Image by Dudek1337, Wikimedia Commons license 🙏
In 2011, the Polish band Yugopolis released “Ostatnia Nocka”, featuring vocals by Maciej Maleńczuk (pictured).
It’s a reinterpretation of the Serbian band Bajaga i Instruktori‘s song “Verujem, ne verujem”. And it so happens that the Polish version is packed with useful verbs and phrases for language learners.
Check out the video and keep reading below for a translation.
Key phrases in “Ostatnia Nocka” for learners of Polish
| Polish | English | Comment |
| Ostatnia nocka | Last night | Night is usually “noc”. “Nocka” is the diminutive version, making it sound cuter and less serious |
| Boli mnie głowa | I’ve got a headache | Literally “my head hurts” |
| Nie mogę spać | I can’t sleep | Compare with “nie mogę zasnąć”, which means “I can’t fall asleep” |
| Wszyscy już posneli | Everyone has already fallen asleep | |
| Nie mogę leżeć | I can’t lie down | |
| Nie mogę wstać | I can’t stand up | |
| Ja dobrze znam | I know very well | |
| Nie wiem czy wierzę niej | I don’t know if I believe her | |
| Ostatnia doba | The last 24 hours | |
| Ciągle jestem tutaj | I’m still here |
For sure there’s more to the lyrics than these phrases, but they’re quite difficult. If you’re up for a challenge, it could be a fun task to untangle the whole song.
About Yugopolis
Yugopolis was a collaborative Polish music project that reinterpreted and adapted Yugoslavian rock and pop songs into Polish. It was led by Zoran Predin and the Polish producer Michał Zabłocki and featured Polish artists like Maciej Maleńczuk, Paweł Kukiz, and Ryszard Rynkowski.
Fun facts
Maciej Maleńczuk has released an album called Jazz dla idiotów (yep, it means jazz for idiots).
Paweł Kukiz ran for president in 2015. A bit too right-leaning for me personally, but he was more fun than Andrzej Duda! And his been in several other bands worth a look: In the 80s he fronted the uber cool group Aya RL. In 2000, his band Piersi released a song called “Miasteczko South Park”. Check them out:
Sing Polish 
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