Kayah is a pseudonym of Katarzyna Rooijens (b. Katarzyna Szczot, 5 Nov 1967… Read Full Bio ↴Kayah is a pseudonym of Katarzyna Rooijens (b. Katarzyna Szczot, 5 Nov 1967, in Białystok, Poland), a successful female Polish singer-songwriter. She has released several albums & won numerous awards. At the start of her career, Kayah sang in choirs and with many bands (such as Tilt and Atrakcyjny Kazimierz). She made her solo debut with the song Daughter in 1988 at the Sopot Festival.

She released her first, self-produced solo album, Kamien (Stone), in 1996. It was a great success, consisting of melancholy pop songs. In the same year, she was voted ‘Vocalist of the Year’ by the Polish music industry and received a Fryderyk in recognition of her achievements.

In 1997, she received another Fryderyk, this time for the album Zebra, in the category of ‘Composer of the Year’. With Zebra she changed her style, moving in the direction of American soul music.

In 1999, she recorded one of the most popular Polish albums ever, with the Balkan composer Goran Bregović, entitled Kayah & Bregović: it is a blend of old Slavic songs and modern rhythms. Most of the music was composed by Bregović for the band Bijelo Dugme (White Button), which he had been a part of and movie soundtracks that he had worked on. The lyrics are both translations of the original text and inspired. In the same year she was awarded a Wiktor and another Fryderyk, in the category ‘Vocalist of the Year’.

In 2000, she released the album Jaka Ja Kayah which featured pop, jazz, and techno-influenced songs. She also released the single "Aniol Wiedzial" ("The Angel Knew") from the album, duetted with Cesaria Evora in Portuguese, and recorded English-language versions of some of her songs.

She was twice cast in advertisements for Polish mobile phone's Web - Orange POP (formerly Idea POP).

Sites: En.Wikipedia.

Smutna Kobieta
Kayah Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Ten smutny dom
jest moim domem
a ja w nim czekam
na ciebie
w nieskończoność
ta smutna kobieta
to ja niestety
wciąż czekam i czekam

na śmierć z twojej ręki

bo miłość zabija
nim zgaśnie chwila
zdusisz mnie w dłoni
z miłości do mnie
choć miłość uskrzydla
choć wznosi do chmur
będę jak Ikar
spadać głową w dół

ten smutny głos
jest moim głosem
a ja nim wołam wciąż ciebie
w nieskończoność i płonę
ta smutna kobieta
to ja niestety
wciąż czekam i czekam
na śmierć z twojej ręki

bo miłość zabija
nim zgaśnie chwila
zdusisz mnie w dłoni
ja wiem ty to robisz
choć miłość uskrzydla
choć wznosi do chmur

będę jak Ikar
spadać głową w dół

Overall Meaning

In Kayah's song "Smutna Kobieta" (which means "Sad Woman") the artist sings about being in a sad house and waiting for someone. The first verse states that the sad house is her home and she waits in it for her lover endlessly. She keeps waiting and waiting for her lover to come and save her from her sadness, but instead, she is waiting for her death to come from the hands of her lover. The chorus talks about how love can kill a person even before a moment of happiness fades away, and the person who loves can be the same one who takes away the life of the person they love. The second verse talks about how the sad voice in the song belongs to Kayah and she keeps calling out to her lover endlessly while burning up in her sadness. She knows that her lover is the one who is suffocating her with love, but still, love lifts her up even when it is destroying her, just like Icarus who flew too high with his wings made of feathers and beeswax and fell to his death.

Line by Line Meaning

Ten smutny dom
This sad house

jest moim domem
is my home

a ja w nim czekam
and I wait in it

na ciebie
for you

w nieskończoność
forever

ta smutna kobieta
this sad woman

to ja niestety
that's me, unfortunately

wciąż czekam i czekam
still waiting and waiting

na śmierć z twojej ręki
for death from your hand

bo miłość zabija
because love kills

nim zgaśnie chwila
before the moment passes