“COME ON, I’LL SING, AND YOU DANCE!”

‘I’LL NEVER FORGET A FRIEND,

IF IN MOSCOW I BEFRIENDED HIM!’

M. GogulanEquirhythmic translation by Em Rostverg

We were striding along Gorky Street,having written the entrance exam in IOL*(about Tatiana and The Ray of Light that in the realm of darkness disperses a bunch of clouds) …,and now, easy-going, we were walking…Our little fingers somehow strangely and accidentallymet…and got hold of each other like chain rings…So that “the wife should not separate from her husband”! Ha-ha… ha-ha! –Then we did not know this… Then we were just laughing…The sun was shining, the summer was in bend…Oh, how heatedly young we were then!

The answer:The Muse and Love are both females –Sacred by nature and united as one…Both – Higher Powers, affecting nature and us!

AN ORANGE CAT

Music by V. KachanLyrics by L. FilatovPerforming V. KachanEquirhythmic translation by Em Rostverg

By the window standing, as by a snap:Oh, how beautiful it is outside,As if someone has confused colors of…Of Neglinka and Manege.Over Moscow, the sunrise pulsates green,And an orange cat walks down the bridge,And a hawker sells, the Metro close by,Oranges in color beige.

Over Moscow, the sunrise pulsates green.And an orange cat walks down the bridge,And a hawker sells, the Metro close by,Oranges in color beige.

In a trolleybus a window is flickering,Passengers – like in a color movie filming.And, my dear friends, for me it’s much fun,Windows through, see everyone.This black man from a remote strange landFeels uncomfortable being so white.Next to him the boys are munching ice creamOf the color ‘purple night’.

And a pointsman is shaking his head– He is crazy for Moscow again.Hell, he won’t understand anything, –Like a fish on dry land.I am running through the streets, laughingly,Any miracles are easy for me.And the lanterns hang – reach with your hand –Like bananas in Somalia.

By the window standing, as by a snap:Oh, how beautiful it is outside,As if someone has confused colors of…Of Neglinka and Manege.Over Moscow, the sunrise pulsates green,And an orange cat walks down the bridge,And a hawker sells, the Metro close by,Oranges in color beige.

Over Moscow, the sunrise pulsates green.And an orange cat walks down the bridge,And a hawker sells, the Metro close by,Oranges in color beige.

Oranges in color beige…Oranges in color beige…

A DIALOGUE AT THE CHRISTMAS TREE

Music by S. NikitinLyrics by Y. LevitanskyEquirhythmic translation by Em Rostverg

– What’s going on in the world? – It’s just winter.– Winter, you suppose? – Yes, I do so.And I am trying my best to make footmarks to your homesThat very winter-like early have fallen asleep.

– What is to follow all this? – January will follow.– January, you believe? – Yes, I think so.I have been reading this white book for long,This with the blizzard prints vintage-like ABC book.

– What is to come in the end? – April will follow.– April, are you sure? – Yes, I am sure.I heard a rumor, and I’ve verified it already,That today someone heard birds in the grove.

– What is the message? – Continue to live,Sew some sundresses and tops from a chintz.– So, you suppose, all of these will be worn?– I suppose, all of these should be certainly sewn!

Should be certainly sewn, for, though blizzards are cruel,Their power is bound to come to an end!And so, at the ball in the New Year’s honorFor the dance let me offer, milady, my hand.

The crescent of silver with a candle inside,And carnival figures are circling around and around.The waltz is beginning, so give me, milady, your hand,And one-two-three, one-two-three, one-two-three, one-two-three…The waltz is beginning, so give me, milady, your hand,And one-two-three, one-two-three, one-two-three, one-two-three…

THE BELL 

Music by K. KarelinLyrics by Y. YevtushenkoPerforming N. MoskvinaEquirhythmic translation by Em Rostverg

I’m sorry, dear, if in the stairwellUnder the noise of the midnight rainI purse my lips so childishlyAnd try to look away again.Don’t call me obstinate or stubborn,With you I won’t prevaricate.To say ‘I love you’ – won’t be true,And won’t be true – ‘I don’t love you’.

No, I don’t pretend to be a stanch prude,But don’t you ever go away,Perhaps one day a little bell…A little bell will ring deep inside me.Don’t call me obstinate or stubborn,With you, I won’t prevaricate.To say ‘I love you’ – won’t be true,And won’t be true – ‘I don’t love you’.Don’t call me obstinate or stubborn,With you, I won’t prevaricate.To say ‘I love you’ – won’t be true,And won’t be true – ‘I don’t love you’.

Don’t torture me and have no mercy,I am not of iron or granite.I feel so good with you, my dear,But still the bell doesn’t ring inside me.Don’t call me obstinate or stubborn,With you, I won’t prevaricate.To say ‘I love you’ – won’t be true,And won’t be true – ‘I don’t love you’.Don’t call me obstinate or stubborn,With you, I won’t prevaricate.To say ‘I love you’ – won’t be true,And won’t be true – ‘I don’t love you’.

ALEXANDRA

Music by S. NikitinLyrics by D. Sukharev, Y. VizborEquirhythmic translation by Em Rostverg

Not everyone was settled down,And Moscow was not built at once.It never trusted tears,But trusted only love.Dusted with snow lightly,Bewitched by leaves reliably,It’ll find warmth for a passer-by,And some earth for a tree.

Refrain:

Alexandra, Alexandra,This city is entirely ours.So we have become its fate,You just peer into its face.Whatever happens in the beginning –It will soothe all our sorrows.Thus The Garden Ring has becomeA wedding ring for both of us.

Rowans beautified Moscow,Like princes, oaks used to stand,But not them, but the ash treesWithout demand have grown up.And Moscow, not in vain, hopes,That it’ll be decorated with leaves,And will find for a little treeAt least a bit of earth.

Refrain:

Alexandra, Alexandra,What is whirling round, behind you? –It’s an ash-tree with its seedsIs waltzing over the roadway.The ash-tree, with rustic looks,Has got used to Vienna waltzes.It will break through, Alexandra,It’ll learn to breathe in Moscow.

Moscow did not hide its troubles,And Moscow has seen everything,But all the grieves and sorrowsHave been yielding to its love.Moscow’s love isn’t easily aroused,But it’s true and genuine one,Since there’s nothing strongerThan a mother’s deep love.

Refrain:

Alexandra, Alexandra,What is whirling round, behind you? –It’s an ash-tree with its seedsIs waltzing over the roadway.The ash-tree, with rustic looks,Has got used to Vienna waltzes.It will break through, Alexandra,It’ll learn to breathe in Moscow.

Refrain:

Alexandra, Alexandra,This city is entirely ours.So we have become its fate,You just peer into its face.Whatever happens in the beginning –It will soothe all our sorrows.Thus The Garden Ring has becomeA wedding ring for both of us.Thus The Garden Ring has becomeA wedding ring for both of us.

THE BLUE TRAIN

Music by V. ShainskyLyrics by A. TimofeevskyEquirhythmic translation by Em Rostverg

Slowly minutes are flowing so far away,You don’t wait for meeting them again.And although we feel some nostalgia,The best, of course, is, sure, yet to come!

Refrain:

A long trip feels like fun, like much fun, like much fun,And it directly ends high up in the sky.Everyone, everyone just believes in a good result,And the blue train is rolling on and on again…

Maybe we haven’t noticed that we hurt someone,The calendar will close the unhappy date.We are carried away by new adventures, friends…Hey, driver, come on, hurry up ahead!

Refrain:

A long trip feels like fun, like much fun, like much fun,And it directly ends high up in the sky.Everyone, everyone just believes in a good result,And the blue train is rolling on and on again…

The blue train is running and is swinging,The fast train is quickly picking up speed…Well, why this day is already ending,I wish it could last for a whole good year!

Refrain:

A long trip feels like fun, like much fun, like much fun,And it directly ends high up in the sky.Everyone, everyone just believes in a good result,And the blue train is rolling on and on again…Everyone, everyone just believes in a good result,And the blue train is rolling on and on again…

THE KOMSOMOL FAREWELL SONG

Music by Dm. and Dan. PokrassLyrics by M. IsakovskyPerforming I. ShmelyovEquirhythmic translation by Em Rostverg

He was ordered to go west,She – the other way around…So the Komsomol members wereLeaving for The Civil War.

They were parting heavy-hearted,Leaving their quiet homes.“You wish me something, my dear,As a parting farewell.”

And the dear was replying,“I wish you with all my heart –If a death, let it be instant,If a wound – a little one.

And above all I would wish you,My dear bosom friend,With a fast and complete victoryTo return to your sweet hut.”

He shook warmly his girlfriend’s hand,He looked into the girl’s face,“And I am also asking you –Write me at least a few words.”

“But where can I really write you?How can I know all your way?” –“Never mind, – he told her quietly,Write me… anywhere at least!”

He was ordered to go west,She – the other way around…So the Komsomol members wereLeaving for The Civil War.

YOU HURRY UP!

Music by A. BabajanianLyrics by Y. YevtushenkoPerforming M. AleksandrovaEquirhythmic translation by Em Rostverg

You hurry up, you hurry up to me,If I am far away and things are hard for me,If I am like in an awful dream,If mischief casts shadows over my windowsill.You hurry up when I am suddenly hurt.You hurry up when I need a true friend.You hurry up when I am sad alone,You hurry up; you hurry up!You hurry up when I am sad alone,You hurry up; you hurry up!

Don’t hurry up, don’t hurry up, whenWe are together and mischief is far away.”Yes” will be said by water and by leaves,Stars and bright lights, and passing trains.Don’t hurry up, when we look eye to eye,Don’t hurry up, when you shouldn’t hurry up.Don’t hurry up, when the entire world is quiet.Don’t hurry up, don’t hurry up!Don’t hurry up, when the entire world is quietDon’t hurry up, don’t hurry up!

THE BALLAD ABOUT A SMOKED CARRIAGE

A. KochetkovEquirhythmic translation by Em Rostverg

– How painful, darling, and how weird,With branches tangled, to become one in the earth, –How painful, darling, and how weirdTo be split into halves under a sawblade.Such wounds to the heart will never heal,They will leave tears on the faces,Such wounds to the heart will never heal –They will turn into fiery drops of melted resin.

– While I’m alive, I’ll be with you –The soul and body cannot be into two divided, –While I’m alive, I’ll be with you –Since love and death do always go together.You’ll take along with you wherever –You’ll take along with you, my love forever, –You’ll take along with you whereverYour native land and your sweet home.

– But if I cannot hide under the coversFrom an incurable pity,But if I cannot hide under the coversIn utter darkness from the cold?– But after parting there will be meeting,Do not forget me, my beloved,But after parting there will be meeting,We’ll both be back – and you, and me.

– But if I disappear, stop existing –A short-lived beam of the daylight, –But if I stop existing, disappearBehind the stars and clouds of dust?– I will start praying for you, darling,So that you won’t forget your earthly path,I will start praying for you, darling,So that you will come back unharmed.

Jolting in a carriage smelling of a stale cigarette smoke,He became homeless and so meek,Jolting in a carriage smelling of a stale cigarette smokeHe was half crying, half asleep,When on a slippery slope just of a suddenThe train made a horrendous tilt,When on a slippery slope just of a suddenThe train’s wheels left the usual tracks.

A superhuman strength,All crippling by enormous squeezing,A superhuman strengthThe earthly threw off from the Earth.And nobody was savedBy promised meetings in the distance,And nobody was savedBy beckoning from afar hands.

You never part with the beloved!You never part with the beloved!You never part with the beloved!With all your flesh, grow through!And if you leave just for a jiffy,And if you leave just for a jiffy,And if you leave just for a jiffy,Make farewells as if you go for good!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9CsWWdCGzI

WHEN WILL A HUMAN COME TO RUSSIA Music by A. Karelin

Lyrics by Y. YevtushenkoPerforming N. Moskvina

Equirhythmic translation by Em RostvergWhen will a human come to Russia,Who does not mean to cheat it?The government does not have such a rank,But maybe… one day… for the first time…But what will he be able to do just by himself?How will he reconcile so many ill-wills?We won’t have reason to spare him,If he cannot do us a little better.How to maintain freedom and endureA sassy impoliteness of the freedom?To take a feudal whip into the hands?But the whipped write odes so badly.Not to give out candies to the kids,But give them bitter memory leftovers,When they are laughing, like at stupidity,At their fathers’ honest poverty.If just of a sudden a human comes to Russia,Not a false Messiah with luscious radiance,But just one of us, just one of all,And doesn’t cheat us – shall we cheat him?When will a human come to Russia?When…. When all the people will be humans.But only snow becomes more and more black,And more intoxicated we become and rivers.Dark heavy fault lies in me,And in the Kremlin throne,And even – please forgive me now! –In the impoverished Solzhenitsyn’s Matryona.Not bread but human crop failure is in Russia,Which has ceased to wait for the Messiah.When will a nation come to Russia,Which does not mean to cheat it?When will a human come to Russia,Who does not mean to cheat it?The government does not have such a rank,But maybe… one day… for the first time…When will a human come to Russia?

MOMENTS OF SILENCE

Music by V. KachanLyrics by L. FilatovPerforming V. KachanEquirhythmic translation by Em Rostverg

Shut down your eyelids tighterAnd do not you open them,Listen attentively and respond,Which century now is.

In the universe, which has gone crazy,As in the kitchen among the troughs,We are suffocating from bullfightings,Parliaments and dixielands.

We still do not want to believe,That the world has exterminatedSuch a pleasing heresy,Named “silence complete”.

We prefer quite wild parksAway from the squares,Cleansed from pollution and sin,Cars, machines, and long lines.

Perhaps this very gravel,The bench, and jasmine –Are the last of all the guaranteesTo somehow improve this world.

Cannot all of our godsHave power and free willTo require from our eraMoments of silence complete.

Quick, like a shot,Shrill, like a scream,And how many faded truthsWould be opened at once.

And how many beautiful ladiesWouldn’t turn into dumbheads,And how many bullets in vainWouldn’t leave their barrels.

And how many “Napoleons”Would hesitate shouting “Fire!”And how many badly injuredWouldn’t fall to the grass.

And how many arrogant nothingsWouldn’t get to the top,And how many our geniusesWould manage to live pretty long!

Advice is not needed here,And debates are in vain!What we really need here, guys, –Moments of silence complete.

BABUSHKAS 

Music by K. KarelinLyrics by Y. YevtushenkoPerforming N. MoskvinaEquirhythmic translation by Em Rostverg

Let’s forgive the fathers’ weary negligence,And mothers’ crazy tenderness let’s forgive –They have no time for taking care of the kids.And Russia totally depends on grannies,The whole of Russia is in grannies, like inThe domes of our moral sense remains.

We usually light-heartedly ignore them,And yet, we value them extremely high,And therefore there is no unemploymentFor grannies in the enigmatic land.

With eyes forgivingly subdued,They huddle in the corners of the homes,Like washing or like cuddling machines,Machines that secretly cry at night.

Like washing or like cuddling machines,Machines that secretly cry at night.

Our century is cruel and devoid of indulgence.And even in the softness we are rude,Thank goodness – grannies walk on the earthSo softly, as if just gathering mushrooms.

And grannies, washing or just cooking,When longing for childhood makes them go back,Return to childhood, like strange rivers,Which flow the other way around.Return to childhood, like strange rivers,Which flow the other way around.

Being the witnesses of all world’s follies,Among the diapers, dishes, and soup plates,As quietest cressets of good reason,They proudly hold high their gray heads.

And immortal Arina Rodionovnas,Walking with prams along the parks,Push the snub-nosed hopes of our native land,Push forward them… before themselves.The snub-nosed hopes of our native land,Push forward them… before themselves.Push forward them… before themselves.

THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS BAD WEATHER

Music by A. PetrovLyrics by E. RyazanovPerforming A. FreindlichEquirhythmic translation by Em Rostverg

There’s no such thing as bad weather,Any weather is like heaven’s grace!Whether rain, or snow – just any seasonWe should gratefully accept.

Echoes of bad weather in the soul,In the heart – the loneliness imprint,And the bitter sprouts of our insomniaWe should gratefully accept.

We should gratefully accept.The death of wishes, age, and miseryWith every day, become a heavier load.That, which is assigned to us by nature,We should gratefully accept.

The change of years, sunsets and sunrises,And the grace of our last love,As well as the date of our departure,We should gratefully accept.We should gratefully accept.

There’s no such thing as bad weather,And we cannot stop the course of time.Autumn years, same as autumn of the year,We should bless without grief.We should bless without any grief.We should bless without any grief.

THERE IS NO YESTERDAY’S LOVE! 

Music by K. KarelinLyrics by M. KabanovaPerforming N. MoskvinaEquirhythmic translation by Em Rostverg

There is no… never ever yesterday’s love.Words of love cann’t be erased, no matter what.And they shine with age just only brighter,Brighter than gold and never fade for good.And they shine with age just only brighter,Brighter than gold and never fade for good.

Brighter than gold and never fade for good,Burning hearts with unbearable pain.Oh, how long we have tried to forget each other,Getting used to live easily and lonely.For how long we have tried to forget each other,Getting used to live easily and lonely.

Getting used to live easily and lonely,As if there wasn’t love so passionate once.And we learned from our bitter blunders,Therefore, the wine of love is wormwood bitter.And we learned from our bitter blunders,Therefore, the wine of love is wormwood bitter.

Therefore, the wine of love is wormwood bitter,And to drink it up – our life won’t be enough.All what happened with new power will be revived –There is no… never ever yesterday’s love!All what happened with new power will be revived –There is no… never ever yesterday’s love!

MY DEAR, DARLING, AND SWEETHEART 

Music by D. TukhmanovLyrics by L. RubalskayaPerforming N. MoskvinaEquirhythmic translation by Em Rostverg

We stuck together through thick and thin,We saw the sunshine after rain.And even weeping very hard,I felt myself still the happiest one.I could be ill-timed furious,You could be jealous of the friends.I got offended but at nightAll things were easily left aside.

REFRAIN:

My dear, darling, and sweetheart,At the happiest time of our lifeThe Fate did fasten us so tightWith the precious cord of genuine gold.No one will ever break the link,Let years, like a river, flow,I won’t get tired to repeat –My dear, darling, and sweetheart.

Some days were meant to separate,I felt depressed and desperate…And I imagined you even at timesWith my love jealous rivals.Someone was watching enviously,Someone was laughing – she’s strange…You are my husband, my only one,And in my life – my main man.

REFRAIN:

My dear, darling, and sweetheart,At the happiest time of our lifeThe Fate did fasten us so tightWith the precious cord of genuine gold.No one will ever break the link,Let years, like a river, flow,I won’t get tired to repeat –My dear, darling, and sweetheart.

REFRAIN:

My dear, darling, and sweetheart,At the happiest time of our lifeThe Fate did fasten us so tightWith the precious cord of genuine gold.No one will ever break the link,Let years, like a river, flow,I won’t get tired to repeat –My dear, darling, and sweetheart.My dear, darling, and sweetheart.My dear, darling, and sweetheart.