Karel Kryl - Dvacet (Twenty)

The holidays are coming to an end and I hope that you've had a nice vacation. This week marked the 49th anniversary of the invasion of the armies of the Warsaw pact in Czechoslovakia, so I think it would be appropriate to once again look at the brilliant work of Karel Kryl.

I chose his song Jeřabiny (Rowanberries) for my very first blogpost, because I simply cannot get enough of Kryl's masterful poetry. Today's song will be a little more complex, so that you can get the gist of why he's praised not only by casual listeners, but also by literature scholars. Dvacet may not be among his most well-known songs, but it is definitely one of my favourites. Kryl wrote it for the 20th anniversary of the invasion, in exile. In his later songs, Kryl tends to play with words and implement very subtle barbs at the Czechoslovak regime. He also criticized the people for not taking action and being compliant with the regime. However, at the same time, he was trying to inspire them to do something, and to give them hope.

Buty - František (Francis)

For the first post-1989 Czech music post on this site, I decided to go with the band Buty, which definitely is among my top favourites. A band from Ostrava (the name "buty" means "boty" - shoes, boots - in the Lachian dialect) that started a few years before the fall of the communist regime, it came to prominency around the mid 1990's. Their style "can be described as an eclectic mixture of rock, folk music, ethnic music, country music, jazz, reggae and other genres, with witty, dadaist lyrics." (Wikipedia) I personally very much enjoy their sense of humour - both in texts and in music - and refined instrumental approach, which combine in a diversive and pleasurable body of work.

The song František comes from their third album, Dřevo ("Wood", 1995) and is one of my favourite modern Czech songs. With its jokingly plain text and somewhat naïve storyline, this song is both funny and it breathes an air of nostalgia, as it shows how with a simple deed, you can leave the world a bit better place.