Wysumblinowana Sztuka Oczyszczania Umysłów - A.J.K.S.
Published:
A translation of one of my favourite A.J.K.S. tracks. Wysublimowana Sztuka Oczyszczania Umysłów roughly translates to the Exquisite Art of the Purification of Minds. The track is available on YouTube, but in case the link is dead I also mirror it on this blog (as always, copyright belongs to Wojciech Kosuń):
— (not on any album)
A.J.K.S.
Disclaimer
I did not state it explicitly in the previous posts with A.J.K.S. translations, so let me explain something.
The goal is not to translate poetic Polish into equally poetic English; the goal is to show what I think the original text means, with the caveat that "meaning" here is closer to "the meaning the text has for me" than to something objectively true. The original text is very often vague, uses implied objects and subjects, plays fast-and-loose with structure, and is, when it comes down to it, poetry. And poetry usually has the pesky fucking problem of you having to subjectively interpret it for yourself; I have not seen a single poet, with the possible exception of Julian Tuwim, who clearly stated what he meant instead waxing lyrical.
What Wojciech Kosuń does with his songs can be more accurately described as throwing Molotov cocktails instead of waxing lyrical, but whatever he throws is, nevertheless, lyrical, and carries the same problems as all other poetry.
The lyrics may use excessively vulgar and aggressive language, they may express rage, depression, show suicidal tendencies, or directly call for violence, but they also contain allegories, metaphors, and cultural references, which you can understand one way on a Tuesday, and another way on Friday. The general tone is clear, and the subject matter is constant, but the fine details are shifty little fuckers, and they, well, shift.
I think this should be enough of an explanation why the English may sometimes seem to have been written by a caveman who only started learning the language, why it is sometimes painfully descriptive, and why I sometimes need two full lines of English to translate one Polish phrase. The goal is to describe what the text means for me as accurately as possible, poetic qualities be damned. I want to show where the cold despair, the simmering violence, the numbing resignation exist in the original text, and do it through clinical description rather than artful composition; better give a crude-but-direct translation than a pretty-but-misleading one.
So, without further ado...
Wysublimowana Sztuka Oczyszczania Umysłów
The Exquisite Art of the Purification of Minds
Wiem, że jestem na kursie kolizyjnym z banałem
I know I am on a collision course with sounding trite
Czerwony alert, olać to, nie przejmuję się wcale
Red alert, but I ignore it and do not worry at all
Czy talent, a może zwykły beznamiętny upór
Is it talent, or rather ordinary, cold stubbornness
Przeklęty kaznodzieja i rzecznik prasowy trupów
The cursed preacher and the PR representative of corpses
Bo po chuj mam się martwić zasadami i sloganem
Why the fuck would I care about rules and slogans
Skoro za własne myślenie ma się zawsze przejebane
If you always get punished for thinking for yourself
Osamotniony stale, gardzę kolektywem
Constantly alienated, I despise you who are part of the collective
I w dupę sobie wsadźcie każdą waszą dyrektywę
You can stick all your directives up your collective ass
Bogate i krzykliwe ustawione marionetki
Rich and kitsch controlled puppets
Człowiek uczy się na błędach, a los nigdy nie jest lekki
A person learns from his mistakes, and life is never easy
No dalej, weź mnie przeklnij i zarzucaj mi zdradę
So go on, curse me and accuse me of betrayal
Wymazałem swoją przeszłość, wszystkim teraz jadę
I erased my past, and insult all of you
I pluję jadem, bo to nigdy nie ma końca
And I spit venom, because it never ends
Puste tępe oczy, zdechłe od nadmiaru słońca
Empty imbecilic eyes, dead from overdosing on the sun
Powiedz, po co się wtrącasz ponoć masz swoje życie
Tell me, why are you meddling in affairs that are not yours, if supposedly you have your own life
Wiecznie w pizdę najebany niespełniony nauczyciel
You, the perpetually beaten-up, unfulfilled teacher
Słowa mają pokrycie; zachowanie odzwierciedla
Words are not empty; your behaviour shows
Że wasze towarzystwo to jest epicentrum piekła
That being in your company the epicentre of hell
I tak, larwa się wściekła, pękła od nadmiaru gniewu
And yes, the maggot became enraged, burst open due to excess of anger
Ogólnopolski recital łabędziego śpiewu
A recital of the swan song, in which everyone takes part
No podejdź i zapytaj dlaczego ciągle szczekam
Come closer and ask why I am endlessly barking
Na zapatrzenie w siebie nie wymyślono lekarstw
No one found a cure for being self-absorbed
Leszcze czaicie przekaz, każdy znów się podpisze
Are you getting it, idiots? Everyone will put their signature down
Pod tym co go dotyczy, a nigdy nie chciałby usłyszeć
Under what concerns them, but no one ever wants to hear
Tej prawdy co kąsa niczym wściekły pasożyt
The truth that bites like a rabid parasite
I dotyka z taką mocą jak okrutny palec boży
And touches you with the same force as the cruel finger of God
Ludzie są w większości chorzy, tylko o tym nic nie wiedzą
Most people are sick, they just are not aware of it
Straszą umysłową biedą, a wpychają nam placebo
The emptiness of their minds is terrifying, and yet, they keep pushing their placebo to us
Że sami się zawiedli światem, w którym żyją
They disappointed themselves with the world in which they live
To nie ty tylko ja chodziłem z pochyloną szyją
It was not you, but me, who have been walking with his head kept down
I chuj na grób żmijom co wysysają energię
Spit on the graves of the vipers that suck out energy
Wasza egzystencja tutaj to naprawdę niepotrzebne
Your existence here is truly unnecessary
Mnie już dawno nie ma, żyję tylko w twoich żyłach
I ceased to be a long time ago, and only live on in your veins
Jak wyrzut sumienia, toksyna która cię zabija
Like something tugging on your conscience, a toxin that is killing you
Bo ciągle chcesz więcej, a dostajesz takie baty
Because you always want more, but suffer such defeats
Że naprawdę bardzo ciężko będzie potem liczyć straty
That it will be difficult to take stock of your losses
Nie zmienisz już podejścia do własnej osoby
At this point, you will not change your attitude towards yourself
Zbiorowe samobójstwa i masowe groby
Group suicides and mass graves
Rozpacz rodzin, płacz, patrz - cała reszta
Despair of families, tears, look - all the rest
Nie wiedziałem, że aż tak wybornie smakuje zemsta
I did not know, that revenge has such an exquisite flavour
Przyjdzie czas kiedy drzewa będą domem dla wisielców
There will come a time when the trees will house hanging men
Ucieczka w samobójstwo przed okrutną twarzą lęku
From the terrifying face of fear, escape into suicide
Więc lepiej nie dziękuj, bo naprawdę wiesz niewiele
You'd better not thank me, because you really do not know much
Jak wesz natrętna; weź spierdalaj, mam swoje cele
as if you were an annoying louse; fuck off, I have my own goals
I ambicje, wbijam w wasze wielkie wymagania
And ambitions, I could not care less about your huge expectations
Jak chcesz zrobić coś co lubisz to przynajmniej się postaraj
If you want to do something you enjoy, at least put some effort into it
I trzymaj się z dala, bo chłopak na posyłki
And stay away, because the errand boy
Dosyć mocno się wkurwił i zamierza skopać tyłki
Is seriously pissed off, and wants to let some steam off
Sram na środowisko karierowiczów z fabryki
I shit on the clique of factory-made corporate drones
Tych z taśmowej produkcji, chyba wolę zostać nikim
Those born on the assembly line, I would rather be a nobody
Niż ośmieszać się, wiesz, poniżać tak zapamiętale
Than make myself into a laughing stock, you know, and humiliate myself so thoroughly
samego siebie, ah, nie szanuję kurwa wcale
I do not have a single fucking ounce of respect
Tych co są niewypałem bez swojej własnej wizji
For those who are just duds, without their own vision
Zapłacę każdą karę bo rana się zabliźni
I will pay any price, because the wound will close
I przynajmniej dzięki temu z sobą samym nie mam kosy
And thanks to that, at least I do not have a problem with myself
A najcudowniej krwawią dumnie zadarte nosy
The noses proudly kept highest, bleed the most beautiful
Pociągnę za włosy i jebnę o ścianę
I will pull the hair and slam into a wall
Sprofanowane zwłoki rozświetli poranek
The dawn will shine light onto a desecrated corpse
Wypełzły robaki, bo one mają instynkt
The maggots crawled out because they have an instinct
I honor dlatego nie zeżrą trucizny
And honour, so they will not devour poison
Oklaski czy gwizdy czy to plus czy to minus
Applause or jeering, is it a plus or a minus
Prostacki dualizm bogobojnych skurwysynów
A simplistic dualism of god-fearing bastards
Od słów do czynów, taa, chora poezja
From words to actions, yeah, right, sick poetry
Nie szanuję twojej pozy więc może lepiej przestań
I do not respect your pose, so you would better stop
Ciągle tworzyć żałosne nowe kody dostępu
Constantly creating new pathetic access codes
Pokręcone figury; nabawiłem się wstrętu
And twisted figures; I developed a disgust
Po raz wtóry i nie chcę patrzeć na to więcej
Again and I do not want to look at it anymore
Za te bzdury dostaniesz tak jak TWA 800
For that gibberish, you will get what TWA 800 got
No i w sumie to na tyle skończyłem kolejny rozdział
That would be it, I finished another chapter
Mam swoje własne miejsce nigdy go nie oddam
I have my own place, and I will never relinquish it
Bo wkładam w to serce, a może tylko udaję
Because I am putting my whole heart into it, or maybe I am just faking it
Sam oceń artysta czy zakłamany grajek
You be the judge, an artist or a lying charlatan
Mnie już dawno nie ma, żyję tylko w twoich żyłach
I ceased to be a long time ago, and only live on in your veins
Jak wyrzut sumienia, toksyna która cię zabija
Like something tugging on your conscience, a toxin that is killing you
Bo ciągle chcesz więcej, a dostajesz takie baty
Because you always want more, but suffer such defeats
Że naprawdę bardzo ciężko będzie potem liczyć straty
That it will be difficult to take stock of your losses
Nie zmienisz już podejścia do własnej osoby
At this point, you will not change your attitude towards yourself
Zbiorowe samobójstwa i masowe groby
Group suicides and mass graves
Rozpacz rodzin, płacz, patrz - cała reszta
Despair of families, tears, look - all the rest
Nie wiedziałem, że aż tak wybornie smakuje zemsta
I did not know that revenge has such an exquisite flavour
Remarks
As usual, A.J.K.S. lyrics are not the easiest to translate. Despite the subject matter being gruesome and bleak, the language used is at times vague and poetic, and references to events or ideas leave the meaning open to interpretation.
TWA 800
An obvious reference to TWA Flight 800.
Respect and rhyme
There is a section of text where I had to move the words between verses for the English version to make sense:
Sram na środowisko karierowiczów z fabryki
I shit on the clique of factory-made corporate drones
Tych z taśmowej produkcji, chyba wolę zostać nikim
Those born on the assembly line, I would rather be a nobody
Niż ośmieszać się, wiesz, poniżać tak zapamiętale
Than make myself into a laughing stock, you know, and humiliate myself so thoroughly
samego siebie, ah, nie szanuję kurwa wcale
I do not have a single fucking ounce of respect
Tych co są niewypałem bez swojej własnej wizji
For those who are just blanks, without their own vision
If you listen to the Polish lyrics, it sounds like Kosuń sings something like this:
chyba wolę zostać nikim niż ośmieszać się, wiesz, poniżać tak zapamiętale
I would rather be a nobody than make myself into a laughing stock, you know, and humiliate myself so thoroughly
samego siebie, ah, nie szanuję kurwa wcale
I do not have a single fucking ounce of respect for myself
However, this interpretation does not really make sense to me, especially given the text around these verses. Why would he say that he would rather be a nobody, that he would pay any price for being himself, that he defecates on the clique of corporate drones... and at the same time say he does not respect himself?
I think the text is structured like this to make the verses rhyme, "zapamiętale" and "wcale" rhyme perfectly in Polish, not to convey meaning. The "ah" between "samego siebie" (myself) and "nie szanuję" (I do not respect) also seems to indicate a break, so I am treating it as a full stop in a textual representation, despite it sounding as if those two expressions were a part of one sentence. The following interpretation makes vastly more sense, in my opinion:
chyba wolę zostać nikim niż ośmieszać się, wiesz, poniżać tak zapamiętale samego siebie
I would rather be a nobody than make myself into a laughing stock, you know, and humiliate myself so thoroughly
nie szanuję kurwa wcale tych co są niewypałem bez swojej własnej wizji
I do not have a single fucking ounce of respect for those who are just blanks, without their own vision
Therefore, the English translation reflects the meaning, rather than structure of the original text. This is a recurring problem with translating poetry: both structure and meaning are important, but it is incredibly difficult to transform both into another language.
Cause of disappointment
Another section worth mentioning is this:
Że sami się zawiedli światem, w którym żyją
They disappointed themselves with the world in which they live
A more natural translation would be "they became disappointed with the world", but it would not be an accurate one.
The Polish phrase "sami się" ie, "they themselves", implies that "they" were responsible for whatever happened to them. A particularly gruesome but illustrative example is "sami się zabili" which means "they killed themselves". You could also say "sami się wyprowadzili" meaning "they moved out by themselves" implying no outside help or no outside pressure, depending on context.
The original text says "sami się zawiedli światem", and to convey the meaning I saw no other way than to explicitly put the responsibility for the disappointment on "them" and translate the phrase as "they disappointed themselves with the world".
Maybe they had too high, unrealistic expectations? Maybe they were too naive? It is not stated what they did to cause the disappointment, but it is clear that they did it to themselves.