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W małym kinie

Mieczysław Fogg · 1960

A nostalgic Polish tango recalling the silent cinema era — music by Władysław Szpilman, lyrics by Ludwik Starski. Most famously recorded by Mieczysław Fogg in the 1960s, the song evokes romantic memories of watching Rudolf Valentino on screen.

Lyrics & Translation

Polski English
Verse 1
Mieliśmy pójść do kina Wybacz, nie pójdę dziś W mroku zasiądę do pianina W przeszłość pobiegnie myśl
We were meant to go to the cinema Forgive me, I won't go today In the darkness I'll sit down at the piano And my thoughts will run back to the past
Chorus
Małe kino Czy pamiętasz małe, nieme kino? Na ekranie Rudolf Valentino A w zacisznej loży Ty i ja Na ekranie On ją kocha i umiera dla niej My wierzymy, bośmy zakochani Dla nas to jest prawda, a nie gra To jakby o nas był film Więc my wpatrzeni Ach, jak wzruszeni Miłością swą W małym kinie Nikt już nie gra dzisiaj na pianinie Nie ma już seansów w małym kinie W małym, niemym kinie "Petit Trianon"
Small cinema Do you remember the small, silent cinema? On the screen — Rudolf Valentino And in the quiet box — you and I On the screen He loves her and dies for her We believe it, for we are in love For us it's truth, not a game It's as though the film were about us So we sit transfixed Oh, how moved By our love In the small cinema No one plays piano there today There are no more screenings in the small cinema In the small, silent cinema "Petit Trianon"
Verse 2
Nic tak nie przypomina Dawnych, odległych chwil Jak muzyczka z niemego kina Rzewna jak stary film
Nothing so readily recalls Those old, distant moments As the little tune from the silent cinema Plaintive as an old film

  • Vocabulary

    • nieme kino — silent cinema (nieme = mute/silent)
    • loża — theatre box — a private elevated seating area
    • zaciszny — secluded, quiet, intimate
    • wzruszony — moved, touched (emotionally)
    • rzewny — plaintive, wistful, melancholy
    • seans — screening, film showing
    • wpatrzony — transfixed, gazing intently

    Grammar note

    "bośmy zakochani" — a contracted form where the auxiliary -śmy (we are) attaches to the conjunction bo (because): bośmy = bo jesteśmy. Standard form: bo jesteśmy zakochani (because we are in love). This movable enclitic is common in older literary Polish and song.

    Cultural context

    The song nostalgically recalls Poland's pre-war silent cinema era. Rudolf Valentino, the Italian-American silent film star who died in 1926, was hugely popular in Poland. The "Petit Trianon" was a real Warsaw cinema of the era. The music was composed by Władysław Szpilman — the pianist immortalised by Roman Polański's 2002 film — with lyrics by Ludwik Starski.

    Intermediate tangoclassicculturelisteninghistory

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