Alicja Empires Poland Eurovision 2020

Alicja was due to represent Poland at the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam with her song “Empires”.

Scroll down for “Empires” lyrics

Poland in Eurovision 2020: Alicja “Empires”

After two years of non-qualification, Poland looked to its young people. Or, to be more exact, its two consecutive Junior Eurovision victories in 2018 and 2019.

The most recent win with Viki Gabor’s “Superhero” came about through the Szansa na sukces TV talent show format. And taking inspiration from this, the national broadcaster TVP decided to use the same process to select its song for Rotterdam.

Alicja sailed through her semi-final, singing a rendition of Poland’s most successful Eurovision entry, Edyta Gorniak’s “To Nie Ja” from 1994. In the final, Alicja sang two songs. A cover of Loreen’s “Euphoria” (Sweden 2012) and her Eurovision entry “Empires”.

Alicja won both the jury and the public vote.

What do the “Empires” lyrics mean?

The brutal images in the music video, of course, does not leave much to the imagination.

But is “Empires” inspired by anything or anyone specific?

One of the songwriters Frazer Mac explained the message to wiwibloggs:

“It can be taken as like a climate change song or like (without being too political) the state of the USA today. Basically it’s like when a country is on top and in the pursuit of all the glitters they usually come falling down shortly after. Like the Roman Empire, Greece, etc… but also could be taken as like in the pursuit of development and developing the world we’ve messed up / are messing up the earth.”

Alicja also told Polish media that “this is a really special song for me because it talks about the problems of today’s world. People build empires and they are blinded by these plans. They do not see, however, that these empires fall quickly. The song says “we’re gasoline and a match” because we destroy what we’ve created. This is a very strong message.”

Those ideas of making these mistakes are continued further in the lyrics. “Like moths to a flame / like bird to a pane of glass / hoping for change but we do the same”. We are creatures of habit. We continue to male the same fatal mistakes. We never learn. But we cannot help it.

Don’t be fooled by Alicja’s age and undeniable beauty. This is a serious song with a very powerful message with an even more powerful voice.

“Empires” is a wake-up call for the world — a mirror for humanity to look into and fear.

“Empires” lyrics – Alicja (Poland ESC 2020)

Written and composed by: Patryk Kumor, Dominic Buczkowski-Wojtaszek, Laurell Barker and Frazer Mac.

Patryk Kumór was involved with both of Poland’s Junior Eurovision winning entries. Laurell Barker has penned multiple Eurovision entries including Luca Hanni’s “She Got Me”, S!sters’ “Sister” and Michael Rice’s “Bigger Than Us”, all in 2019. Frazer Mac also worked on “She Got Me” while Dominic Buczkowski-Wojtaszek contributed to Viki Gabor’s “Superhero”.

Text

Ashes to ashes, dust into dust
I’ll follow you through black
Try to forgive that I’m not awake
I’m dreaming this dream could last

No looking down
There’s fool’s gold in our eyes

Burning an empire
Happens so easy
Playing with fire
Maybe it’s you and me
Burning an empire
Is it our fault?
We rise and fall

Like moths to a flame
Like birds to a pane of glass
Hoping for change but we do the same
We’re gasoline and a match

No looking down
There’s fool’s gold in our eyes

Burning an empire
Happens so easy
Playing with fire
Maybe it’s you and me
Burning an empire
Is it our fault?
We rise and fall

We just want it all
Used to be a tower so tall
Now we only are crumbling walls
We rise and fall
Moth to the flame, as we do the same
Like a bird to a pane of glass

Down to the wire
Empires fall

What do you think of the “Empires” lyrics? Let us know in the comments.

Read more Eurovision 2020 lyrics.