Czerwone Gitary were founded by guitarist/vocalist Jerzy Kossela (July 15, 1942 – January 7, 2017) and bassist Henryk Zomerski on 3 January 1965 in Gdańsk. Initial members included Bernard Dornowski (guitar/vocals), Krzysztof Klenczon (lead guitar /vocals) and Jerzy Skrzypczyk (drums/vocals); four members (Dornowski, Klenczon, Kossela and Zomerski) had played previously in another notable Polish band, the Niebiesko-Czarni (The Blue-Blacks). Note: Radio disc jockey Neil Kempfer-Stocker was the first person to air the Blue-Blacks 45 rpms in America while at WRMC Radio Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 1968. In Autumn 1965 Zomerski was replaced by Seweryn Krajewski (bass/vocals) ; around that time the band also launched their first tour in Poland under the slogan "We play and sing the loudest in Poland".
Their 1966 debut album "To właśnie my" ("It's us") sold 160,000 copies, and their May 1967 follow up, Czerwone Gitary 2, sold a then-record (for Poland) 240,000. In the same year Krajewski received a special award at the National Festival of Polish Song in Opole (Krajowy Festiwal Piosenki Polskiej w Opolu). In 1967 Kossela left the band. The band's 1968 third album sold 220,000 copies, and the group received an award in Opole for their song "Takie ładne oczy" ("Such Pretty Eyes"). In 1969 the band received a MIDEM award in Cannes for the largest number of discs sold in Poland up to that date; this was the same year that the Beatles received this award. Thereafter the Czerwone Gitary would be known as the Polish Beatles (see also Beatlesque). The same year the group received a special award from Billboard magazine, and in Poland, another award from Opole festival for "Biały krzyż" ("White cross").
Klenczon left in 1970, the year of the band's acclaimed LP "Na fujarce" ("On the flute"). Krajewski then took lead as the group turned to mainstream folk-tinged pop in the 1970s.
After a hiatus the Czerwone Gitary returned in the early 1990s with Kossela, Dornowski and Skrzypczyk resurrecting the group. Krajeski refused to participate and even released a solo album credited to Czerwone Gitary by Seweryn Krajewski called "Koniec" ("The End"). Initially the new lineup played the old hits; its first new album since the 1970s was "...jeszcze gra muzyka" ("...still the music plays") in 1998. In a 2000 poll for the Polish magazine Polityka, Czerwone Gitary were selected as "One of the Best Polish Bands of the 20th Century". In 2005 a new song "Senny szept" ("Sleepy whisper") took fourth place in the Sopot International Song Festival.
Members:
Jerzy Kossela (guitar, vocals, founder, leader, left in 1967, returned in 1991, left again in 1993 and returned again in 1999, stopped touring in 2015 due to health problems and died in 2017)
Henryk Zomerski (bass, keyabords ('90 & '00 only), founder, left the band soon after it was founded, in late 1965; in the band since 1999 till his death in 2011)
Bernard Dornowski (guitar, vocals, bass, one of the original members, left in 1999)
Jerzy Skrzypczyk (drums, vocals, percussion, one of the original members, still in the band as of 2016)
Krzysztof Klenczon (lead guitar, vocals, harmonica,one of the original members; left in 1970)
Seweryn Krajewski (bass, vocals, guitar, piano, violin, keyboards, replaced Zomerski in December 1965; left in 1997)
Dominik Kuta (guitar, flute, vocals, briefly in 1970)
Ryszard Kaczmarek (bass, 1971–1975)
Jan Pospieszalski (bass, 1976–1980)
Wojciech Hoffman (guitar, 1997–2000)
Arkadiusz Malinowski (guitar, bass, 1999–2002)
Dariusz Olszewski (guitar, vocals, 2000–2004, rejoined in 2010, still in the band as of 2016)
Mieczysław Wądołowski (guitar, vocals, joined 1997, still in the band as of 2016)
Marek Kisieliński (guitar, keyboards, joined 2003, left in 2013)
Arkadiusz Wiśniewski (bass, guitar, vocals, joined in 2003, still in the band as of 2016)
Artur Chyb (guitar, joined in 2013, left in 2014)
Marcin Niewęgłowski (guitar, vocals, 2014-2016)
Marek Jabłoński (guitar, joined in 2016)
Artur Żurek (percussion, additional drums, joined in 2016)
Kto winien jest
Czerwone Gitary Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Krzyk mew taki sam...
Ten sam morza brzeg
Znaczą ślady stóp.
Lecz czas nie ten sam
I świat stracił blask
I wiatr śpiewa nam
Kto winien jest? Co stało się,
Że nie ma o czym mówić dziś?
Kto winien jest, że coś się rwie,
Że trudno tak razem iść?
Że głos obco brzmi,
Że wzrok zimny już
I że usta dziś nie szukają ust?
Kto zabrał nam nasz wspólny śmiech
I radość rąk, splecionych rąk.
Kto winien jest: czy ty czy ja,
Czyj liczy się dzisiaj błąd?
Szum drzew taki sam,
Krzyk mew taki sam...
Lecz wiatr śpiewa nam
Nie tym samym już...
The song "Kto winien jest" by Czerwone Gitary depicts the changing times and the loss of unity among people. The opening lines of the song describe peaceful sounds of nature, including the rustle of trees and the cry of seagulls, but the world and times have changed. The world appears to have lost its light, and even the wind sings a different tune. The song asks who is to blame for the current state of affairs - why people are finding it difficult to stay together.
The lyrics then delve into the fact that people no longer have anything to talk about, that something is constantly tearing them apart, that the vocal tones appear unfamiliar, the distant gaze of people and the lack of warmth between them. The song, through rhetorical questions, expresses the desire to know who is responsible for taking away the shared laughter and joy of holding hands.
Overall, the song conveys a sense of nostalgia for a time when people were more united, but it also recognizes that something has gone wrong in society. The song asks the listener to consider who is accountable for the fact that they no longer experience the same feelings of togetherness.
Line by Line Meaning
Szum drzew taki sam,
The sound of trees rustling is the same as before,
Krzyk mew taki sam...
The cry of seagulls is also the same...
Ten sam morza brzeg
The sea shore still remains the same
Znaczą ślady stóp.
There are still footprints on the shore.
Lecz czas nie ten sam
However, time has passed and it's not the same anymore.
I świat stracił blask
The world has lost its shine.
I wiatr śpiewa nam
And the wind sings to us
Nie tym samym już.
Not the same as before.
Kto winien jest? Co stało się,
Who is responsible? What happened,
Że nie ma o czym mówić dziś?
That there is nothing to talk about today?
Kto winien jest, że coś się rwie,
Who is to blame that something is breaking,
Że trudno tak razem iść?
That it's hard to walk together?
Że głos obco brzmi,
That the voice sounds strange,
Że wzrok zimny już
That the look is already cold
I że usta dziś nie szukają ust?
And that the mouth doesn't search for another mouth?
Kto zabrał nam nasz wspólny śmiech
Who took away our shared laughter
I radość rąk, splecionych rąk.
And the joy of intertwined hands.
Kto winien jest: czy ty czy ja,
Who is to blame: you or me,
Czyj liczy się dzisiaj błąd?
Whose mistake matters today?
Szum drzew taki sam,
The sound of trees rustling is the same as before,
Krzyk mew taki sam...
The cry of seagulls is also the same...
Lecz wiatr śpiewa nam
But the wind sings to us
Nie tym samym już...
It's not the same as before.
Contributed by Carson N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Hubert Ignatowicz
Fenomenalne harmonie głosowe, bardzo Beatlesowskie a jednak rodzime
Jean Pierre Zutter
Cudowna ballada !!
Piekne glosy !!
Lech
Dlaczego tak malo sluchana pzeciez to takie ladne choc nie przeboj
wiesiu tomaszyk
ładna piosenka
Zbigniew Szablewski
Wspaniala.ballada.Czerwonych.Gitar.z.plyty.To.wlasnie.my.Wspaniala.plyta.pelna.wspomnien.zwiazanych.z.poszczegolnymi.piosenkami.
MSStudio73
Marta Bellan to pseudonim, pod którym ukrywało się dwóch panów - Zbigniew Adrjański i Zbigniew Kaszkur.
Romek Axa
Sopot , plaża przy Grandzie , ....młodość 😪😪