Poem by Quentin S. Crisp
Music Saša Zorić Čombe

We Fight To Be Slaves

That ugly bitch So fucking gloomy Walking like a sulking dog
Looking like a starving hyena
She’s really a drag Her vibes are so bad Making me feel like a construction camp inmate
She’s so negative and strange It seems she’s slightly deranged She’s got a face full of hate Her heart is uncaring and cold Her entrance so hard to ignore
Loha Connell
Zoric S. cH. Music

Ugly bitch

I like your hair
I like your pants
I want a pair
I like your glance

You are so sweet
I like your smile
Your shoes are neat
I love your style

I like your hair.
I really, really like your hair.

I like your voice.
It suits your eyes.
It’s not my choice
To tell you lies.

Your ‘how d’you do?’
Is really nice.
Keep being you –
That’s my advice.

I like your hair.
I really, really like your hair.



Song: Kodagain
Music: Saša Zorić Čombe
Words: Quentin S. Crisp and Brendan Connell

I Like Your Hair

secret double agent girl
she's my secret double agent girl
she works for cia
she works for kgb
she works for me
she works for free
she works all nights
she works all days
only to me
she gives me for free
i love her
i could die for her
i think i coud kill for her
if i have to
we live on a hill
we live in a dream
far far away from reality
me and my undercover double agent girl
my secret teenage double agent girl

Lyrics Zdenko Franjić
Music  Saša Zorić


Secret Double Agent Girl

Narodna - Kad mi pises mila mati

kad mi pises mila mati o svemu mi pisi
Posalji mi strucak cveta sa naseg bagrema.
Pisi mati da li zale ljudi sto sam moro' ja otici?
O svemu mi pisi mati samo o njoj nemoj mi pisati.

pisi mati dal' jos stoji orahovo drvo
I koja se nova pesma peva u sokaku.
Dal' jos zivi stari cigan, idu l' momci na sela i prela
O svemu mi pisi mati samo o njoj nemoj mi pisati.


KAD MI PIŠEŠ MILA MATI

Muzika Saša Zorić Čombe
Gitara Vladimir Ristić Pekar
Bas Dunat Dobrica
Studio Arči  Vladislav Dopuđa

Kodagain Djuzina pesma

Music Saša Zorić Čombe
Gitara Vladimir Ristić Pekar
Bas Dunat Dobrica
Studio Arči Vladislav Dopuđa

Kodagain Ugasle su crne oci

VAMPIRA MAILA NURMI

Muzika i tekst Saša Zorić Čombe
Gitara i aranžman za gitaru Aleksandar Manojlović
Snimano u studiju Archie.

07.ODLAZIM

Music Saša Zorić Čombe
Lyrics Quentin S. Crisp

Coming Back To Haunt You

Muzika i tekst Saša Zorić Čombe
Gitara Aleksandar Manojlović

Sta ona ima s njim

Muzika Saša Zorić
Pesma Meša Selimović
Gitara Aca Manojlović

U ZIVLJENJU

Muzika Saša Zorić
Tekst Saša Zorić
Gitara Aca Manojlović

kraj

Music Saša Zorić Čombe
Guitar Aleksandar Manojlović
Poem by Misuzu Kaneko, transl. Quentin S. Crisp

Princess K

Muzika i tekst Saša Zorić Čombe
Gitara Aca Manojlović

bela ruža- white rose

sunce ce zaci jos neki put

Muzika Saša Zorić Čombe
Pesma Velimir Živojinović  Masuka
Gitara Aleksandar Manojlović

Tuga

Muzika Zorić Saša Čombe
Stihovi Vojislav Ilić

Andjeo mira

Eerie Earworm

Eerie
Eerie
Feeling it drawing nearer
To the centres of your pleasure
And your fear and your pain,
And suddenly
This spooky hooky hookworm
Penetrates the waiting egg
That is your brain
Like a wriggling sperm,
Like a kamikaze sperm.

Eerie earworm
Eerie earworm
Navigating the maze of your brain
In Mexican waves
And caterpillar loops,
Turning and u-turning again,
Deeper and deeper
Into the repeating celebration
Of your cerebrum
And driving you insane.

Loopy
Loopy
It’s positively kooky,
Looping the loop forever,
A dizzy aphrodisiac,
And spookily
These girlie, ghoulish groupies
Treasure in their hands your brain,
And toy with your glands.
They’re nymphomaniacs!
You’re addicted – that’s a fact.

Eerie earworm
Eerie earworm
Navigating the maze of your brain
In Mexican waves
And caterpillar loops,
Turning and u-turning again,
Deeper and deeper
Into the repeating celebration
Of your cerebrum
And driving you insane.

Poem by Quentin S. Crisp
Music by Sasa Zoric Chombe
Playing Kodagain




Eerie Earworm

Music Saša Zorić Čombe
Poem  by James Joyce

Kodagain sleep now o sleep now

Poem by Brendan Connell
Music by Zorić Saša Čombe

Kodagain CALIGULA

Music Saša Zorić Čombe
Guitars Vladimir Ristić Baker

Feliz Ano Nuevo

Muzika Saša Zorić Čombe
Gitare i aranžman Vladimir Ristić Pekar
Reči Vojislav Ilić

Andjeo mira again

Tekst i muzika Saša Zorić Čombe
Gitare, ritam i aranžman Vladimir Ristić Pekar
Bas Vladislav Dopudja Archie

Babygirl

Music and lyrics Saša Zorić Čombe
Guitars and contribution to music Vladimir Ristić Pekar

Torna presto

When America Wakes Up
When America wakes up 
In an hour or two
We’ll know if all our hard work
And calculations 
Have struck true.

When America comes online
When our work’s near through
We'll know whether it's all been worth the time. 

While America is sleeping,
We're dreaming of how to please them.
While America is snoring,
We're working hard on scoring.
We've tabulated their every need,
And know by rote what they find boring.

Out there in the west,
They're still not dressed,
But our day grows old
And we've done our best.
So much talent spent on presenting this product. (In trying to please a sleeping elephant.)
Will it be noticed?
Now we knock off for rush-hour stress.
We're still in suspense while America gets dressed.

By Quentin S. Crisp
Music Saša Zorić Čombe
Guitar Vladimir Ristić Baker


When America wakes up

One Horse, White Horse

By Quentin S. Crisp
Music by Sasa Z. Chombe

One horse.
White horse.
Everything.
The universe.

One horse, galloping in darkness.
One horse is one hundred. 

That’s it. That’s not it.
That’s it. That’s not it.

How long does it take
To redeem eternity?

One horse.
White horse.
Everything.
The universe.

One horse, galloping in darkness.
One horse is one hundred.

I heard from somebody
How some day the white horse will turn gold.

How long must we wait
To redeem eternity?

That’s it. That’s not it.
That’s it. That’s not it.

One horse.
White horse.
Everything.
The universe.

I heard from somebody
How some day the white horse will be gold.

One horse, galloping in darkness.
One horse is one hundred.

One horse.
Gold horse.
Everything.


ONE HORSE WHITE HORSE

Momus in His Prime

By Quentin S. Crisp
Music by Sasa Z. Chombe


Momus in his prime
Was like a beautiful lady:
The rising into form
Of the Word and the world's fertility.


Now as the world lenticular turns
He vanishes like Scotch mist,
But as the sea bream scatter and shoal
He exists - he still exists.


Momus in His Prime

Muzika i tekst Sasa Z. Gitara i aranžman Aca Manojlovic

Budje Mene

Muzika i tekst Zorić Saša, gitara i aranžman Aleksandar Manojlović

Jos Jedna Noc Na Timok Pada

Kodagain formed in 1985 in Knjazevac, SE Serbia, where it’s hard to be alternative but easy to be alone. 
 
Kodagain writes and records songs with English lyrics because English is more musical than Serbian.
 
Many of the lyrics have been provided by the existing poetry of famous poets such as Dorothy Parker, Oscar Wilde, Chu-I Po (Bai Juyi), Lord Byron, Ogden Nash, Sara Teasdale, Louisa Stuart Costello and Robert Creely.
 
Since 2007, however, Kodagain has also been using translated poetry (e.g. Kaneko Misuzu) and original lyrics from the writer Quentin S. Crisp; since 2012, Kodagain has similarly collaborated with the writer Brendan Connell. They have also used the poetry and lyrics of other writers, including Loha Connell, Alberto Nessi, James Aronhióta’s Stevens and Justin Isis.  
  
Kodagain has a miniaturist approach to pop music, channelling influences from Henry Purcell, through Dean Martin, to Roxy Music, into short compositions combining a bubblegum-pop concern for melody with lo-fi experimentalism, resulting in songs as soulful as they are playful.
  
Not unlike the old Reggae studios in Jamaica in the 70’s and 80’s, Kodagain produces songs in enormous quantity – the musical equivalent of a cottage industry, where craft and feeling remain intact.
 
At the core of Kodagain's creativity are the songwriting skills, sinuous melodies and haunting, layered vocals of Saša Zorić Čombe, who also plays keyboards, bass, drum and guitar. 
 
Many musicians have been associated with Kodagain:
 
Dunat Dobrica 1984 – present (occasional) on bass and synths.
Aneta Zorić (née Milosavljević) keyboards, 1984-1987.
Janković Goran on drums, 1987 – 1993. 
Bojan Ristić on drum programmes.
 
Between 2005 – 2007 the line-up was as follows, for the album Commercial:  Slaviša Jelenković on drums, Ivan Todorović on electric guitar, Vladislav Dopuđa on bass and Joksimović Miljan on keyboards.
 
However, the core musicians, from 1987 – present, are:
 
Vladimir Ristić on guitar.
Vladislav Dopuđa on bass and keyboards.
Saša Zorić Čombe. 
 
Recently, there have also been musical collaborations with Alexandar Manojlović and Aldous Register. 
  
Kodagain's music has been played regularly on Gistro FM and The Power of the Witches on Radio B92, and on Pop Depression on Studio B. Their songs and videos can be found in generous supply on YouTube and SoundCloud. Albums include: Speed Up, The Nowhere Land's Echoes, A Drink With Something In It, 000, Vranje, Letters From Quentin, Time to Get Ready for Love, My Fear of His Fear of Death, and Supernatural.

A word or two from the lyricists:

Quentin S. Crisp says: “My pop music hero, from a young age, was David Bowie, but I’m afraid that his avowed adoption of the Burroughs cut-up technique has bequeathed to pop music an unfortunate legacy, whereby lyricists now equate being incoherent with being especially meaningful and groundbreaking. I remember reading a pop journalist lamenting that the trouble with poetic pop lyricists is that have all read the same handful of poems by Rimbaud, and don’t bother reading the more disciplined and understated verses by the likes of Larkin. I thought this was very true. I hope to write lyrics that are actually about something – to me, this seems the innovation of which pop is in need.”

Brendan Connell says: “My ultimate goal is to write a vast number of lyrics about natural wonders, public parks, lost watches, Indian villages, hidden love, birds, trees, mountain passes, fake Taoists, imperceptible colors, rhetorical mysteries, and flowers. Ideally these would be compounded into a ‘Guide for Modern Life’ which could be used to build better relations between workers and their bosses, the various sexes, and those whose religious beliefs differ.”



kodagain

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