do Ani" ("To Anna"), center around a man, who's loved one went away, and he's just sitting in his apartment, strolling through corridors in the building he lives in, and just waiting, waiting and waiting for days and days for her to show up, or someone to show up who'd tell him what's happening with her. The last verse ends on a tragic note of the lyrical ego saying he's dying to see her, while he's standing on the edge of the window (to jump).


This one has more interesting images

I saw how they rip carcasses with their teeth
I saw them threatening each other with rifles
I saw them then exange handshakes with smiles on their faces
I saw them sitting on the throne in a crown
I saw them walking all over each other with boots
I saw them running each other over with tanks

Hey, don't you know?
You ain't got no power over the world
Hey don't you know?
You ain't got no power over the world

The next verses repeat the first one, but in a different order.



Arahja

"Arahja" is a song from Kult's third album, titled "Spokojnie" ("calm down"), and is one of their two or three most popular and instantly recognisable songs.

I'm not much of a fan of this particular album, but "Arahja" itself is such a powerhouse of a song, that it always gives me chills when listening to it.



The lyrics are just perfect, using a metaphor of a house divided in half, and the person living there divided in half as well, actually tells the story of the absurd and unequal fight between the left and right political sides in Poland.
Here's a translation:

My home, divided by a wall
Stairs divided by a wall
There's a bathroom on the left
And the kitchen on the right
My home, divided by a wall
Stairs divided in half
There's the bathroom on the left
And on the right...

My body divided by a wall
Ten fingers on the left
Ten fingers on the right
An equal part of my head divided between the sides

My street divided in half
The right side is shining with neon light
The left side is completely blacked out
I'm hiding behind a curtain and watching both sides

The left side never wakes up
And the right side never goes to sleep
The left side never wakes up
But the right side is constantly watching

Muj Wydafca

This is my favourite Kult album (probably because two off my favourite songs by them are on this one).
The first song being "Piosenka Młodych Wioślarzy" ("The song of young oarsmen"), which is a reimagining of a song of the same title from the album "Posłuchaj, to do ciebie". This version is a big improvement on the original.



The second one is my single favourite Kult song. It's titled "Lewe Lewe Loff" (which to my knowledge doesn't mean anything). I just love the deeply echoed and reverbed guitar, the horn solo section, and Kazik's vocal performance, which is extremely melodic (as for his standards).



The lyrics are beautiful as well:

I want to tell you
How much I value you
I want to tell you
How much I admire you
I want to tell you
Beware of these roads (you're taking)
But I have no courage to do so

It's 4am, and I'm writing down
What came up to my mind
And even though the wind blows high
I'd like to hum right to your ear

Lewe lewe loff loff loff loff
Lewe lewe loff loff loff loff

You've got what I'd like to have
If only I'd be a bit younger
And I just want to warn you
Don't try to force open wide open doors

You've got this stupid kind of wisdom
Everyone should learn from you
I just wanted to tell you that
This train won't go, unless you're on board

Lewe lewe loff loff loff loff
Lewe lewe loff loff loff loff

I just woke up from this dream
I dreamed I left all my belongings on some railway station
Some unknown angst woke me up
And that's why I'm sitting now and writing this down

But there are no words that could explain
What a person fells on a dark autumn night
And that's why I'm ending this letter now
November 1993

Though, you know, it all sounds much better and more poetic in polish.

Another great song comes from their fourth studio album "Kaseta". It's titled "Po co wam wolność" (What do you need freedom for?). It's for sure one of my favourites as well.




Other albums worth notice are the two named "Tata Kazika" and "Tata 2", released in 1993 and 1996. The title means "Kazik's dad", and the tracks on these two records are songs written by Kazik's father in the 50s and 60s, and only interpreted by Kult.
Some of Kult's best known "cult" songs come from these two albums, especially:



and



notice the beautiful anthem-like piano in "Celina".





That's it for today with Kult's overview, I'll get into Kazik's solo carrier and his second band KNŻ some other time. Tomorrow's or after tomorrow's post will be about my favourite 60s/70s band, the blues oriented Breakout led by the late great Tadeusz Nalepa.