KAYAH - To nie ptak - (PL>>EN)

Artist: Kayah
Song: To nie ptak / Not A Bird
Music: Goran Bregović
Lyrics: Kayah
Album: Kayah i Bregović (1999)

For:
My Persian brother, Veryclever1980 (aka Soovka) - " 'cos you wanted it that way! " (see lyrics )

http://www.dailymotion.pl/video/xewz...nie-ptak_music

W kolorowej sukieneczce krząta się
She's bustling about in a colourful dress

Raz po raz odwraca głowę
Every once in a while she's turning her head

Uśmiech śle
To send her smile

Mógłbyś przysiąc że
You could swear

Widziałeś wczoraj skrzydła jej
You saw her wings yesterday

Jak je chowała pod sukienką
While she was hiding them under her dress

Lecz ona
But she's


To nie ptak czy nie widzisz?
Not a bird - can't you see that?

To nie jest ptak
Not a bird

Ona to nie ptak
She is not a bird

To nie jest ptak czy nie widzisz?
Not a bird - can't you see that?


Kocham ciebie mówi każdy jej mały ruch
Her every little move says "I love you"

Lecz ty wśród kolorowych falban szukasz piór
But you are looking for feathers amidst the colourful flounces

Bo jesteś pewien że
Because you are sure that

Wczoraj widziałeś skrzydeł cień
You saw the shadow of (her) wings yesterday

Dlatego klatkę zbudowałeś
That's why you have built a cage

Lecz ona
But she's


To nie ptak czy nie widzisz?
Not a bird - can't you see that?

To nie jest ptak
Not a bird

Ona to nie ptak
She is not a bird

To nie jest ptak czy nie widzisz?
Not a bird - can't you see that?


Tego dnia, gdy ciemność skradnie serce ci
On this very day when darkness steals your heart

Ona w oknie będzie śmiać się lecz przez łzy
She will be laughing in her window, yet through tears

Rozpuści czarność włosów i
She will loosen the blackness of her hair and

Zmieniona w kruka skoczy by
Changed into a raven she will jump to

Za chwilę oknem tym powrócić tu
Come back here through the window in a instant

lecz jako
But as a


Rajski ptak bo tak chciałeś
Bird of paradise, 'cos you wanted it that way

Jako rajski ptak
As a bird of paradise

Rajski ptak
Bird of paradise

Jako rajski ptak bo tak chciałeś!
As a bird of paradise, 'cos you wanted it that way!

Pawel, thank you for that song. As I've told you before I love the whole album. It's a masterpiece.

Could you please explain the meaning of the song?

Is she a devil or an angel?

What about laughing and crying at the same time

It's so beautifully complicated.

Soovka,

Oh, you know I'm so weak at interpreting poetry...

I like to see this song as a piece about a woman who's loved obsessively by her man, who's also very jealous about her.
He does not want to see her the way she really is - a golden-hearted woman who loves him so much.
On the contrary, not being sure of her love and her golden heart, he invents something about her because he cannot believe the plain truth.
The metaphor of the bird (representing freedom, also in a relationship) was used here to lead to this passage where he has "built a cage" for her to keep her at home.

And she's crying - because she truly loved him. She's also laughing - because now she can be free (of his obsessiveness and jealousy).

What d'you think?

Sroka,

I have the same feeling about the song, plus I think that the man here suffers from cynicism. He wants to imprison the woman because he fears that she might fly away, just like a bird, and might find another lover for her.

Thanks to your marvelous interpretation, now I understand it much better.