Translated: HEY - Cudzoziemka w raju kobiet (EN)

Artist: HEY
Song: Cudzoziemka w raju kobiet / A Foreign Girl In Women's Paradise
Music: Paweł Krawczyk
Words: Katarzyna Nosowska
Album: Sic! (2001)



Za mądra dla głupich
(I'm) Too wise for the fools

A dla mądrych zbyt głupia
And for the wise - too stupid

Zbyt ładna dla brzydkich
(I'm) Too pretty for the ugly

A dla ładnych za brzydka
And for the pretty - too ugly

Za gruba dla chudych
(I'm) Too fat for the thin

A dla grubych za chuda
And for the fat - too thin

Spróbuj się domyślić, gdzie to mam*
Try to guess what I don't give about it

Gdzie? No gdzie?
Hmm? Any idea what?

Dokładnie tam
Precisely this

Właśnie tam
Exactly this


Za łatwa dla trudnych
(I'm) too easy for the difficult

A dla łatwych za trudna
And for the difficult - too easy

Zbyt czysta dla brudnych
(I'm) too clean for the dirty

A dla czystych za brudna
And for the clean - too dirty

Zbyt szczecińska dla Warszawy**
(I'm) too Szczecin-style for Warsaw

A dla Szczecina zbyt warszawska**
And for Szczecin - too Warsaw-style

Spróbuj się domyślić, gdzie to mam*
Try to guess what I don't give about it

No gdzie? No gdzie?
Any idea what? Any idea what?

Dokładnie tam
Precisely this

Właśnie tam
Exactly this

Pan wygrał bon
You've won a voucher, mister***

A pani Fiat
And you've won a Fiat, madam***
_____________________________

* In Polish, we say "Mam to w dupie" (lit. I've got it inside my a.ss) to very strongly express that we don't care or, more precisely, don't give a sh.it about something.
I've chosen "I don't give a sh.it" as it's the closest in meaning to the Polish original that's only hinted at in the lyrics.
The literal translation of this part of the lyrics would therefore be: "Try to guess where I've got it/Any idea where?".

** My favourite part of the lyrics! Warsaw is the capital of Poland, of course, while Szczecin [:Shtchehchin] is a relatively big city in North-West Poland, where the author of the lyrics was born. These too lines have a personal undertone for the author who migrated from Szczecin to Warsaw. As a result, she must have been considered by those in Warsaw as too "provincial", while to her fellow Szczecinians she must have turned too posh (or too "urban") by the plain fact of living in Warsaw.
In an ironical way, these lines also depict some mutual tensions or hostilities that can be felt between the dwellers of the capital city and those living in major provincial or regional cities in Poland.
I have to admit that English fails here miserably in comparison to Polish as in my native tongue you can create adjectives from the names of cities, eg. warszawski, szczeciński, krakowski.

*** These lines refer to prizes offered in bland commercial TV/radio programmes, that are given to the winners of some extremely stupid contests/competitions, where questions like:
"What's the Christian name of Katarzyna Nosowska?
A) Katarzyna
B) Jane
C) Maria"
are quite frequent.

To attract listeners (and thus add providers -->> money) some stations will even offer cars, hi-fi or computer equipment and other pricey goods.

Thank you Pawel, it was one the first Polish songs I've ever seen on Viva Polska. I remember it cuz the music video left a trace on my mind.

The first time I'd watched it, I was shocked. I'd seen a girl who sang and shouted with a shaved head and notorious look and it was amazing. Her voice was also very unique for me in that time, but now I think that she somehow imitated Bjork and Lene Lovich.

and what about that "Ahooo" part of the song? What concept does it signify in Polish?

Once again, thank you and thank you.

Oh my frigging God! Cleeeeeeeeeeeeeveeeeeeeeeeeeeer,

Your ability to amaze me with the music (and not only music) that you know seems just limitless.

Thank you so much for your comment - indeed, Bjork must have been a very strong inspiration on Nosowska's way of singing but then I deeply believe she's developed her own style of singing. And well, frankly speaking, Bjork is one of the best "addresses" in the music business, no?

Thank you so much also for your PMed remarks as far as my translation is concerned - they helped me make it more clear to anybody interested in her music.

Boos ha!

Catchy and straight forward lyrics. But she seems to have the looks and attitude of Sinead O'connor.