I would have to sob in a dark corner for a day to be able to summarize in one sentence everything I think about Ferenc Gyurcsány - said the musical legend, who celebrated his 78th birthday on January 14. On the other hand, he thinks that Viktor Orbán is one of the four greatest figures in Hungarian history. Interview.
He was born in Leteny on January 14, 1946. When was the last time you were there?
My family is from Székely, they fled to Hungary from Transylvania, we only lived in Leteny until I was one year old, so I don't have many ties to it.
Why was he kicked out of Szent László high school?
This is fake news.
It is also on the Wikipedia page.
I didn't get fired, I completed it. And then I went as an industrial apprentice because I didn't want to be taken as a soldier. Later, I was admitted to Kálmán Kandó technical college. I didn't get fired from there either, I made it through, I just missed the state exam to become a plant engineer.
Do you regret not passing the state exam?
Since they would have taken me as a soldier at that moment, not really.
Fortunately, I didn't have to join the Soviet-style Hungarian army.
I really didn't want to. For 15 years after that, I sometimes thought about what would happen if they found out that I was no longer in college.
Was there a time in your life when you worked eight hours, rested eight hours and played for eight hours?
No way, but not just for me, not for anyone. A doctor is not a doctor from eight to four in the morning, nor is a teacher only a teacher during school hours. The song was created in 1988 precisely to signal to the system that this is not frank. He was also banned for a year.
What did you want to be as a child?
High school math and physics teacher.
More seriously, if I may ask…
I mean it most seriously. I liked these two subjects because you can't copy or lie there. History books were constantly being rewritten, math theorems cannot be.
Have you ever met János Kádár in person?
We didn't go to one of his parties, it was somehow missed. I remember that, as a small child, my parents once took me to Városliget, to the big May Day parade.
There were balloons and hot dogs, I liked it, there I saw comrade Kádár from afar. My father said that the uncles in the stands just peel their farts.
Among his first bands was the not so well-known formation called Zárvatermők. What music did they play?
We played Anglo-Saxon songs, which the audience expected from us at the time. I also sang and played the guitar. I made my first guitar myself, but when I strung it, it broke. Then I got a Bulgarian guitar. I never really learned to play the guitar well, but the Bulgarian guitar couldn't have done that.
How many chickens have you killed on stage in your life?
Of course not one, I'm a musician, not a butcher. The communists spread it about us, primarily Péter Erdős, a key figure in the music industry at the time. About twenty years ago, a band started saying that they were the chicken grinders. I immediately said, stop, the legend is mine!
Name three groups that have defined the history of world pop music?
Two are clear. The Rolling Stones, they are the first for me. The second is the Beatles, the good guys. But there's also Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Queen, and very strongly Freddie Mercury.
Who is the best singer in Hungary today?
If we take the ticket sales, Isaura, or whatever it's called…
But in all seriousness, I think it's Charlie Horváth for the men, you can get to know him from the moon if he sings, and for the women it's Magdi Rúzsa.
What do you think about the emerging, young rap generation?
Young people love them, so they are doing something right.
Does it bother you when you read somewhere that the Kossuth award is no longer the same since Feró Nagy received it?
I do not care. It sure is
many of the current generation of politicians went to Beatrice's parties that year. It was good for them, as they became serious decision makers.
Who do you consider to be the three greatest figures in Hungarian history?
I say four. Saint István, King Matthias, István Széchenyi and Viktor Orbán.
And what is your opinion about Ferenc Gyurcsány in one sentence?
I would have to sob in a dark corner for a day to be able to summarize in one sentence everything I think about Ferenc Gyurcsány.
Gregory Christmas?
I don't even understand how it got there.
Péter Szijjártó?
We have never had such a good foreign minister!
Vladimir Putin?
Dare I say good things about it?
As you think…
He bravely takes on Russian interests, and he is also a good person, because he gives us gas at an excellent price.
Volodymyr Zelensky?
We haven't even booked a concert with Beatrice in Ukraine: I think she's a clown.
Joe Biden?
We old people are often teased that we forget everything. I think he has already forgotten that he is the President of the United States.
Do you think Trump will return to the presidency?
I'm sure! If not, America will crumble and fall apart. Even the bushy-eyed Brezhnev, the Soviet Party General Secretary, once said in the 1970s that the Americans want to be the gendarmes of the world, but we won't let that happen.
We laughed at him, because he was half-witted, kissing Kádár and Honecker.
But in the end, he was right that the United States wants to be the policeman of the world even then and today.
What is Hungary most afraid of?
From the liberal-communist takeover.
How much do you think about death?
It is inevitable at this age, although I want to live another thirty years or so. God will decide. But if one day I will not be, not me, the world will be poorer...
Featured image: Photo: MTI/Csilla Csilla
