Just heard an MP3 of Paul Robeson singing the National Anthem of the Soviet Union. Catchy tune, surreal lyrics: “Through days dark and stormy / when great Lenin led us / our eyes saw the bright sun of Freedom above / and Stalin our leader / with faith in the people / inspired us to build the land that we love.” I wonder who wrote the lyrics? Both Russian and English.
Posted by jim at January 22, 2004 10:22 PM | TrackBackThe original Russian lyrics were by Sergei Mikhalkov, father of the movie director Nikita M.; read all about it. The Wikipedia entry has the original lyrics with two English translations; the second, "official," one has the Robeson lyrics, but I can't find an indication of authorship anywhere online.
Posted by: language hat on January 23, 2004 11:26 AMI might add that I absolutely love the music and am glad they reinstated it (though of course I have the luxury of loving it from afar and not associating it with a miserable life).
Posted by: language hat on January 23, 2004 11:27 AMLH-- Thanks. I notice that "Stalin" doesn't occur in the Russian lyrics provided. I wonder if it was added by the English translator? In the Russian it seems that Lenin is the subject in both lines.
Posted by: jim on January 23, 2004 01:05 PMQuite. I think we can assume that particular English version was done at a certain defined moment of the great Hegelian sweep of history...
Posted by: language hat on January 23, 2004 02:02 PMHooray for my fellow Garden Stater Paul Robeson! Rutgers has more than a few campus buildings named after him.
Ah, now here is something I know a little about. Despite not speaking Russian, I do actually know the original Russian lyrics. I memorized them as a teenager*, for no very good reason. (No doubt I pronounced them very poorly. But it was fun to learn to say things like vdokhnovil.)
The really original 1943 Russian lyrics are the ones that mention Stalin. But this was removed in 1977. The old version of the official English lyrics goes,
Through tempests the sunbeams of freedom have cheered us
Along the new path where great Lenin did lead.
Be true to the people, thus Stalin has reared us
Inspired us to labour and valorous deed!
Which is better poetry, I think, than the amended version, at least in the English. Not that I regret the exclusion of Stalin, but I've never been sure where the stress falls in the new version.
The source I originally learned it from is the one languagehat linked to above.
A more detailed discussion, including a literal translation, is here. Unfortunately they don't know the name of the translator either. Also interesting to note other changes to the 1977 version to the chorus, where the party replaces the flag; and the third verse which is completely reworked, removing the dated wartime imagery. (The Wikipedia versions are likewise different at these points.)
*Not so long ago - the USSR had was already former at this point, and I had access to the internet.
Posted by: Tim May on January 23, 2004 02:30 PMThe new lyrics suck ass, by the way.
Posted by: PF on January 23, 2004 07:13 PM