“Będzie kolęda” (1968) – Skaldowie * Written by Wojciech Młynarski (lyrics) and Andrzej Zieliński (music) * LP: Wszystko Mi Mówi, Że Mnie Ktoś Pokochał * Label: Pronit
Communism could never squelch the Christmas spirit of Poland, whose Catholic roots and traditions ran too deep, so the appearance of a brazenly festive track called “There Will Be Another Christmas Carol” on a 1968 album by the popular rock group Skaldowie was hardly unusual for its time. (A girl group called Ali Babka joins them, flavoring it with some Phil Spector Americana.) The church bell-simulating vocal refrains at the beginning and end are possibly borrowed from the chorus of Gene Pitney’s “Just One Smile” (1966). The melody reverberated further in the TV theme for The Smurfs (1981), the Wycliffe Gordon-penned theme for NPR’s All Things Considered (1995), and South Park’s cheesy poofs theme (1998).