Волки и вороны [Volki i vorony] [English translation]
Волки и вороны [Volki i vorony] [English translation]
Maybe [it’s] God, and maybe it is just that this night smells of incense
Tall woods around us, dark and covered in moss
It’s either God’s grace, or an ambush for us
Merry to the touch, but [there’s] a draft in the soul
They are walking with icons - with unfamiliar icons
And church lamps shine to them from under dark waters
I do not remember how we got up, how we left the room
I only remember that we have to walk till [we get to] the warm star
Here stands a tall temple, and there is darkness under its dome
We kept looking but could not see a damn thing
I would light a candle, but all the candles are bought [unusual word usage - you would normally say проданы / sold - so there is an allusion to corruption here, in the same way that you would speak of купленые политики - purchased politicians]
I would light ethanol in my palm - but where would I get it from? [it’s not as medical in Russian - spirt is a word in common usage]
And around us there are snows in all four directions
It’s easy to [walk] on snow barefoot if souls are pure
And we would perish altogether if it had not been for wolves and ravens
They asked: “Where are you going? Probably towards/to the warm star?"
They gilded a whole lot of crosses and stuck them in the ground all over the place
And traded for wine the one that had been given
And in the morning, hungover, went to the river to get water
And there instead of water [there is] Mongol Shuudan [maybe an allusion to a late 80s Soviet rock band of the same name, which just means “Mongol Post” and was chosen as an absurd name - but obviously also an allusion to Russia’s history with the Mongols]
And we wanted to give a merry sign to the angels
But we lost sight of them as we covered our tracks
And everyone would get judged according to his deeds [biblical quotation]
If it hadn’t been for the light of this pure/clear star
So what are we to do, how are we to sing if not for the sake of an empty hand? [unclear in Russian also]
But if we do not sing then we burn up in an emptiness [in the sense of physical vacuum]
And if we start singing and don’t finish - then they will come after me [orliki in the original - not a real word, but the same root as орёл (eagle) + a diminutive suffix; за мной придут is a very powerful phrase in Russian with connotations of the KGB and the Gulag]
With white eyes, and upon muddy waters
Well let them come - I myself am a black bird [probably in the sense of someone tough/experienced]
Look, I have nowhere to run - one more meter and ice fields [after that]
So I will cover you and you cover me, wolves and ravens
So that someone makes it to this pure/clear star
So what that there is darkness under the dome?
So what that you cannot see a damn thing?
So what that all the candles are bought
Because if there is no fire we know where to get it
And maybe it is true that there are no ways other than the well-trodden one
And there are no hands for miracles other than those that are pure
But anyway we were only warmed by wolves and ravens
And they blessed us [so that we get] to the pure/clear star
- Artist:Boris Grebenshchikov
- Album:Русский альбом (1992)