This is a quick addendum to my previous post, Tempora mutantur et nos mutamur in illis.
I just didn’t want to muddy up a post with some thing that, while amusing, is not very important.
Most of my posts are the result of several triggers, the last one is not different.
Writing is mostly sorting out the mess in my head. As I was writing my righteous rant, I was humming the lines of this Hungarian rap hit: “Bezzeg régen”
This is the studio recording, meaning better audio quality;
…while this is a concert Concert video, so that you can see them too:
And here is the translation of the lyrics:
Back in the day, there was respect
Back in the day, there was honor
Back in the day, there were values
Back in the day, there wasn't so much crap
Back in the day, croissants were dense
Back in the day, neighbors invited each other over
Back in the day, time was just walking
Back in the day, they didn't plant thujas
Back in the day, tap water was OK
It didn't contain cyanide or trihalomethane
What should I buy then, bottled water?
What am I supposed to do with all that plastic?
Back in the day, girls didn't have dicks
There wasn't so much junk, things were cleaner
Back in the day, work didn't stink
There weren't so many divorces, there weren't so many whores
Back in the day, there were guitars in music
Back in the day, there weren't holes in the sky
Back in the day, you still lent me money
And when I screwed in a light bulb, it burned for ten years
Back in the day, I was younger
My girlfriend was much younger too
My mother is much older now
Since back in the day, she was younger too
Back then, everything was better here
Back then, I believed it would be better here
Back then, everything was better here
Back then, I believed it would be better here
Back in the day, the Lada was good
Back in the day, the Trabant was good
Back in the day, they gave up their place
Back in the day, there was still expertise
Back in the day, the mood was better
Back then there was no plastic
Back then there were more species
Back then the border was further out
Back then the stickers were good
There were motorcyclists, car drivers and karatekas
I could fill my sticker album with them
Now there are only dipoles, but even those are few
Now they blame Kádár
Back in the day, they blamed Horthy (Regent of Hungary 1920-1944)
Back in the day, they blamed the emperor (Kaiser Franz-Joseph)
And so on, all the way back to Géza (The builder of medieval Hungary, father of its first Christian king)
Back in the day, everything was better
No matter what anyone says
I say, back in the day, everything was better
I'm not opening a debate, it was better
Back in the day, I was younger
My girlfriend was much younger too
My mother is much older now
Since she used to be younger
Everything was better here back then
I used to believe it would be better here
Everything was better here back then
I used to believe it would be better here
I used to be awake more back then
I didn't need an alarm clock back then
Back then, my dad was more relaxed
Back then, drunk was better
Back then, styles were pure
The songs were written by true talents
Back then, the audience was good
They loved the stars and bought their music
Back then, family was fashionable
Back then, I could drink as much as I wanted
Back then, Reagan thought the war was cold
He defeated the Soviets and everything fell apart
I told you what it was like back then
Everyone should learn from it!
Back then, everything was better here
Back then, I believed it would be better here
Back then, everything was better here
Back then, I believed it would be better here
Back then, everything was better here
Back then, I believed it would be better here
Back then, everything was better here
Back then, I believed it would be better here
Everything used to be better
Songs played on the Wurlitzer
We knew what pleasant music was
Now it's not so good
There's no beautiful music anymore
It all went to rotten hell
====
I would love to show it together with the original lyrics, but the pathetic editor of Substack does not allow me to do tables, side-by-side columns or even just indented paragraphs.
And since I am doing show and tell, I should share a fantastic, thrilling video.
Just watching it makes me happy.
Whenever you despair about the state of the world, you should just do something wild to make you feel alive.
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I LOVE this, bravo.