Chłopcy z Placu Broni

Kocham wolność

by Federico Romagnoli

Chłopcy z Placu Broni – Kocham wolność

(first version recorded for Radio Trójka, 1989;

below is the second version, included on the album "O! Ela", Polton, 1990)

On 15 October 2015 dark clouds descended over Poland, with a crushing victory in the general election for Prawo i Sprawiedliwość (Law and Justice), the far-right nationalist party.

The moves already put in motion by the new government are worrying and evoke the specter of fascism. OndaRock is not the place to talk politics, but any news outlet will confirm that the situation is critical (for anyone wanting a primer, articles from the following are attached IBTimes, Repubblica e Il Post).

One reform in particular represents a real blow to local culture. The government has effectively taken direct control of television and radio, which it can now run by installing and removing its own people at will. It's not that there was no political interference in this field before, but open control is another matter altogether, leaving no room for negotiation.

Among the many radio stations, there is one with a special significance in Poland's history: the third channel of national radio, also known as Trójka, which was mentioned recently in our profile of Republika.

Ever since the days of the socialist regime, Trójka has represented a happy island for Poles, a window onto culture and the rest of the world, as free as possible from the logic of power. It certainly often had to contend with censorship, but it always managed to get by.

radio_trojka With the new reform, however, even Trójka risks turning into a propaganda channel for Law and Justice.

Magdalena Jethon, who had run the channel since 2010 with excellent results and growing audience figures, resigned on 8 January, unwilling to bow to the party's blackmail.

Four months have passed since then, and in the meantime four other directors have come and gone, three of whom resigned after just a few weeks. The station is, in short, in chaos, and the indignation of its audience — which has always represented Poland's most progressive wing — is mounting online. Several support pages have sprung up on Facebook, with names like "Hands off Trójka" and "Let's save Trójka".

What does all this have to do with the song that titles this article? A great deal. One of the channel's most important fixtures is in fact a hugely popular annual poll, whose results are broadcast in the first days of May, ranking the hundred greatest Polish songs of all time. It is perhaps the biggest radio event of the year, and has sometimes even had television broadcasts in support.

On 1 May 2016 it was won by "Kocham wolność" by Chłopcy z Placu Broni. The translation of the lyrics, provided by Salvatore Greco of PoloniCult, may shed some light on why.

Non chiedo poi tanto

Non desidero poi tanto

Non ho visto poi tanto

Non guardo poi tanto

Non penso poi tanto

Non conto poi tanto

I haven't felt all that much

I don't manage all that well

I love freedom and I understand it

I'm not able to give it up

I haven't had all that much

I don't have all that much

I can lose everything

I can even end up alone

I love freedom and I understand it

I'm not able to give it up

No metaphors, no subliminal intent: these are simple, direct words, and the message they send is unmistakable — its victory caused quite a stir. The whole of Polish web talked about it in the days that immediately followed.

The feat — and it really is one, given that the poll tallies up votes in the hundreds of thousands every year — was made possible above all by social networks (the song is indeed very famous, but until now it had never gone beyond a respectable number 24 in the final results).

In short, even though badly wounded, and it's not yet clear how much longer it can hold out, once again Trójka has proven to be a light in a moment of great difficulty for the nation.

It's news so charged with hope that it would almost seem crass to sit down and analyze the song. And yet, since practically no one over here knows it, it would seem equally rude to close without saying anything about it. Especially considering that it's a wonderful track as a whole, not just for its lyrics.

bogdan_lyszkiewicz

Chłopcy z Placu Broni were the brainchild of Bogdan Łyszkiewicz, who died in an accident in 2000, just a few months short of turning thirty-six.

They were introduced to the nation in 1988, precisely by Trójka, which at the time was the biggest platform supporting Polish rock bands (much as today it remains the only major outlet backing electronic music, alternative rock and jazz).

"Kocham wolność" was their third single. It was first aired in June 1989, a couple of months after Solidarność's election victory, and was in effect a celebration of the long-awaited freedom that had finally been achieved.

The original version was never physically released, as was the case at the time for many of the singles aired by Trójka. The following year the band re-recorded it for inclusion on their brilliant debut album, "O! Ela".

From that point on, the album version eclipsed the original in fame, which still lies in the radio archives and has never been released on CD (for the curious, someone at the time recorded it onto tape, and more recently transferred it to digital file, though the audio quality is admittedly poor and could use a remaster).

In both versions the song comes across as a valiant jangle-pop anthem, a vital melody with a melancholy aftertaste riding on swirling guitar work, topped off with an exquisite solo as the cherry on the cake. Besides being imperceptibly slower, the album version boasts a far superior production, and marks a partial, natural departure from certain '80s sonic traits still clearly detectable in the original.

Chłopcy z Placu Broni would go on to score hits here and there throughout the '90s. Łyszkiewicz's premature death has decidedly deepened the band's legend.

P.S. For anyone wondering about the meaning, the band's name is simply the Polish title of "The Paul Street Boys", a masterpiece of children's literature and a refined metaphor for the dynamics of power, in which the lowly private Nemecsek is the one who risks the most to save the day and, in the end, the only one to pay with his life. Certainly not a name chosen at random.

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11/03/2026

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This article is an English translation of the original Italian text by Federico Romagnoli, published on OndaRock.it. It was translated with the help of artificial intelligence, under the editorial responsibility of OndaRock's editor-in-chief, Claudio Fabretti.

Read the original in Italian · About the English edition