ChasFink
Justified & Ancient
- Joined
- Jan 22, 2016
- Messages
- 2,498
The inspiration for this post comes from posts to the Humour & Jokes thread by @uair01, who has graciously allowed me to make the first post to this (somewhat) more serious thread.
The subject of "Jožin z bažin", a 1977 Czech novelty song by Ivan Mládek and his group, Banjo Band, is already fortean: it's about a swamp monster, and the story is a 20th century take on medieval legends of traveling knights who subdue the local monster to win fame and fortune.
But the song has a fortean quality itself. Some 30 years after its debut, for reasons I don't quite get, it became so popular in Poland that the original artists recorded a Polish version. Since then it has become quite well known in Eastern Europe, generating far more cover versions and parodies than one would think likely for a silly song from several decades ago. It has truly taken on a life of its own.
Below I'm (re)posting some of the basic versions, plus a couple of unusual ones. I hope others will continue the thread with not only other versions, but also some insights into the song's history and longevity.
First, the video clip by which many were introduced to this song. Although this version has English subtitles, I encourage you to ignore them on first viewing so you can appreciate the experience of what's happening on camera.
And here's a performance of a Polish version - although I think this is a parody:
And here is one of the best known parodies, from Serbia. It apparently has something to do with a bear, a honey cake, and Santa Claus.
(I swear I used to work with a fellow who looked and sounded like that singer!)
Believe it or not, Metallica performed the song on tour - although it was a fairly stripped down version. If you're interested, I posted one of the better performances here. But here's a proper metal version:
8-bit, anyone?
And coming full circle, here's the music video for the original:
I look forward to your replies!
The subject of "Jožin z bažin", a 1977 Czech novelty song by Ivan Mládek and his group, Banjo Band, is already fortean: it's about a swamp monster, and the story is a 20th century take on medieval legends of traveling knights who subdue the local monster to win fame and fortune.
But the song has a fortean quality itself. Some 30 years after its debut, for reasons I don't quite get, it became so popular in Poland that the original artists recorded a Polish version. Since then it has become quite well known in Eastern Europe, generating far more cover versions and parodies than one would think likely for a silly song from several decades ago. It has truly taken on a life of its own.
Below I'm (re)posting some of the basic versions, plus a couple of unusual ones. I hope others will continue the thread with not only other versions, but also some insights into the song's history and longevity.
First, the video clip by which many were introduced to this song. Although this version has English subtitles, I encourage you to ignore them on first viewing so you can appreciate the experience of what's happening on camera.
And here's a performance of a Polish version - although I think this is a parody:
And here is one of the best known parodies, from Serbia. It apparently has something to do with a bear, a honey cake, and Santa Claus.
(I swear I used to work with a fellow who looked and sounded like that singer!)
Believe it or not, Metallica performed the song on tour - although it was a fairly stripped down version. If you're interested, I posted one of the better performances here. But here's a proper metal version:
8-bit, anyone?
And coming full circle, here's the music video for the original:
I look forward to your replies!