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Polish Tango: Chór Dana - Nietoperze (The Bats), 1931

2,607 views · Published 8 August 2015 · 3:21 · Indexed 29 October 2026

Channel: 240252 · 2015 · Music

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Chór Dana  - Nietoperze (The Bats) Muz. Fanny Gordon, Text Szer-Szeń, Tango z rewii „Grunt to flota” teatru Wesoły Wieczór [Tango from theatre’s Wesoły Wieczór  revue „Money Is The Thing!”] Odeon 1931 (Polish)

NOTE: Quite a few times I had a chance in this channel to write a few words about Fanny Gordon – one of the most prolific and the smartest authors of music and also, of the lyrics of many prewar hits – it’s enough to mention the apache-java “Bal na Gnojnej” (Ball In The Filthy Lane) which was so well done by Fanny Gordon, that until today is considered by many anthologies as “original old Warsaw city-folklore ballade”,  or the Russian-fox-trot “Pod Samowarem” (By the Samovar) which in turn, is often decribed by the Russians as “one of the classics of the Russian folk-song”. It’s no different with this awesome tango “The Bats” – which, as it seems, belongs to the most uncanny songs ever released in Poland. The dense musical texture perfectly harmonizes with the murky lyrics, which were written by the recognized Polish poet Jan Brzechwa (nickname: Szer-Szeń).  Sung by Chór Dana on stage of the revue-theatre Wesoły Wieczór (Merry Evening) it immediately became a hit, and in pass of time, also one of the Polish evergreens. This record’s quality is hardly acceptable, yet its artistic value prevails over that, I believe.  

Ref. Jak nietoperze /mamy nocne sekrety
Jak nietoperze / słuchamy wielkomiejskich ech
W nocy dziwnej atmosferze
Gdzie rozkoszy księżyc strzeże
Krążą ludzie-nietoperze 
Pijąc słodki grzech...

[    Like the bats / we all have our nightly secrets
      Like the bats / we’re listening to big city’s echoes
       In the night’s weird atmosphere
       Where the moon guards our delights
       The Bat-People are circling
       To drink the sweet sin .. ]

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