Jožin z bažin is a song written by Czech musician and comedian

Ivan Mládek Ivan Mládek (born 7 February 1942) is a Czech recording artist, composer, and comedian who gained success in the mid-1970s. Born in Prague, He started his career in the mid-1950s, and moved to Paris in 1968, before returning to his homeland in ...

and recorded by his group,

Banjo Band Banjo Band, also known as Banjo Band Ivana Mládka is a Czech Country music, country band formed in 1966 and led by singer and comedian Ivan Mládek. They are best known both at home and internationally for the song "Jožin z bažin". Band memb ...

, in 1977. It is considered the band's best-known song, both at home and internationally. In January 2008, it became popular in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, winning several radio hit lists, and the band recorded a Polish version on their album ''Jozin z bazin w Polsce'', released the same year. It was also popular in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

, and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Story

The song is a parody on medieval tales, where a brave knight rescues a remote kingdom terrorized by a horrible monster, marries the princess, and receives half the kingdom as a reward. A man driving through the Czech region of

Moravia Moravia ( ; ) is a historical region in the eastern Czech Republic, roughly encompassing its territory within the Danube River's drainage basin. It is one of three historical Czech lands, with Bohemia and Czech Silesia. The medieval and early ...

in a

Škoda 100 The Škoda 100 and Škoda 110 were two variations of a rear-engined, rear-wheel drive compact car that was produced by Czechoslovakian automaker Škoda Auto, AZNP in Mladá Boleslav from 1969 to 1977. They were the successors for the Škoda 1000 ...

finds a village terrorized by a monster named Jožin z bažin (Joey from the swamps), who eats mainly tourists from

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

. The chairman of the local

collective farm Collective farming and communal farming are various types of "agricultural production in which multiple farmers run their holdings as a joint enterprise". There are two broad types of communal farms: agricultural cooperatives, in which member-o ...

promises half of the farm, together with his daughter's hand in marriage, if the man defeats the monster. The man asks for a

cropduster Aerial application, or crop dusting, involves spraying crops with crop protection products from an agricultural aircraft. Planting certain types of seed are also included in aerial application. The specific spreading of fertilizer is also known a ...

plane, the only known weapon against the monster. He catches Jožin and then decides to just sell him to a zoo.

Metallica cover

American heavy metal band

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

covered the song during a concert in Prague in 2018, receiving an enthusiastic response from their audience.

References

External links

*
Sheet music on musescore.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jozin z Bazin Czech songs Songs in Czech 1977 songs Songs about monsters