Baby, ach te baby - foxtrot from Poland, 1933

Baby (Ach, te baby!) [Women (Oh, These Women!)] Fokstrot z filmu "Zabawka" (Foxtrott from the film "A Toy") (Muz. Roman Palester, Tekst: J. Nel) Orkiestra Cristal-Electro dyr. Jerzy Lederman, Refren śpiewa Duet Corda, Cristal-Electro 1933 (Polish product)

NOTES: Theres no question, foxtrott "Baby, Ach te baby!" belongs to Top Ten hits in the history of Polish song. Even a child in Poland is able to murmur the famous beginning of that Eugeniusz Bodo's song from 1933 film "Zabawka": Baby, ach te baby!.... But beware! Polish word "Baby" has nothing to do with English "a Baby" , meaning "a sweetheart", "a honey" or anything of the sort. Polish "baby" is the plural of the word "baba", which is an abbreviation of Russian "babushka" - a big strong woman-like type with heavy fists and, sometimes, surprisingly loving heart. A crone? A hag? In Russia, it refers to a type of a peasant woman, most commonly present in the market places. In Poland, however, "baba" has acquired much softer and even a cuddlesome tint. In a jocular way it is used as a kind of a soft epithet for the whole female gender. "Baby, ach te baby" meaning, in a very imperfect translation, "women, oh these women". Unfortunately, enormous variety of the nouns in the slavonic languages make the subtlity of the meaning of "baba" or its plural:"baby", completely untranslateable into any of Western European languages.
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The song was composed by Roman PALESTER (born 1907 in Śniatyn, died 1989 in Paris) - one of great names in the history of Polish XXth century music. He was a composer and a vice-president (until 1939) of Polish Composers Society, his symphony music won prizes in international music festivals (1930 Ist Prize on Festival of International Contemporary Music Society in London; in 1937- Gold Medal at the World Expo in Paris). Composing popular music, mostly for films e.g. "Zabawka" (A Toy) with Eugeniusz Bodo or "Dziewczęta z Nowolipek" (Girls From Nowolipki Street) was merely his hobby. World War 2 meant for him the loss of most of his compositions during the total annihilation of the capital city after the Warsaw Uprising in 1944. From 1945-47 he was nominated for vice-president of Warsaw Conservatory, but due to his openly anti-communist attitude he could not continue his career. After composing music to a couple of films, like the world-famous war dramas "Ostatni etap" (The Last Etappe) about prisoners of Auschwitz and "Ulica Graniczna" (Graniczna Street) about the tragedy of the Warsaw Ghetto during the German occupation of Poland, also - the first post-war music melodrama "Zakazane piosenki" (Forbidden Songs), about love & music in nazi-occupied Warsaw - he emigrated to Munich, where he took directorship of the Cultural Section of Radio Free Europe. Later, he moved to Paris. His works were strictly forbidden in the communist Poland. He is buried at the Montmorency Cemetery.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Thirties
• 1930s
• Poland
• Polska
• przedwojenna
• międzywojenna
• Warszawa
• stare
• kino
• Eugeniusz
• Bodo
• piosenki
• inter
• war
• Warsaw
• dance
• band
• orkiestra
• taneczna
• płyty
• gramofonowe
• old
• record
• 78rpm

[dzheger]

What a great video! I love the catchy Russian foxtrot tune, and the town market photos have a special appeal for me: though my father was from Buczacz, he had family in Sniatyn (the composer's birthplace) and Kolomyja. He used to mention Przemysl as a pretty town he liked to travel to as a child.

[240252]

Hi D., I checked my files in search of some photos from Buczacz and I think, I have something for you. I will upload them as soon as I find a suitable music for them. Happy new Year!

[barbcard]

I prefer the Polish translation. The Yiddish word "Bubele"

might come close, though far as I know it refers mainly to kids. Love the market scenes. Happy New Year to you and all your many fans!

[240252]

Hi B., The Yddish word "bubele" has probably some German connotation (in German "bubi" = a boy, garcon) and does not seem to have anything in common with "baba" - which has a Russian origin

[demonicDEBACLE]

is there a modern rendition of this music anywhere??

or perhaps a better quality version?!?!??!

I need this for a karaoke night :D:D

[XxXEMOBOYx]

świetne nagranie, szkoda że śpiewają tylko refren :(

[RRS1980PL]

Ja tłumaczę "baba" na angielski jako "broad" ;-)

[Plattensammler88]

Bardzo ladne nagranie. Ja mam tylko jedna plyte orkiestry Ledermana. Pan niema moze pare podwójnych?