The Czerwone Gitary were founded by guitarist/vocalist Jerzy Kossela 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. Krajewski refused to participate - save for the initial 1991 tour Wszystkim,którzy o nas pamietają (For All Who Still Remember Us) - 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 the ...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)
Hits
Nie mów nic (Say Nothing)
Nie zadzieraj nosa (Don’t Be Stuck Up)
Historia jednej znajomosci (A Story Of A Relationship)
Matura (A-Levels)
Co za dziewczyna (What A Girl)
Stracić kogoś (Losing Someone)
Takie ładne oczy (What Pretty Eyes)
Dozwolone do lat 18-tu (Permitted Until Eighteen)
Kwiaty we włosach (Flowers In The Hair)
Anna Maria (Anne Marie)
Biały krzyż (The White Cross)
Płoną góry, płoną lasy (Mountains Burn, Forests Burn)
Niebo z moich stron (The Sky Where I'm From)
Ciągle pada (It Keeps Raining)
Dzień jeden w roku (The One Day In A Year)
Nie spoczniemy (We Won't Rest)
Remedium (The Remedy)
Polska To My (Poland, That's Us)
Czerwone Gitary have released 82 albums. Among them are:
To właśnie my (1966)
Czerwone Gitary 2 (1967)
Czerwone Gitary 3 (1968)
Na fujarce (1970)
Spokój serca (1971)
Consuela (in German, 1971)
Rytm Ziemi (1974)
Dzień jeden w roku (1976)
Port piratów (1977)
Rote Gitarren (in German, 1978)
...jeszcze gra muzyka (1998)
OK (2005)
Historia jednej znajomości... (2007)
Consuela
Rote Gitarren Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
In denen man wie ein Schiff liegt,
Die hohle Hand erhohen zum Mast, zum Gru?
Lebe wohl in den Gedanken, Consuela.
Im Meer des Sandes setz' ich mein Segel,
Spann sie zum Himmel in den Flug der Vögel,
Füll sie mit Erinnerungen, Consuela.
Das Meer war ausgetrocknet, aber lebte.
So lebe wohl in den Gedanken, Consuela.
Sand verschüttet unsre Spuren, Consuela,
Wind verweht die letzten Worte, unauffindbar weit.
Doch unsre Gedanken treffen sich im Mittelpunkt der Düne,
Irgendwo.
Dieser Punkt bleibt bei dir und mir.
Unzugänglich ist der Platz,
Is der Wind nach hundert Jahren
Ausgräbt uns'ren Schatz,
Und trägt ihn über alle Menschen hin,
Ein kleiner Hauch
Und wir drinnen auch.
Mit dem Sand, der sich auf diese Tage legt,
Mit dem Traum, der manchmal noch die Haut erregt,
Lebewohl in den Gedanken, Consuela.
Dieser Punkt bleibt bei dir und mir.
Unzugänglich ist der Platz,
Bis der Wind nach hundert Jahren
Ausgräbt uns'ren Schatz,
Und trägt ihn über alle Menschen hin,
Ein kleiner Hauch
Und wir drinnen auch.
Meer,
Du kannst Dich noch so sehr
Mit Wasser füllen,
Salzig Wasser kann so einen Durst nicht stillen.
Lebe wohl in Gedanken, Consuela.
The lyrics to Rote Gitarren's song "Consuela" speak of an experience by the sea where the singer lies on the sand like a ship and raises their hand to the mast as a greeting. They bid farewell to their memories and their companion, Consuela, as they set sail on the ocean of sand with all their experiences to fill their sails. They reminisce about the sun that weaved their clothes and the sea that lived despite being dried up. The sand may bury their tracks, the wind may blow away their words, but their thoughts will always meet at the center of the dune, an inaccessible place only unburied after a hundred years. The song ends with a final farewell to Consuela and all their memories as they realize that the ocean, despite being filled with water, cannot quench their thirst for their experiences.
The lyrics paint a poignant picture of goodbye and the transience of memory. The image of lying on the sand and raising their hand as a ship is a beautiful metaphor for the fleetingness of life and the need to seize every moment. The idea that memories are carried in sails and have a weight of their own to carry us to new adventures speaks to the transformative power of experience. The image of the dune as a meeting place for thoughts is a metaphor for the inaccessibility of memory and the idea that it can only be unburied after a hundred years is a reminder of how important it is to cherish what we have in the moment.
Line by Line Meaning
Tage, die kleine Wellen zaubern in den Sand,
Days that create small waves in the sand,
In denen man wie ein Schiff liegt,
In which you lay like a ship,
Die hohle Hand erhohen zum Mast, zum Gruß;
Raise your hand to the mast, to greet;
Lebe wohl in den Gedanken, Consuela.
Farewell in thought, Consuela.
Im Meer des Sandes setz' ich mein Segel,
In the sea of sand, I set my sail,
Spann sie zum Himmel in den Flug der Vögel,
Stretch it to the sky, in the flight of birds,
Füll sie mit Erinnerungen, Consuela.
Fill it with memories, Consuela.
Die Sonne war es, die uns Kleider webte,
The sun wove our clothing,
Das Meer war ausgetrocknet, aber lebte.
The sea was dry, but alive.
Sand verschüttet unsre Spuren, Consuela,
Sand buries our footsteps, Consuela,
Wind verweht die letzten Worte, unauffindbar weit.
Wind blows away the last words, untraceable far.
Doch unsre Gedanken treffen sich im Mittelpunkt der Düne,
Yet our thoughts meet at the center of the dune,
Irgendwo.
Somewhere.
Dieser Punkt bleibt bei dir und mir.
This point stays with you and me.
Unzugänglich ist der Platz,
Inaccessible is the place,
Is der Wind nach hundert Jahren
Until the wind, after a hundred years,
Ausgräbt uns'ren Schatz,
Unearths our treasure,
Und trägt ihn über alle Menschen hin,
And carries it over all people,
Ein kleiner Hauch
A small breath
Und wir drinnen auch.
And we are in there, too.
Mit dem Sand, der sich auf diese Tage legt,
With the sand that covers these days,
Mit dem Traum, der manchmal noch die Haut erregt,
With the dream that still occasionally excites the skin,
Lebewohl in den Gedanken, Consuela.
Farewell in thought, Consuela.
Meer,
Sea,
Du kannst Dich noch so sehr
You can fill yourself so much,
Mit Wasser füllen,
With water,
Salzig Wasser kann so einen Durst nicht stillen.
Salty water cannot quench such thirst.
Lebe wohl in Gedanken, Consuela.
Farewell in thought, Consuela.
Contributed by Gabriella B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.