I LOVE THIS! Do you remember Ivan Mladek’s song called “Jozin z Bazin” (the Swampland Jozin) (see the words to the song by clicking here) ? Well, if you don’t, it is a 30-year old, folk song that became a huge hit at the time. The song is about this monster Jozin who lives in the swamps somewhere in Moravia and eats only people from Prague – the city snobs. Although he doesn’t eat the locals they are tired of him. That is why the town mayor makes an offer to give away his daughter and a half or the “JZD” (the communist word for the town farm) to anyone who destroys this monster. The Czechs still play it on the radio from time-to-time. Every time I hear this song it brings me back to my childhood: I am 7 years old, hanging out with my friends at my parent’s cottage during the summer and lazily munching on Nanuk (an awesome communist ice cream bar). Anyway – it’s crazy – but this song ( and the video) has just now become a HUGE hit in Poland! It’s been the number one song on most of the Polish Top Song list (in Polish it is Jozek z bagien). The teenagers have the disco version uploaded in their MP3’s and are dancing away, trying to copy the dancing style of Ivo Pesak.
What is so catchy about that song to the Polish? Is it the singing style of the major singer, Ivan Mladek, or is it the dancing maneuvers of his “side-kick” Ivo Pesak? No one knows…But one thing is clear. The Polish people love Jozin z Bazin so much that some want him to become the future president of Poland (as some of the street graffiti reveal)…Anyhow, see this awesome YouTube video for yourself (located at the end of this post):
UPDATE: For you Jozin z bazin lovers there is an awesome on-line store with various types of merchandise that celebrates the beauty of our favorite video. Czech it out here!
CZ: Tak si predstavte, ze nas zlaty Jozin z Bazin, pisnicka napsana pred 30ti lety, se stala v Polsku obrovskym hitem! Pokazde, kdyz ji slysim hrat v radiu (coz jednou za 100 let), tak me to prinese zpatky do meho detsvi: je mi 7 let, jsou letni prazdniny, ktere travim s rodici na chate a pochutnavam si spolu s kamoskama na Nanuku. Nicmene, pisnicka – a take jeji video – udelala v Polsku takovou diru, ze uz je vytvorena jeji disko verze a vsichni nactileti ji maji nalozene do jejich MP3 a nejen ze si pisnicku pobrukuji, ale take se snazi napodobit tanecni styl Mladkova pobocnika, Iva Pesaka. Co se Polakum na Jozinovi tak libi?? Je to zpevecky styl Ivana Mladka? Nebo tanecovani pana Pesaka? Nikdo netusi….Jedno je ale jasne: Jak to cituje vetsina mestskych grafitu a napisu, Polaci chteji Jozina za budouciho polskeho prezidenta. Tak tady to je:
Source: http://www.ceskenoviny.cz/magazin/hudba/index_view.php?id=291397
[youtube][/youtube]
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Watching those two dance has just made my day!!!
also are their hands a little white or is it just me?
No, you are right, they are white! The fear from that monster just drained the blood away from their poor limbs!
i am so scared right now. scared of what humanity can produce. but, yet, at the same time i am delighted. i am delighted that a little bearded man can dance in the midst of such insanity. may we all dance with joy when the crush of plaid jackets, overgrown sideburns and john malkovich-burping-in-the-golden-chalice weighs in on us.
I think the Polish are on to something.A good candidate for a “where are they now” segment.Is there any hope for a comeback?
Hope for a comeback…I am not sure…Ivan Mladek (the singer) is over 70 years old so maybe if they let them keep their canes and/or wheelchairs while performing there could be a comeback..
I am danish – and I just cant get ENOUGH of Jozin z bazin
It’s EXTREMELY CATCHY! And Mladek and Pesak are just hilarious!
I know, even my American husband is humming the sound of that song without knowing the words…and they are great too!
I read on the Czech internet news site that Mladek himself hasn’t even seen the video clip up until now!
This song i a true blast! Jozin rocks.
Polish is very similar to the Czech language but slightly different so majority of words are understandable yet distorted.
I also heard that it is easier for the POlish people to understand the Czechs than it is the other way. Isn’t that interesting??
yeah it’s unbelievable how this became so popular in poland. the thing is that as mentioned above, polish and czech are very similar, a lot of words are written/pronounced the same but with a different meaning… the whole song sounds kinda lame these days and that’s what’s making it funny
Hi all,
Jozin z Bazin is so popular in Poland that a well-known comedy group recorded a Polish parody of the song. Link: http://pl.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej4HnCgapFU
The parody makes fun of Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and current politics in general to the tune of Jozin z Bazin. And the parody is becoming a hit as well but it will unlikely beat Jozin z Bazin.
I watched that polish video and it is awesome! Especially the guy that plays the tube (or whatever it is) at the beginning – he is even more foul-looking than the “original”!
Possibly there is deeper bottom to it … Light, funny, whatever it is, it has strong flavor of a unique, old, deep culture, Czech culture. We have to remember that the symbol of Czech national resistance can be Narodne Divadlo, not bloody uprisings, lost wars and Syberia, or strikes and Solidarity. Like it is for Poles.
So this different approach to survival can be attractive to our Polish subconsciousness. Just look how Zlata Praha survived comparing with Warszawa.
As I Pole myself, I must say I don’t know why this song has become such a hit in Poland.
Maybe one of reasons might be that the Polish and Czech languages are quite similar and make both nations laugh?
I´m also from Poland, here is a link to a better parody of that. enjoy:)
http://www.widelec.pl/widelec/1,82861,4842266.html
I´m also from Poland, here is a link to a better parody of that. enjoy:)
http://www.widelec.pl/widelec/1,82861,4842266.html
Hi Michal (or Micha?),
I checked out the video and it is FUNNY! Is that grandma for real or is she just a hired “old person”? This Jozin z bazin trend is just getting out of control!
Can anyone tell me what that man “burping in the golden chalice” is really playing at the beginning and before the verses of the video?
Czech music was always popular in Poland …
dj_jozin_B feat. DJ Remo_-_Jozin z Bazina mp3 jazddddddda 😀
Please can someone translate the lyrics to english!
I love this song!
D.
We in Poland love this kind of sense of humour.For example Monty Python is very popular.After JOZIN Z Bazin-mania in our country,there is many Czechs movies in cinema,and dvd records.Frends from all europe,thray to find out about,it is very interesting!
Hi Zbig,
what Czech movies do you guys like? I am curious…
PS: Daniel, you can find the English translation on one of the many YouTube videos…when I was going through them I saw at least couple that had English Czech subtitles…
Hey you all. Just wanted to let ya all know that we here in Chicago have already a Jozin funclub! Got the T-shirts, sideburns and even the checkered jackets. We’re not Czech, obviously, but we sing along with Mladek word by word. All of our American friends love the group too. Oh, and you guys must watch their ‘O Snehorce’ monologue. It’s hilarious !!
Here are the lyrics translated into English:
I drive Skoda 100 to camp here on Orawa
So I hurry, take a risk – go through Morawa
The monster lives there, comes out of the bog
Eats mostly Prague citizen, its name is Jozin (Joseph)
Chorus:
Jozin from the bog creeps through swamp
Jozin from the bog closes to the village
Jozin from the bog edges its teeth
Jozin from the bog bites, strangles
To defeat Jozin from the bog, who could imagine, only works a plane with manure (white powder)
I was driving through the village on road to Vizowice
The village mayor greeted me, said to me during drinking Sliwowica (DIY plum vodka)
‘The one who will bring Jozin dead or alive
gets my daughter and a half of National Agrarian Farm
Chorus: Jozin…
I said: ‘give me a plane and powder, mayor,
I’ll bring you Jozin, I see no trouble about that’,
Mayor helped me, in the morning I went up in the sky
The powder from the plane prettily fell on Jozin.
This is great! THanks Krzys for translating Jozin z Bazin into English! Lot of people have been asking about it….
Hey Tanja,
in Poland there is a strong sentiment towards Czech cinema. Audience is very favorable especially toward Czech comedies (we have a common and popular saying/idiom: “Czeski film” (Czech film) which means a situation which is both full of humour and surreal at the same time;)
What’s interesting, almost every film critic when reviewing a new Czech film says something like “It’s a pity our neighbours know how to laugh about their cons, and we (Polish directors) still don’t”. Sometimes it pisses me off, but some other times they are right.
We in Poland like Czech sense of homour and humanity which emerges from your films.
My favourite Czech films are old ones, especially Forman’s (pre – emigration period) or Menzel’s, but I haven’t seen very much of Chech cinema. Of the newer ones, I liked “Samotari” and “Sex in Brno”.
Wow these guys are cool. What is that tnstrument the other guy with the beard id playing? It sounds so odd.
Hi! Just wanna inform you that Jozin z bazin is now a great hit in Serbia too! Some guys have made a Serbian version of this song recently for Christmas Eve. The words are completely different, but the song and appearence is the same. You can see it on youtube, the name is Medo Brundo. Its important that Jozin mania is spreading! Greetings from Serbia! The Czechs rule!!!!
Hi Alex!
Thanks for the tip! I will be sure to “czech” it out! I can’t believe that Jozin z Bazin has gotten so popular…
Have you seen jozin z bazin but in serbian, it’s parody, hilarious stuff :)))) :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHQ8MPQV3Gw
That is pretty funny! That singer looks even more dorky than in the original video – I did not know that was possible to do!
I LOVE YOU JOZIN Z BAZIN!!!
KOCHAM CIE JOZEK Z BAGIEN!!!