We all know that my favorite Slovak song is "Tota Heľpa," and that, at least in my opinion, there's little better than a crowd of all ages playing instruments and singing folk music. But to think that Slovak music is all fujaras and people in kroj is just foolish. As evidence, I offer a few of my favorite non-folk songs from Slovakia. I will admit that the following selections do not represent a comprehensive overview of recent popular music; they are a totally subjective and not terribly well-informed collection. Počúvajte and enjoy!
HONORABLE MENTIONS: Not in Slovak
"Crushin' My Fairytale" by Celeste Buckingham
Celeste is like part American and part Swiss and lives in Slovakia and is fluent in the language. She co-starred in my favorite Slovak movie, Láska na vlásku, and recorded a song for the end credits. She also sings in English, as in this song. You might recognize Bojnice Castle as the filming location for the video.
"Princess of the Light" by Lavagance
The video for Lavagance's song "Gabriel" seems to be set in a Baumax (a home improvement store) and downtown Bratislava. That song seems tailor-made for the final scene in an hour-long drama on an American network, and I'm surprised it hasn't been so used yet. As far as I know, they only sing in English, but I have made no investigation to prove the contrary. There are two videos for "Princess of the Light"; the one I prefer features SĽUK, the Slovak national dance troupe.
"Stužková" by Elán
Okay, the song is from 1985, and the band and lyrics are Czech, and you only really hear this during stužková season in November. But it's so iconic that I can't in good conscience omit it, and the video--made, remember, before the fall of Communism in Czechoslovakia--is amazing.
TRETIE MIESTO: "Môj život je muzika" by Kollárovci
It's either this one or "Neodchádzaj" (which I hope they play at every wedding and ples and stužková from now until the end of time). This song is folky, but not actually traditional. All of the music on this album, also titled Môj život je muzika (My Life is Music), is catchy; Dad's favorite is "Mariša," and I have to be careful about listening to or even thinking about "Sokoly" because it gets stuck in my head quite easily.
DRUHÉ MIESTO: "Horehronie" by Kristína
Slovakia's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest back in 2010. I feel like the recent trend has been for Eurovision songs to be all in English, but I wish more were in their countries' native languages. "Horehronie" is all about how beautiful the region is, a sentiment with which I agree wholeheartedly. The song didn't win, but that's Eurovision politics for you.
I also like Kristína's recent songs "Si pre mňa best," and "Na bieleho koňa" from Johankino tajomstvo, which I still have not seen, dang it.
PRVÉ MIESTO: "Ľahká" by Korben Dallas
The album is called Banská Bystrica and its cover features the SNP Museum in the city, so I don't know how much more Slovak you can get than that. I love Juraj Benetin's voice on this track; its weight and depth is a counterpoint to the addressee, who is lightweight (ľahká), like a nut on the water (ako orech na vode). For me that line fits the song much better if I don't think about its literal translation, but just picture what it means; and when I do so, the water I imagine is the stream in the hills, north of the spring and near the Jewish cemetery, peaceful and secluded and close to home.
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