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1/ In every place in #Belarus where thousands are turning out to see opposition candidate Sviatlana #Tsikhanouskaya one song is played each time: Разбуры турмы муры (Break down the prison walls)–or ‘The Walls’
The song has a fascinating history. THREAD https://twitter.com/belamova/status/1287383402329579520
The song has a fascinating history. THREAD https://twitter.com/belamova/status/1287383402329579520
2/ It is a translation of the Polish song “Mury” by poet/musician Jacek Kaczmarski. Written in 1978 it became the anthem of the Solidarity (Solidarność) opposition movement. It was sung in the striking shipyards, at illegal concerts and by detained political prisoners
3/ For Poles in the eighties it became a powerful song about walls coming down: walls built by the Communist regime.
„A mury runą, runą, runą, i pogrzebią stary świat”
„A mury runą, runą, runą, i pogrzebią stary świat”
4/ Kaczmarski himself based it on Catalonian singer Lluis Llach’s “L’Estaca” (the Stake), a protest song during Franco’s dictatorship. It spoke of how people are all tied to a stake, from which they need to free themselves
5/ Here’s a very short @BBCRadio4 interview on the role that song played in Catalonia
6/Kaczmarski later said people had misunderstood his song, which was actually anti-revolutionary and a warning against unintended consequences of mass social movements. The last, more pessimistic, words were often edited out in the 80s. But the song had taken on a life of its own
7/ In 2005,“Mury” was playing to end the Warsaw concert for 25th anniversary of Solidarność, when Belarusian activists jumped the barriers+walked on stage with their white-red-white flag. I was in the audience that night and it was a very emotional moment
8/ It was 1st sung in Belarusian in 2010,translated by writer Andrei Khadanovich(Андрэй Хадановіч) +sung at the post-election protest in December that year in Minsk. 700 people were arrested that night incl presidential candidates. Scenes from that night-
9/ In Poland the song represents a different era – but for Belarusians today it has a new significance.
These were the incredible scenes in Homiel yesterday night. Mury has become an anthem again in 2020 in #Belarus https://twitter.com/franakviacorka/status/1287526932008128513?s=20
These were the incredible scenes in Homiel yesterday night. Mury has become an anthem again in 2020 in #Belarus https://twitter.com/franakviacorka/status/1287526932008128513?s=20
