Renata Przemyk w… Read Full Bio ↴Renata Przemyk is a Polish singer and music writer.
Renata Przemyk was born on 10th February 1966 in Bielsko-Biała, where she attended primary and secondary school. She enjoyed her childhood together with her parents, grandmother and brothers. After finishing school, Renata moved to Katowice and began to study Czech philology at University of Silesia.
In 1994 she moved to Cracow, and at the end of 1999 she decided to lead quiet life in the country near Cracow, away from the fuss of a big city, which enabled her to compose, make arrangements of her own songs and bring up her daughter in a peaceful atmosphere.
Her career as a singer started when she was a teenager, by singing with local rock bands. However, the real calling for music she developed during her studies when she was inspired by the music of Tom Waits, Talking Heads and Frank Zappa. As a result of it, she started a band named "Ya Hozna" in 1989.
Although the fact, that the group lasted only for a year, they managed to release an album entitled "Ya Hozna", the album that revealed unique and original musical style of Renata Przemyk. After her music began to catch on, she started her solo career.
As an independent artist Renata has recorded and edited the following albums: "Mało zdolna szansonistka" (1992), "Tylko kobieta" (1994), "Andergrant" (1996), "Hormon" (1999), "Blizna" (2001), "Balladyna" (2002) - soundtrack from a play directed by Jan Machulski, "The best of" (2003) - a compilation of her most interesting songs, "Unikat" (2006).
From the beginning of her artistic path, she has been accompanied by her dearest friend and manager - Anna Saraniecka, who at the same time is the author of all lyrics. Mature and wise lyrics have the same importance for Renata's songs as the music, and are integral part of creating the unusual nature of her work.
Most of Renata's albums were awarded with a status of "golden album" for selling over 50.000 copies. Moreover, they were nominated and awarded many times - mostly for artistic individuality.
From the beginning of her career, the singer has also won numerous awards in various festivals in which she took part, including first prize in the festival in Cracow, "Karolinka" in Opole and "Bursztynowy Slowik" in Sopot.
As an artist that connects rock sounds with poetry and theatrical performance she could both perform - on the stage of a rock festival in Jarocin, and on prestigious festivals of stage song that took place in Wrocław and Köln. She has given concerts in France (Normandy, Britany, Paris) and in the USA (New York) but because of lyrics written in native language, she prefers to perform in front of the Polish publicity which can fully appreciate the words and also sing the songs with her.
Although, she has got many interests such as: art, cinema, the 19th and 20th century literature, modern theatre and drawing her own graphics, the most important for her is always music. She has cooperated with many artists but if it's for her art - she's always the only one who produces her ventures and decides about their character.
It is hard to classify her music - neither rock nor alternative nor poetry can describe what's deep inside it. She calls her music "an everlasting search for tones, sounds, emotions and climates not similar to anything that had been made before". That's why each album is different from the previous one. Nevertheless, there is always one motif in common - on every album we can hear the sound of accordion, an instrument the artist likes, despite all trends and fashions.
An individual and unique style of Renata's music has its origin in post-punk tones. However, the artist has been constantly using various instruments in her musical career. The electronic sounds were used for the first time by Renata on an album entitled "Hormon" in 1999, which at the same time was the first album composed by her. Since then she and the author of lyrics Anna Saraniecka have been the only "parents" of Renata's successes.
What is more, in plebiscites of two most important Polish weeklies - Polityka and Wprost, Renata has been chosen one of the most important artists of the last century.
Discography:
* Yahozna (1990)
* Mało zdolna szansonistka (1992)
* Tylko kobieta (1994)
* Andergrant (1996)
* Hormon (1999)
* Blizna (2001)
* Balladyna (2002)
* The best of Renata Przemyk (2003)
* Unikat (2006)
* Odjazd (2009)
Rekwijem
Renata Przemyk Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Zmierzch tam zapadał gdy rozum taniał
Żył sobie grubas z kuflem piwa
I myśli smutne nim przeganiał
Szurał bosymi nóżętami
I wrzeszczał hardo lecz o zmroku
Że wszystko można by mu zabrać
Prócz paru szybkich myśli złotych
Co się po życia błąkam celi
Choć jestem raczej bogobojny
Wiem że aniołów diabli wzięli
Do izby wracał i w drzwi stukał
Do siebie wrócić już nie umiał
Gadał z obrazem po dziadowsku
Ale po pańsku go rozumiał
Bogatych gnębił pytaniami
Straszył wielbłądem i cienką igłą
Na ładnych patrzył tak nieładnie
Że strasznie im ich życie brzydło
Tylko o jedno dla siebie proszę
By pojawili się znów ci anieli
Co bez użalań się nad losem
Po piwo by mi pofrunęli
Ja mały gruby niepozorny
Co się po życia błąkam celi
Pytam bo jestem bogobojny
Po co aniołów diabli wzięli
The lyrics of Renata Przemyk's song RekWijeM depict a scene where a fat man with a mug of beer is sitting and contemplating with sad thoughts. He is wandering barefoot and screaming out loud that everything will be taken away from him except for a few precious thoughts. In contrast, the singer, a small, unimpressive traveler who wanders through life, has a more religious outlook and knows that angels and demons have taken away the hardship of life. The fat man returns to his room, talks to the picture on the wall, and is incapable of regaining control of himself. He asks the angels to return, but only so they can come and drink with him.
The lyrics reveal a commentary on the human condition and the difficulties of life. The imagery portrays a man whose only sense of comfort comes from drinking beer, and the small narrator recognizes that life is marked by the absence of angels and the presence of demons. The song speaks to the powerlessness and pain of the human experience, and ultimately, the desire for the transcendental to come and alleviate our sorrows.
Line by Line Meaning
Gdzieś bo nie powiem gdzie to było
Somewhere, I won't say where it was
Zmierzch tam zapadał gdy rozum taniał
Twilight was falling as my sanity waned
Żył sobie grubas z kuflem piwa
A fat man lived with his mug of beer
I myśli smutne nim przeganiał
And chased away sad thoughts
Szurał bosymi nóżętami
Shuffled with bare feet
I wrzeszczał hardo lecz o zmroku
And shouted fiercely, but at dusk
Że wszystko można by mu zabrać
That everything could be taken from him
Prócz paru szybkich myśli złotych
Except for a few precious thoughts
Ja mały gruby niepozorny
I, a small and unremarkable chubby person
Co się po życia błąkam celi
Who wanders through life aimlessly
Choć jestem raczej bogobojny
Although I am rather religious
Wiem że aniołów diabli wzięli
I know that the angels and devils took them
Do izby wracał i w drzwi stukał
He returned to the room and knocked on the door
Do siebie wrócić już nie umiał
He couldn't return to himself anymore
Gadał z obrazem po dziadowsku
He spoke with the picture in a vulgar way
Ale po pańsku go rozumiał
But he understood it like a gentleman
Bogatych gnębił pytaniami
He tormented the rich with questions
Straszył wielbłądem i cienką igłą
Scared them with camels and thin needles
Na ładnych patrzył tak nieładnie
He looked at the beautiful ones so terribly
Że strasznie im ich życie brzydło
That their lives seemed terribly ugly to them
Tylko o jedno dla siebie proszę
I only ask for one thing for myself
By pojawili się znów ci anieli
That those angels would appear again
Co bez użalań się nad losem
Who without pitying my fate
Po piwo by mi pofrunęli
Would fly down to bring me beer
Pytam bo jestem bogobojny
I ask because I am religious
Po co aniołów diabli wzięli
Why did the angels and devils take them?
Contributed by Gabriella V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.