Lyrics
Celotno besedilo pesmi »Črni kos« z angleškim prevodom.
Pleši, pleši črni kos, kak' bom plesal, če sem bos? Kupil si pa čevlje bom, polke tri zaplesal bom.
#Plesal bom s siničico, lepo mlado ptičico, s peto tolkel bom ob tla, tresla se bo zemlja vsa.
#English translation
Dance, dance, black blackbird, how shall I dance, if I'm barefoot? But I'll buy myself some shoes, and dance three polkas through. I'll dance with a little titmouse, a lovely young little bird, I'll beat my heel upon the ground, and the whole earth will shake.
#Črni kos at a glance
- Country of origin
- 🇸🇮 Slovenia
- Sung in
- Slovenian
- Words by
- Traditional
- First known
- Slovenian folk song; author unknown
- Best for ages
- 2–7
- Mood
- dancing, playful, traditional
- Last updated
- 27 August 2026
How to sing it
- Point to your bare feet on "če sem bos", then mime buying and putting on new shoes.
- Beat your heel on the floor on "s peto tolkel bom ob tla" so the "earth shakes".
Meaning and origin
This is a song about a reluctant dancer. The blackbird is told to dance, dance — and asks, quite reasonably, how he can, when he is barefoot. His solution is grand: he will simply buy himself shoes and dance three whole polkas. Then he takes as his partner a pretty young titmouse and beats his heel on the ground so vigorously that, the song claims, the whole earth shakes. It is a small comedy of an ordinary bird deciding to make an event of himself.
It is a Slovenian folk song with no known author — the archive that carries it records none — and the words practically ask to be stamped along to, with a good thump on the line about beating the ground. The mismatched couple, the barefoot excuse and the earth-shaking finish make it exactly the kind of merry animal dance song that country tradition does so well.
Common questions
- What is "Črni kos" about?
- A blackbird who wants to dance. Told to "dance, dance, black blackbird", he asks how he can, when he is barefoot — so he decides to buy himself shoes and dance three polkas. Then he dances with a pretty young titmouse, beating his heel on the ground so hard that the whole earth shakes.
- Is "Črni kos" a dancing song?
- The words are all about dancing — three polkas, a partner, a heel beaten on the floor — and they practically ask to be stamped along to. No particular dance or game is recorded with it in the source that carries the text.
- Where is "Črni kos" from?
- It is a Slovenian folk song ("ljudska pesem") with no known author, carried in the Slovenske narodne pesmi archive among the children's songs.
