Losers Keep Hope To Us

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Some people are born with a dark soul. Artistic talent is sometime a curse or can be revealed by another curse. We heard many stories from the West such the one of Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison and so on. In the East, Rszard Riedel rised as a rock star, a legend of blues and felt down as a junkie. Besides, Czesław Niemen was an earlier legend of rock and a pioneer in his era. They were called `losers’. It was thought that they had no value nor respect. It was a big mistake. They lived that life with a dream. I can say that even losers have a dream to keep going on.

Firstly, I want to talk about Ryszard Riedel. He was born on September 7th 1956 in Chorzów. He hasn’t recieve a good education and his father worked for government. R. R. had a son and a daughter. He suffered from drug abuse, especially Polish heroin that is called ‘compote’. This was the reason of his death. Nevertheless, people paid respect to him. He died by cardiac insufficiency related to his drug abuses. He died on July 30th 1994 and was sunk into grave in Wartogłowiec, Tychyon August 3rd.

He was the vocal of Dżem. He attended the band in December 1973. Riedel was a talented person. He was one the best vocals in Poland. He wrote and composed songs. His lyrics were usually inspired by his own life. He was also one of the most charismatic vocals of his country. He worked with many good musicians such as Ryśkiem Skibińskim, Leszkiem Winderem , Józefem Skrzekiem , Nocną Zmianą Bluesa itp. Riga Skibińskim, L. Winder, Joseph Skrzekiem, Nocna Zmiana Bluesa etc.



He had many records:

•1983 Krzak'i; LP band Krzak, Tonpress
•1985 Dżem; MC band Dżem, Karolina
•1985 Cegła; LP band Dżem, Polskie Nagrania Muza
•1985 Blues forever ; LP Leszka Windera, Polskie Nagrania Muza
•1986 Absolutely Live; LP band Dżem, PolJazz
•1987 Zemsta nietoperzy; LP band Dżem, Pronit
•1988 Lunatycy - LP band Dżem, Polskie Nagrania Muza
•1988 Ryszard Skibiński - Ostatni koncert; LP Ryszarda Skibińskiego, Polskie Nagrania Muza
•1988 Józef Skrzek - Live; LP Józefa Skrzeka, Polskie Nagrania Muza
•1989 Urodziny; MC band Dżem
•1989 Najemnik; LP band Dżem
•1990 Dżem Session 1 MC band Dżem
•1991 Detox; MC and LP band Dżem
•1991 Detox; CD band Dżem
•1992 The Singles; CD band Dżem
•1992 Dzień, w którym pękło niebo; LP band Dżem
•1992 Wehikuł czasu - Spodek '92; 2CD band Dżem
•1993 14 urodziny; MC band Dżem
•1993 Autsajder; CD band Dżem
•1994 Akustycznie; CD band Dżem
•1994 Akustycznie - suplement; CD band Dżem
•2004 Złoty Paw; CD band Dżem
•2007 Gwiazdy polskiej muzyki lat 80.; CD band Dżem
•2007 Gwiazdy polskiej muzyki lat 80. - vol. 2; CD band Dżem

His life story was screened in the Polish movie ‘Destined For blues (Skazany na bluesa) which was directed by Jan Kidawa-Blonski in 2005. Here is one of his songs translated into english:



LIST DO M {Letter to M}

Mom I am writing to you a poem
Maybe the last, certainly the first
It is a deep, dark night
I sit in bed and she's sleeping next to me
And she's breathing quietly
There's some music coming to me
No, it's just noise in my head
Sitting, tone in tears
Because I am sad, for I am alone
Fear is stifling in me

Loneliness is such a terrible fear
It embraces me, it passes me
You see, Mom, I figured out myself
That there is no God, no, no
There is no God, no
My house is only quiet
Where you are, and I'm not there
Where I come back, I think not
Mom, I love you very much, I love you

I thought you hurt me
And I hurt you
Unfortunately, I realized it so late
So late; that I understood...
I understood it

Besides, Czesław Niemen is an another importand musician in Polish rock music. He was born on February 16th 1939 in Stare Wasiliszki in Grodno Province and died on January 17th 2004. After the World War II it became a part of Byelorussian SSR and in the 1950s he was allowed to move to Poland.

He had a very wide voice range and a rich intonation. He used the pseudonym Niemen instead of his real name focusing on his homeland. He was the first singer who had long hair, colourful clothes and introducing the psychedelic style, which annoyed the communist officials.

His first three albums were recorded with his band ‘Akwarele’ (Watercolours). Afterwards, he recorded with his other new bands; ‘Enigmatic’, ‘Grupa Nieme’ and ‘Aerolit’. He was singing rock and soul music, and after 1969, he changed his musical style to progressive rock as recording the album ‘Enigmatic’. His most famous song is ‘Dziwny Jest Ten świat’ (Strange Is The World). Also, he recorded that song in English in the early 1970s. In 1974 he recorded Mourner's Rhapsody with Jan Hammer and Rick Laird from Mahavishnu Orchestra. In the 1970s, he change his musical style again to jazz-rock fusion and electronic music as the album Katharsis.



His discography:

•1967 Dziwny jest ten świat ("Strange Is This World")
•1968 Sukces ("Success")
•1969 Czy mnie jeszcze pamiętasz? ("Do You Still Remember Me?")
•1970 Enigmatic
•1971 Człowiek jam niewdzięczny - aka "Czerwony Album" ("Ungrateful Human I Am" aka "Red Album")
•1972 Strange Is This World (English lyrics, released in West Germany)
•1973 Ode to Venus (English lyrics, released in West Germany)
•1973 Niemen Vol. 1 and Niemen Vol. 2 - aka "Marionetki" ("Puppets")
•1973 Russische Lieder ("Russian Songs", Russian lyrics, released in West Germany)
•1974 Mourner's Rhapsody (English lyrics, released in West Germany, UK and USA)
•1975 Niemen Aerolit
•1976 Katharsis
•1978 Idée fixe
•1980 Postscriptum
•1982 Przeprowadzka ("Moving")
•1989 Terra deflorata
•1991 Terra deflorata (extended version)
•1993 Mouner's Rhapsody (extended version) (USA)
•1997 Moja i twoja nadzieja'97 ("Your and My Hope")
•2001 spodchmurykapelusza ("fromunderthecloudofahat")



STRANGE IS THE WORLD

This is a strange world,
Where yet still
Is a lot of evil.
I wonder is
That since so many years
Man despises a man.

This strange world,
World of human affairs,
Sometimes ashamed to admit.
But often,
That someone has a bad word
Killed as a knife.

But people of good will is more
And firmly believe in it,
That this world
Do not die with him.
No! No! No!
He has time,
It is time
Destroy the hatred of each other.

But people of good will is more
And firmly believe in it,
That this world
Do not die with him.
No! No! No!
Now it is time,
It is time
Destroy the hatred of each other.


During this assingment, I learnt about good musicians and that music is the way of peace, life and chaos. It doesn’t matter that how dark you live is, the point is how hopeful you are and how much hope you do give back to people.