3.12. Xindl X, Mirka Miškechová – Cudzinka v tvojej zemi

This post is also available in German Polish Czech Belarusian

The third goodie also combines artists from different countries. Xindl X, a Prague singer & songwriter sings the duet “Foreign in your country” together with Slovak singer Mirka Miškechová. This time, though, the song is not about bridges, but about obstacles that are connected to political decay of Czechoslovakia. It is a sad example of how political decisions can influence everyday life in a bad way.

 

Xindl X, Mirka Miškechová – Foreigner in your country

Just yesterday, we spoke the same language
and despite the few foreign words,
I managed  to read your letters.
Today, the foreign ones outweigh the familiar
What the hell is up with that?
What’s up with that?

Just yesterday, we all spoke the same way,
with just a few small deviations
Today, I feel like an idiot
when all the words sound foreign to me
What the hell is wrong with us…
What is wrong with us?

Yesterday I could understand you,
I still understand individual words.
But the meaning of the sentence escapes you,
and you need to try again and again.

I look into a dictionary
and try to overcome this nightmare,
that yesterday, I was your whole world
and now I’m not anymore.

I look into a dictionary and feel sad,
that now, I’m just a foreigner in your country.

Just yesterday, we spoke the same language,
but our shared vocabulary is running thin.
My quips are not witty anymore, just cutting
and they keep tearing and tearing through the string of our conversations.

Just yesterday, we spoke the same way
but words change their meanings
and every ship becomes a shipwreck
Familiar people become strangers
And we mix up especially that, which is important
and especially our heads

Yesterday, you told me witty stories
today, you’re learning the alphabet
And I’m waiting what you’ll come up with again
be with me, but don’t wake me up anymore!

I look into a dictionary
and try to overcome this nightmare,
that yesterday, I was your whole world
and now I’m not anymore.

I look into a dictionary and feel sad,
that now, I’m just a foreigner in your country.

Just yesterday, we spoke without any problem
and now, we understand each other best when we don’t speak
Words like to lead us on
and I haven’t been able to read between the lines for a long time now

Just yesterday, we spoke the same language
but danger awaits in sentences now
Words malicious as venomous snakes
that will surely betray us in these crooked compound sentences

We have a blank map in front of us
maybe we have no drive

But I still understand your body language,
even though it’s only when I’m naked

I look into a dictionary
and try to overcome this nightmare,
that yesterday, I was your whole world
and now I’m not anymore.

I look into a dictionary and feel sad,
that now I’m just a foreigner in your country…

That now you’re just a foreigner in my country…

That now I’m just a foreigner in your country…

Translated by Michaela, Kuba & Thomas