Wellhello’s Sunday set at the Sziget Festival was not all about the music. At the close of the concert, Fluor Tomi, a popular Hungarian singer, used the platform to offer a few political reflections, addressing the crowd — and younger festivalgoers in particular.
Strong message to the premier from the main stage of the Sziget Festival
The day’s programme had been devoted to János Bródy, with nearly 70 performers revisiting the work of the legendary songwriter. Wellhello contributed two of Bródy’s numbers — Micimackó and Ezek ugyanazok — reworked in their own distinctive style.
By the end of the show, however, Tomi Fluor had moved beyond music. The rapper urged the audience to remain sceptical of every government and to do what they could to prevent, in his view, a repetition of the past 16 years, Blikk wrote.
His remarks were met with loud applause. Fluor has criticised the political establishment on several previous occasions, so his latest intervention did not come entirely out of the blue. What made the message particularly striking was that it was the first explicitly political statement of the concert.
Ezek ugyanazok – by Bródy (scroll down for English lyrics):
What is this song about?
János Bródy’s song depicts a “dialogue” between a child and his father, through which it becomes evident that those who overthrew the previous regime have, in time, become indistinguishable from the very adversaries they once opposed. This may be interpreted as a pointed political message — or, more precisely, a warning — from Fluor to Péter Magyar and the Tisza Party, coupled perhaps with a hope that they will avoid mirroring the figures they sought to replace.
Check out the lyrics below:
Just as forty years ago there were hard times too,
But they never cared about Kondratyev cycles, it’s true.
For the strong always feel they cannot go wrong,
Father, don’t tell me these are the same ones.
When entropy rises and stirs up everything,
The services kick in so the noise won’t ring.
And the arse‑lickers once again get their place,
Father, don’t tell me these are the same ones.
Here you can be beautiful, but not wise, faith’s a must,
And everyone who doubts becomes an enemy, a distrust.
And hypocritical coat‑turners preach about right,
Father, don’t tell me these are the same ones.
Slowly, individual experience falls out of memory’s store,
Rewritten by new data sent out from the centre’s core.
And those who adapt to every system come along,
Father, don’t tell me these are the same ones.
As always, around the idol the dance starts anew,
An invisible chain again weaves our lives through.
And the eager fools and the timid compromisers appear,
Father, don’t tell me these are the same ones.
And when at last the house collapses on them, credit gone,
They blame someone else for what they themselves have done.
And law and justice serve obediently, no log,
Father, don’t tell me these are the same ones.
So, my dear son, my sweet daughter, engrave this well:
In this fair land more than alcohol causes hell.
They’ll come and proclaim what great Hungarians they are,
But know this: these ones are always the same, by far.
Father, you said it: these are the same ones.
Oh, somewhere it’s like this: as it was, so it will be,
Father, you said it to me.
There are places where it’s like this: as it was, so it will be,
Father, you said it to me.
If you missed:
Sziget Festival reveals price of budget meals as huge food line-up awaits
