(((o))) Anita Lipnicka and "Varius Manx"(the choice of the name for the band seems to have been motivated mostly by a desire that it would sound exotic, but it's suggested that "Varius Manx" can stand for "a spotted Manx cat")

"Zanim zrozumiesz" ("Before you realise")– the theme of the song is a falling-out and a too-late realization from the guy of how much

he'd cared: the girl is already "getting born anew", turning the page.http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh-9oyXnARs

"Piosenka księżycowa" ("The moon song")– a girl apologizes to her loved one, asleep by her side, for the hurt she had caused him, and

promises to make everything right, so he can trust her and they can be together again.http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=4buF_w6AYqY

"Zamigotał świat" ("The world has come sparkling")– this is a song about trying to find the meaning in life and answers to the most important

questions in the overwhelming, stupefying world of today, so overflowing with sensations and possibilities.http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=V3NmBd_6zNE

"Pocałuj noc" ("Go kiss the night")– (this is not the original video to the song) – the lyrics appeal that we don't live in hiding,

concealing our emotions, putting on a mask, but try to have a moment of abandon, live truly and fully, at least once in our lives:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BjBYytwcHM

"The Gardeners"– no need to translate the title or to summarize the message in this case :)

– (I'm sorry for the relatively poor technical quality of the vid) http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=75Z-YW5KyqA

(((o))) Anita without her first band

"I wszystko się może zdarzyć" ("And anything can happen")– anything can happen if you only have dreams and really want them to come true; open

your eyes and look around, because the world is full of opportunities.http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=H4NyEu31sb0

"Historia jednej miłości" ("The story of a love")– two pictures from the life of a love relationship: 1. the beginning: the lovers seem to have

everything in common and want to share everything – the summary in the chorus goes: how could it be that those two have lived parallel lives for so many years, not even knowing of each other's existence? Just how could it be?; 2. the end: the two find that nothing seems to connect them anymore and they move on to "split what's shared in two" – the chorus: how could it be that those two have gone on for so many years living not so much together but just beside each other? Just how could it be?http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=jlJ_HzOm53A

(((o))) Kasia Kowalska

"Oto ja" ("This is me")– a girl is telling her love that she had hurt a lot because of him and she learned to take it;

she tells him she was aware of his lies all along, although he could never suspect how knowingly she had observed him; but this is over now, she's walking away, she's found somebody else –she doesn't so much want the change for her own sake, it's just that she had finally realized that that guy she'd been with so long is not worth her; therefore, she will now live a new life and reveal another side of her personality to her new man: she is sorry that the guy she's dropping never gave her that opportunity, but she's happy that at least he wouldn't know what he'd missed and wouldn't suffer regrets.http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=fb66R5CVyag

"A to co mam..." ("And what I have... [is not good enough for you]")– the insecurities of a woman who begins to think that, while she's deeply in love, the man

she's with doesn't really care for her; she can see how he doesn't treat her seriously and avoids making plans for the future; she fears that soon she's going to hear him say that she's got nothing to offer to him, that she's not worth him.http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=l5KMEmkKsEk

"Jak rzecz" ("Like a thing")– a very similar theme as in the previous one: let me just quote a part of the lyrics:

"... This is what the world has for meNobody would choose this kind of life

<chorus>Cause there's nothing I haveThat you cannot haveI have nothing, since there's nothing I want apart from what you choose to give meI have nothing, and for that reason you push me off, you chuck me awayLike an old thing – when you stop enjoying me."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCSe2UFQ4ew

(((o))) Ania Dąbrowska

"Trudno mi się przyznać" ("It's difficult for me to admit it")– a girl who is used to living on her own, spending time alone, finds this special someone

and confesses to herself (in the chorus):

"And it's difficult to for me to admit it, but it all doesn't mean a thing to me anymore

– when you're not with meI won't say it out aloud, but I did miss you when you were away

– for a little too long."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWl36NZwz1k

"Czekam" ("Waiting")– a relationship has ended, and she understands the reasons, but for her it's the love of her

life;–the refrain:

"Once again, I keep standing here waitingI see you from a distanceYou pass me by so casuallyI'm such a stranger to youA day will come when you won't even recognize meI realize it's all finished."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hniasbYlf74

"Musisz wierzyć" ("You've got to believe")– suggesting that everyone has got that perfect match, "the only one", just waiting

somewhere out there to be met;–the chorus:

"You've got to believe that this can happen; after all,Somewhere out there is someone who believes that, too.He has chosen you, made you up in his mind long ago,And when you meet him, he will tell you you're the one."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJt9LHBqIng

(((o))) Edyta Bartosiewicz

"Tatuaż" ("Tattoo")– the lyrics of this one are a bit mysterious – I can only venture my own interpretation: this

is a song about a need to be ready to for a complete change of the self; the author seems to be saying that we build lives striving for certain goals, branding our bodies and our minds with "tattoos", but this is not who we really are, because we are a change, and we need to look inside to find the right direction the change should follow.http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=3EOyDYnEhvQ

"Sen" ("A dream")– I really wish I could interpret it... but I can't, so... here go the complete lyrics :) :

"Here is my dream – this dream terrifies meI close myself up in a room without wallsThere's nothing and there's no meIt may seem safe but it never feels right in my dream

Here is my dream – this dream gets me embarrassedGreedy and evil I keep wanting moreThere's nothing and there's no meIt may seem wonderfully pleasant but it never feels right in my dream

I'm waked by the wind – the wind carries fearI'm waked by the rain – the rain hugs meI'm waked by the blaze of the hottest daysI'm waked by the scream – is it still the dream?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toE0B-1WAVg

"Opowieść" ("A tale")– Aaargh! I give up! :) This is too abstract and poetic for me to say what it's about; for the

being, I'll leave this at the chorus (... but I must add that the stanzas make it doubtful that it should be merely a love song :)) :

"The hearts of towns are drenched in rain,And there's only me and you who find happiness on this day.For although the world has forgotten us,Soaked right through, we don't lose hope."

http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=iU03MK12umU

(((o))) "Wilki" - Robert Gawliński

"Sid i Nancy" ("Sid and Nancy")– this is something of an epitaph for Sid Vicious (of the Sex Pistols) and his girlfriend Nancy

Spungen; the chorus:

"Their lot was an eternal roadA meeting of two wild heartsSealing everything with blood

-Their lot was an eternal faithIn what's incomprehensibleA meeting of two wild hearts"

http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=xOYEt-w5eK0

"Eli lama sabachtani"– the words of Christ's call from the cross are here addressed to a love who walked away.

The repeated phrase "Nie ma nas" means "There's no 'us' anymore". http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=HCd_n843YfQ

"Urke"– I didn't know what "urke" means; the information I found is that: a) it's the name of

Gawliński's earlier band, b) this was a Yiddish slang word to denote a highly skilled thief who is respected in criminal circles. As for the song, it's message is that we should live lives without regrets, learn to accept the bad times and wait patiently for better turns. The chorus:

"We drink to the better times (ahead of us),To each day that's given to us,To each memory that lives within us – let it live on for a little while longer."

http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=XPAGNjs8Xag

(((o))) Monika Brodka

"Miałeś być" ("You were supposed to be")– a hurt reproach to the masculine gender :) – rebuking guys for first making as if that

special girl were the queen and ruler of the world for them, and then, when she gets really dependent and craves togetherness and closeness, turning blind and insensitive.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_14FzMlj3o

"On" ("He")– a warning of how the total enchantment of love can turn into disappointment and how the

magical moments can prove an illusion; chorus:

"Don't trust him, even though you'd like to give him the whole world.Nobody will return to you the years you'll have wasted.There's so much of your tears here...Do you really want things to be this way?Do you want this?"

(Incidentally, the text on the screen is not part of the lyrics; the uploader of the video decided to present there an – incomplete – translation of this sentence by Gabriel García Márquez: "La peor forma de extrañar a alguien es estar sentado a su lado y saber que nunca lo podrás tener." ("The worst way to miss someone is to be sitting by his or side, knowing that this person, physically right next to you, is quite out of your reach."))

http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=CZF2ncepBdE

"My" ("Us")– in stark contrast to the previous one, this song is about complete commitment to love, even

if it were to turn at some point into a dream of the past;– chorus:

"By your side, my every step is sure,By your side, the gloomy sadness disappears.I have finally found my hideout,I know where my home is.I want to be your everything;I want to be for you who you are for me;And to be always by your side, like no one else."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_vReynHuY0[the title of the video doesn't carry the actual name of the song]

(((o))) Seweryn Krajewski

"Kołysanka dla Okruszka" ("A Lullaby for the Crumb")– since the lyrics are there on the screen in the video, I'll translate it all :) :

"King of mine, you go and sleep, you go and sleep, while I...King of mine, I will not sleep tonight.One day, you are going to have a grown-up soul,One day, one day...But today you're as small as a (bread-)crumbThat the fortune has thrown to us.

-Treasure of mine, you go and sleep, you go and sleep, while I...Treasure of mine, I'll play to you in your sleep.One day, you're going to have brace trousers,One day, one day...But today you're as small as a seashellThat the fortune has sent to us."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AGMDrU8fNE

"Wielka miłość" ("Great love /true love/")– the chorus:

"True love makes no choices,It won't ever ask us if we want it or not.True love – a great force,We shall stay true to it forever."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7wDTGA4jiM

"Kiedy mnie już nie będzie" ("When I'm not here anymore")– this is a song about a relationship coming to its end. In tender words the man is wishing

his love a good life with another man she'll end up living with; the only thing he asks her for is to make the time nice, warm and friendly while they are still together; we don't get to know the reason for this strange farewell; it's a really beautiful, sad song:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV_yOsFTRuo

(((o))) Andrzej "Piasek" Piaseczny

"Niecierpliwi" ("The impatient") – an intricate and somewhat contrived rhapsody on the subject of passionate love; I'm not sure I understand much from the lyrics ;), but... I don't know if it was meant to signify much, either :)I think the goal there was to pump in a proper dose of poetic ardency and make it sound nice; in my opinion, the operation was successful :)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laUQy4DVxCA

"Imię deszczu" ("The name of the rain")– a guy is trying to stop a woman from parting with him; he says that even if the past

happiness is not to be brought back, there's still a lot of new good things to happen to them both; eventually, he ends up arguing – in chorus:

"Please, do stay, because the night...— these raindrops is the way the night is weeping.

Please, do stay, because, like nobody else, you're bringing me the air to breathe."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pGLYK0xEPo

"Szczęście jest blisko" ("Happiness is near")– this is a song about women's (alleged ;)) tendency to change their minds even at the last

moment; the author (chauvinistically! :)) claims that a bit more constancy and commitment could lead to many a happy development. ... But he does it in an amiable and very polite way :)http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=HM1_RRaPLjM

(((o))) Edyta Górniak

"To nie ja" ("It wasn't me")– the lyrics of this one has been loaded with arty metaphors and similes, but... actually, it

came off rather nice, really :) ; the lyrical subject is a young woman at the threshold of life who wants to find love and try to fulfil her dreams; she hangs on to those dreams, even though the world around is bleak and dreary: "I wasn't the Eve – It wasn't me who stole heaven," she calls out in the refrain. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PL5rmmpiHp8

"Dotyk" ("Touch") – the lyrics speak of an addiction to the touch of a lost lover and of being left cold and alone

– the chorus:

"You've turned me into touchYou've transformed me into touchTo now cast me into darknessInto a sleepless, cold night"

http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=zLuNIBypxU0

"Kolorowy wiatr" ("The colourful wind")– yes, Edyta was the singer employed to perform the Polish version of that beautiful song

from a Disney's classic:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_0bfjYupdU

Apologies for the poor technical quality (poor synchronisation) in that video. A better quality, English-subtitled video taken from the movie:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhdg3PBvTc8

(((o))) Hanna Banaszak

"Pogoda ducha" ("Good cheer / sunshine of the mind / optimism")– I found the expression "sunshine of the mind" in a dictionary as one of synonyms for

"optimism / good cheer". It doesn't look to be in popular use in English, but I've given it as one of possible translations for the Polish title, because it's pretty close to literal translation. "Pogoda ducha" uses the noun "pogoda" whose primary meaning today is "(good) weather"; by combining it with "duch" (the spirit(s)), we get "the good weather / the good disposition of the spirit"– an expression which denotes a certain serenity, cheerfulness, ability to stay positive and happy even when confronted with hardships. In the song that quality of character is personalized and presented as one's trusted life-companion, as one's soul-mate. But another interpretation is also possible: that your sunshine of the mind is the person you love, your life-companion, your soul-mate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0go5HKrQjs"Tak bym chciała kochać już" ("I'd so wish to be in love already")

– as the title and the style of the song suggests, this is a little musical joke :) The lyrical subject speaks of her impatience to experience being in love, and she does it in the most naive, mincing, silly way. But, of course – very cute and funny, too :) I'll translate the first refrain here:

"I'd so wish to be in love already,And to have each new day of loveGladden my little dear heart;And to look into eyes, into these ravishing eyes,Until the very break of dawn,Is something I wish I could do by now."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUFv6An-dU0

(((o))) Anna Jantar

"Nie wierz mi, nie ufaj mi" ("Don't believe me, don't trust me")– the message of the song is that the loved person, a woman, is a complete world of its own,

an undiscovered territory that one cannot hope to conquer or even get to know in a short time; the song warns against being mislead by signs that one may have already accomplished anything like that; the refrain:

"Don't believe me, don't trust meBecause I can still slip out of your hold.It's not the way it goes that you win a girl's heart in just a few days,It's not the way it goes."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tl5L5zrI7uo

"Ktoś między nami" ("Somebody between us")– this very beautiful love song presents an estrangement in a love relationship as the doing

of a third party: some unknown power or person, who may even be one of lovers themselves, but at the same it isn't any of them really – because the truth is that they are still in love with each other and only this matters;

the first stanza of the refrain:

"Somebody – perhaps you, or perhaps me – Perhaps some evil forceWants to take us away from each other.Somebody has for us a stranger's (cold) stare,(Somebody) wants to take away from us our truth / what's true to usAnd our faithfulness."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aei68AjGj0

"Cygańska jesień" ("The gypsy autumn")– the romantic charm of the gypsy lifestyle is employed here for an appeal that we bring in

and treasure a bit of the gypsy spirit in our souls, and that we treat life as a joyous, colourful voyage, where things must cheerfully be left behind, so that other things could rekindle the vital spark in us again and again.A word about the autumn in the title: I'm not sure, but I think that in Eastern Europe autumn was the customary season when gypsies hit the road (probably to go further south where the winter is much milder).

–the refrain:

"The gypsy autumn will take to the road with you;The gypsy autumn will rock your wagon;The extinguished fires will blaze anew with the blow of the wind,And the wheels will kick up dust.

–The familiar song will fade away in the distance;A gypsy prophecy will come true or not;But the road's end, the road's end,Will surely never near."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YyxWJpNI-K8

(((o))) Maryla Rodowicz

"Małgośka" ("Maggie")– this one is repetitively voted the most popular Polish pop song of all times; the lyrics tell

the story of a girl engaged to be married, who accidentally spots her fiancé on a romantic walk with another girl; the lyrical subject's friends keep cheering her up, saying that the guy has proved not be worth even a single tear of hers, and telling her that she's stupid to miss him... but seasons go by and she's still alone, while the guy gets married with the other girl;

–the refrain:

"Maggie, they're telling me,He's not worth a single tear,He isn't worth a single tear.Maggie, be a good friend,You're too young for sorrow,Come join us in song and dance.

–Maggie, hit the floor, have a drink,And as to him – laugh at him,That's what you're to do – just laugh at him!If he comes back, send him off,Let him go where he will,Dear, oh dear, how silly you are (, Maggie)"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD_HeAwpVB8

"Ballada wagonowa" ("The ballad of a railway coach")– this one is a light-hearted, humorous story of some imaginary train journey on the

Syracuse-Cheetaway line. The narrator and female protagonist of the tale, whom we can assume to be a local, goes on the train, which is driving through a heavy winter blizzard. In her carriage, she meets three men: a guy from Syracuse, a guy from Cheetaway, and a mysterious third fellow who is a foreigner. (Judging by the folk costume of the man in the song video, he was probably a Pole :)). She takes fancy to that third guy and although they part they share a kiss before that. The girl is positive that the foreigner will "miss the taste of her lips", so he'll come back – and then there will be a wedding celebration as huge as to spread all of the country between Syracuse and Cheetaway :) The idea to choose those two particular places seems almost purely whimsical – as the whole lyrics appear to be, too :) The story goes that the author of the text, Agnieszka Osiecka, travelled on that route when visiting the United States and that it was on that journey she wrote the piece, but... there's one problem: Cheetaway is nowhere to be found in the real world! :Dhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WBdDEfaPZk

"Wsiąść do pociągu byle jakiego" ("To get on a random train")– the official name of this song is "Remedium" ("A remedy"), but people usually know it by

the first line of the refrain. The "remedy" from the title is a proposed cure for "the spleen"; for a sudden melancholic mood; for the tiredness with the routine of life and the tedium of people and relationships; the lyrical subject idealizes (because she finally admits she has never had courage to fulfil the plan) that all one needs to do in times like these is ... (the refrain:)

"To get on a random train,Unmindful of the luggage or the ticket,And, while holding on to a green stone in your hand,To watch everything move away and stay back."

http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=zslI3XAo6eo

"Niech żyje bal" ("Long live the ball / the party") – in this dramatic song – a real classic of Polish pop music – a person's life is compared to

a ball (a fiesta): the lyrics say we should take it for granted that life – like a fiesta – is noisy and messy, that sometimes you cannot make heads and tails of it, and that you have no real control over it – especially: over the time it ends. Wild and hectic though it may be, it's still a party; and a great one, too; accordingly, we should enjoy it the as best we can – while we can;

–the refrain:

"Long live the ball!– for this life is a ball like no other!

Long live the ball!– there's no chance we're going to be invited for a second time here!

The orchestra is playing!– people are dancing and the door is still open!

A day is worth a day,– and life is worth the whole fuss*."

(* the last line uses a play on words which makes it difficult to find an adequate translation for; this seems to be the main reading of it)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRDyKyB9gYU

(((o))) Andrzej Zaucha

"C'est La Vie - Paryż z pocztówki" ("C'est La Vie - a picture-postcard Paris")– the lyrics of the song are a little ambiguous and I've never heard the story of its making,

but it seems to be recounting the situation of a disenchanted Polish immigrant in Paris, who had hoped to find a realisation of his dreams in the beautiful Western city he had longed for, but ended up doing menial jobs, living in a far suburb, and hardly ever even seeing the big city as he moves between the place he works, the place he sleeps, the church, and a local bar; I think that the historical background to the song is a big wave of political-economical emigration from Poland in the 80's (which came as a result of the Martial Law and the subsequent economic crisis).http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJWrNJSMdsA

(((o))) Grażyna Łobaszewska

"Czas nas uczy pogody" ("The time teaches us serenity")– the message of the beautiful lyrics to that classic song is that the most important things in

life: wisdom, patience, kindness and internal peace come to us with time.– the refrain:

"Over many days and over many years time teaches us serenity;It will twist our paths, and mix our truths, before the grain is separated from the husks;You try to oppose this, you cause commotion, you think: I'm so young (and strong)...Time teaches us serenity, over and over again, throughout the years.

–Look how many people's wounds have been healed by time,

how it has quieted their storms of blood into peace;I guess someday, in elder years,

our brows will smooth and our faces will light up again owing to it, too."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJdY_9lKPZk