Mury (''Walls'') was a

sung poetry Sung poetry is a broad and imprecise music genre widespread in European countries, such as Poland and the Baltic States, to describe songs consisting of a poem (most often a ballad) and music written specially for that text. The compositions usu ...

protest song A protest song is a song that is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of ''topical'' songs (or songs connected to current events). It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre. Among social mov ...

written by Polish singer

Jacek Kaczmarski Jacek Marcin Kaczmarski (22 March 1957 – 10 April 2004) was a Polish singer, songwriter, poet and author. Life He was the son of painter Anna Trojanowska-Kaczmarska, a Pole of Jewish background, and the artist Janusz Kaczmarski. Kaczmarski ...

in 1978. It was especially popular among the members of

Solidarity ''Solidarity'' is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. It is based on class collaboration.''Merriam Webster'', http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictio ...

(NSZZ Solidarność) and is one of Kaczmarski's best known songs. It became a powerful symbol of the opposition to the

communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state that is administered and governed by a communist party guided by Marxism–Leninism. Marxism–Leninism was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, the Cominte ...

in the

People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic ( pl, Polska Rzeczpospolita Ludowa, PRL) was a country in Central Europe that existed from 1947 to 1989 as the predecessor of the modern Republic of Poland. With a population of approximately 37.9 million nea ...

and was sung at countless rallies, meetings, protests and strikes throughout Poland during the 1980s. It has become popular among protesters in the

aftermath Aftermath may refer to: Companies * Aftermath (comics), an imprint of Devil's Due Publishing * Aftermath Entertainment, an American record label founded by Dr. Dre * Aftermath Media, an American multimedia company * Aftermath Services, an Americ ...

of the 2020 Belarusian presidential election.

Inspiration

The lyrics for ''Mury'' were written in 1978 to the melody of the song ''

L'Estaca L'Estaca (; meaning "the stake", figurative sense "without liberty") is a song composed by the Catalan singer-songwriter Lluís Llach in 1968. The song, which has been translated into several languages, has become so popular in some countries th ...

'' by the

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

singer

Lluís Llach Lluís Llach i Grande (; born 7 May 1948) is a Catalan singer-songwriter, novelist and politician from Spain. He is one of the main representatives of the ''nova cançó'' genre and an outspoken advocate of the right to self-determination of ...

, which Kaczmarski heard on one of several Spanish records he borrowed from a friend in December of that year. The intention of Kaczmarski's lyrics was to examine how a song or poem can cease to become the 'property' of the author after it is 'stolen' by the masses, who may appropriate it for a particular cause even if it wasn't the author's intention in the first place. In this context, the song can be interpreted as supporting the Polish or

struggle for independence, but also as a critique of certain aspects of mass

social movements A social movement is a loosely organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a Social issue, social or political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to resist or undo one. It is a type of Group ...

. Interview with Kaczmarski on 18 October 1987, originally published by the journal INDEKS, featured o
Jacek Kaczmarski homepage

Solidarity's anthem

Despite its pessimistic conclusion (''A mury rosły, rosły…'', "And the walls grew, grew…") and, ironically, despite Kaczmarski's intention to criticise

for sometimes 'stealing' the words of an artist, the song's message of struggling for independence against oppression meant that ''Mury'' quickly gained

status and it was soon accepted nationwide as the unofficial

anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short ...

. Its

refrain A refrain (from Vulgar Latin ''refringere'', "to repeat", and later from Old French ''refraindre'') is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in poetry — the "chorus" of a song. Poetic fixed forms that feature refrains include the vi ...

(''Wyrwij murom zęby krat!'', "Pull out like teeth the bars from the walls!") later became the signal of the underground Radio Solidarity and the most popular part of the song, while its last pessimistic part was often left out. Kaczmarski came to see this phenomenon as both a misunderstanding of the song's meaning and a vindication of the point he was making when he wrote it. Nonetheless it remains one of his most popular songs. In 1987, after several years of severe repression by the

in the

had managed to erode some of the support for Solidarity, and before the

Polish Round Table Agreement The Polish Round Table Talks took place in Warsaw, Poland from 6 February to 5 April 1989. The government initiated talks with the banned trade union Solidarność and other opposition groups in an attempt to defuse growing social unrest. Histo ...

of 1989, Kaczmarski expressed his disappointment with the disillusionment he saw in Polish society by writing 'Mury '87'. In this song, which is set to the same melody and which Kaczmarski referred to as an '

antonym In lexical semantics, opposites are words lying in an inherently incompatible binary relationship. For example, something that is ''long'' entails that it is not ''short''. It is referred to as a 'binary' relationship because there are two members ...

' of 'Mury', he argues that instead of singing and hoping, people need to be taking action once again. In 2005, 'Mury' was performed by

Jean Michel Jarre Jean-Michel André Jarre (; born 24 August 1948) is a French composer, performer and record producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and new-age genres, and is known for organising outdoor spectacles featuring his music, accompanie ...

jointly with the

Gdańsk University Gdańsk ( , also ; ; csb, Gduńsk;Stefan Ramułt, ''Słownik języka pomorskiego, czyli kaszubskiego'', Kraków 1893, Gdańsk 2003, ISBN 83-87408-64-6. , Johann Georg Theodor Grässe, ''Orbis latinus oder Verzeichniss der lateinischen Benen ...

Choir and the

Polish Baltic Philharmonic Polish Baltic F. Chopin Philharmonic in Gdańsk (full name in Polish: ''Polska Filharmonia Bałtycka im. Fryderyka Chopina w Gdańsku'') is a concert hall located in Ołowianka, Gdańsk. History Polish Baltic F. Chopin Philharmonic was founde ...

during the concert ''Przestrzeń Wolności'' ('' Space of Freedom'', 26 August 2005) on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the formation of

.Yalta 2.0

Warsaw Voice ''Warsaw Voice: Polish and Central European Review'' (shortly ''The Warsaw Voice'') is an English-language newspaper printed in Poland, concentrating on news about Poland and its neighbours. First released in October 1988, it is a general news ma ...

, 31 August 2005. Retrieved 8 October 2006.

Lyrics

References

External links

Listen to the song on the official site (mp3)

lyrics of ''Mury''Musical notes of ''Mury''Original lyrics of ''L'Estaca'' by Lluís LlachEnglish translation
and
Polish translationLive performance of ''Mury''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mury (Song) Polish songs Polish-language songs Protest songs

Inspiration

Solidarity's anthem

Lyrics

See also

References

External links