Posted on 12/25/2017 9:20:24 AM PST by Fiji Hill
Żołnierz drogą maszerował... (Tę kolędę tę jedyną/ śpiewam dla Ciebie, Dziecino) Kolęda żołnierska [Soldier Marched Down The Road: This Carol, This Only One / I'm Singing For Thee, Baby Jesus] [The Polish soldier’s Christmas carol] - Chór 4 Asy [Choir 4 Aces] Melodje, 1946 (Polish)
NOTE: This Soldier’s Carol from wintter 1945 was written as a Christmas Carol by an unknown author to the melody of a well known Polish partisan song: Żołnierz drogą maszerował (A Soldier Marched Down The Road). Text of this carol describes the meeting of a young Polish soldier with the Infant Jesus. The soldier turns out to be a survivor of the Warsaw Uprising of August 1944, who wants to pay tribute to Jesus and give Him the most beautiful gift he brought with him. And Jesus immediately recognizes this gift, situated next to a manger next among many others: it is the heart of a Polish soldier, full of love for God, for Poland and for betrayed, abandoned and ruined Warsaw.
Of course, in 1945, such a text was against the principles of political correctness in the communist state. The mention of the treason of Warsaw was not supposed to be meant for the new Polish rulers installed here by the Red Army (which during the Warsaw Uprising stood idle on the other side of the Vistula, waiting for Warsaw to be burned to the end and Polish insurgents murdered by the Germans). The song was thus "smuggled" under a different title, being in fact a song about betrayal and leaving Poland by its allies, just as a baby Jesus was betrayed and abandoned in Bethlehem. Communist censorship somehow leaked the recording and some copies of the album had already dispersed before it was withdrawn from stores in 1946/7. ,p> Chór 4 Asy (Choir 4 Aces) was one of two groups who after 1945 claimed to be continuation of the famous prewar Chór Dana. The founder of Chór Dana, Władysław Daniłowski (“Dan”) emigrated after 2nd WW to USA, where he formed an ephemeral group of revelers which performed in the Polish émigré clubs in the US for some years. In the same time in Poland, two members of prewar Chór Dana, who stayed in Poland co-opted three more singers and created a successful revelers ensamble “Chór 4 Asy”. Unfortunately, the full installation of the Stalinist regime in Poland in 1949 ceased their activity.
Vesele’ V’anoce
Żołnierz drogą maszerował
Poprzez góry, lasy, polem
Pastuszkowie go spotkali,
Do Betleem wiedli społem.
A choć był zmęczony bardzo,
Ale spieszył się on wielce,
Bo w plecaku niósł Dzieciątku
Z Warszawy żołnierskie serce.
Tę kolędę, tę jedyną
Śpiewam dla ciebie Dziecino,
Daj bym przetrwał wszystkie boje
I znów ujrzał miasto moje...
Za wolnością zatęskniono
Idę walczyć w obce strony,
Ale daj bym przetrwał boje
I znów ujrzał miasto moje!
Żołnierz niósł z Warszawy serce –
Serce młode i gorące –
Co walczyło w zapomnieniu
Przez słoneczne dwa miesiące.
Gdy w stajence się zebrali
Pany, króle, pastuszkowie,
Piękne dary poskładali
Aby Jezus wybrał sobie...
Tę kolędę, tę jedyną...
A w stajence za wszystkimi,
Młody, ale pełen sławy
W mundurze zniszczonym bardzo
Stał polski żołnierz z Warszawy...
Dzieciąteczko go poznało,
Uśmiechnęło się do niego
I spośród darów wybrało
Serce żołnierza polskiego!
Tę kolędę, tę jedyną
The soldier marched along the road
Through mountains, forests, and fields
The shepherds met him,
They came to Bethlehem together.
And although he was very tired ,
He was in a hurry,
Because in his backpack he carried the Child
The Soldier's heart from Warsaw.
This carol, the one
I am singing for you, Child,
Let me survive all the battles
And he saw my city again ...
Freedom was missed
I'm going to fight in strange places,
But let me survive the battles
And he saw my city again!
The soldier carried a heart from Warsaw - A young and hot heart -
That fought in oblivion
Through the sunny two months.
When they gathered in the stable
Pans, kings, shepherds,
Beautiful gifts were put together
That Jesus would choose ...
This carol, the one ...
And in the stable behind everyone,
Young but full of fame
In a very worn uniform
A Polish soldier from Warsaw stood ...
The child met him,
He smiled at him
And he chose from among the gifts
The heart of a Polish soldier!
This carol, the one
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