CZTERY REFY - Corrido del Marineros Zawiszos

Corrido del Marineros Zawiszos

Words: Simon Spalding
Music traditional: "Cielito Lindo"

Buenos tardes, amigos, cantamos corridos,
Estamos muczaczos zeglaros,
D'un barqua hermosa, Zawisza del Negra,
Gramymos sur pieknos guitarros.

Wysitamos las puertas, del Sud i del Nuertas,
Pijemos de rum i cerveza.
Spotkamos senoritas, blondas i negritas,
Budzimos con mal de cabeza!

Ay, ay, ay, ay! Marineros Polakos! Wiesz, nigdy skarzymos, I nie ma problemas,
Do zagli, do kuchni, pompowac,
Sprzedamos pamietnikos, piszos muczos artiklos,
I kochamy, prawda, sok grapefruitowa!

Ay, ay, ay, ay! Marineros Polakos!

"Corrido del Marineros Zawiszos" - here's another song from the "Zawisza Czarny". Columbus Regatta voyage. One of my shipmates, Piotr ("Pedro") used a lot of Spanish words and phrases I suppose he picked up in the Canaries and Puerto Rico. As I struggled to learn more Polish, he and I would make jokes in a sort of Polish - Spanish pidgin, and this gave me the idea for the song, which I wrote between watches. To explain the last verse: the reference to pumping concerns an unexpected difficulty we encountered shortly after we left St. Johns, Newfoundland.
Sea water flooded the forecastle and also contaminated some of our fresh water, so our tea tasted salty for a few days! Part of the trip's sponsorship agreements entailed crew members writing articles for Polish newspapers, a source of some grumbling, and of course crew members always sell souvenirs when "Zawisza" is in port. While in Boston, "Zawisza's" crew was feted royally by the Friends of Poland in New Bedford. Among the many gifts and hospitalities they lavished on us was an enormous supply of grapefruit juice. We had grapefruit juice with every meal, and even had plenty left over when at last "Zawisza" tied up in Gdynia!