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Autobiografia

Perfect · 1982

A Polish rock classic by Perfect from the 1982 album UNU. Lyrics by Bogdan Olewicz, music by Zbigniew Hołdys. A vivid first-person coming-of-age story told through snapshots of postwar Polish life — dense with colloquial language and cultural references.

Lyrics & Translation

Polski English
Verse 1
Miałem dziesięć lat Gdy usłyszał o nim świat W mej piwnicy był nasz klub Kumpel radio zniósł Usłyszałem Blue Suede Shoes I nie mogłem w nocy spać
I was ten years old when the world first heard of him In my basement was our club A buddy brought a radio down I heard Blue Suede Shoes and couldn't sleep at night
Verse 2
Wiatr odnowy wiał Darowano reszty kar Znów się można było śmiać W kawiarniany gwar Jak tornado jazz się wdarł I ja też chciałem grać
The wind of renewal blew The rest of the sentences were pardoned You could laugh again In the café buzz and clatter Jazz burst in like a tornado And I wanted to play too
Chorus
Było nas trzech W każdym z nas inna krew Ale jeden przyświecał nam cel Za kilka lat Mieć u stóp cały świat Wszystkiego w bród
There were three of us Each with different blood But one goal lit our way: In a few years Have the whole world at our feet Everything in abundance
Final verse
Pewnego dnia Zrozumiałem, że ja Nie umiem nic Słuchaj mnie tam! Pokonałem się sam Oto wyśnił się wielki mój sen Tysięczny tłum Spija słowa z mych ust Kochają mnie
One day I understood that I know nothing Listen to me there! I conquered myself And here my great dream came true: A thousand-strong crowd drinks words from my lips They love me

  • Vocabulary

    • piwnica — basement / cellar
    • darowano — were pardoned / forgiven (past passive, from darować)
    • kawiarniany — café-like / of the café (adjective from kawiarnia)
    • wdarł się — burst in / forced its way in (from wdzierać się)
    • w bród — in abundance / aplenty (literally: enough to wade through)
    • spija — drinks in / laps up (here: hangs on every word)

    Grammar note

    "Darowano reszty kar" uses the impersonal passive: darowano (it was pardoned/forgiven), a formal construction common in official and literary Polish. "W kawiarniany gwar" uses the accusative with motion/direction implied.

    Cultural context

    Perfect was one of Poland's leading rock bands of the early 1980s. "Autobiografia" (music: Zbigniew Hołdys, lyrics: Bogdan Olewicz) appeared on the 1982 album UNU. The lyrics trace a generation's coming-of-age under communism — the basement rock club, Radio Luxembourg smuggled in on a transistor radio, the jazz thaw of the late 1950s, and the drive to make it as a musician.

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