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Real Songs. Real Stories.
Real Story
JANUSZ
My best friend
“We didn’t speak the same language.Somehow, we never seemed to need to.”LISTEN TO THE FINISHED SONG
The completed song
HEAR JANUSZ
A song in Polish, created so Janusz’s widow could listen whenever she missed him and wanted to feel close to him again.
- A real friendship
- A widow’s request
- A song in Polish
- Made to feel close to him again
How we met
From an introduction to my best friend
Janusz was Polish.
I originally met him because he was the husband of one of my wife Anna’s friends.
From that introduction grew a genuine friendship. Janusz eventually became my best friend.
He was a very kind man with a big heart and a great love of life.
What made our friendship particularly remarkable was simpler still.
Janusz spoke almost no English. I spoke no Polish. Somehow, it didn’t matter.
The man himself
A man who took pride in his work
Janusz had been a self-employed tradesman in Poland. He took enormous pride in his work.
He was particularly accomplished at creating beautiful tiling projects, and he was extremely capable around the home.
Not long before his death he had revamped the living room and kitchen cabinets.
That was Janusz: craftsmanship, ability, and pride in doing things properly.
“We didn’t speak the same language.Somehow, we never seemed to need to.”
One useful English word
“Moment.”
Janusz spoke almost no English. I didn’t speak a word of Polish.
But Janusz did have one particularly useful English word.
When I was debating world events and Janusz wanted to interrupt me, he would say it.
Despite having virtually no common spoken language, the two of us somehow conversed increasingly easily as the evenings grew longer — occasionally helped along by a glass or more of Polish vodka.
Two men who technically couldn’t speak to each other became best friends, and somehow never ran out of things to talk about.
Music
And one thing we never agreed about
Janusz enjoyed a variety of musical styles.
His favourite guitarist was Joe Bonamassa.
We disagreed about Bonamassa’s ability. Those differing opinions became part of our good-natured musical debates.
Two friends who could disagree about musicand enjoy disagreeing.
Poland
History, and Gdynia
Janusz was a very intelligent man.
He was fascinated by — and knowledgeable about — Poland’s troubled history, and he was always eager to explain it to me.
He wanted to show me the actual places where history had been made, including places associated with Poland’s turbulent Russian/Soviet period and the Solidarity movement.
I still remember him taking me, with that same enthusiasm, to the dock area of Gdynia.
He liked showing me the old and modern warships there.
It wasn’t tourism. It was Janusz wanting me to see his country the way he understood it.
Then everything changed
A sudden loss
In 2025, Janusz suffered a sudden and fatal heart attack.
Why this song exists
A widow’s request
After Janusz died, his widow — Anna’s friend — asked me to create a song for her.
Her reason was beautifully simple.
She wanted a song she could listen to when she missed Janusz and wanted to feel close to him again.
That is why this song exists.
This time
I knew the man behind the song
With many personalised songs, I have to understand somebody through the memories supplied by another person.
This time was different. I already knew the man.
Janusz wasn’t simply the subject of a song. He was my best friend.
I knew his kindness, his intelligence, his craftsmanship, his love of Poland, his fascination with history, his enjoyment of music, his enthusiasm for Bonamassa, our good-natured disagreements, the trips to Gdynia, the warships, the long discussions, the Polish vodka — and, of course, “Moment.”
The song
To feel close to him again
The finished song is in Polish. That is the song his widow asked for.
Its purpose was not simply to remember Janusz.
It was to give her something she could actually listen to whenever she wanted to feel close to him again.
Some friendships shouldn’t have worked on paper.We couldn’t speak each other’s language.Yet somehow we never ran out of things to say.
We talked about music, history, Poland, world events and life. And sometimes the smallest memories are the ones that remain.
One word still makes me think immediately of my friend.
“Moment.”
EVERY PERSON HAS A STORY WORTH HEARING
A personal song can preserve the memories, character and little details that made someone unmistakably themselves.
CREATE MY SONG