Where can I find the lyrics and their translations of the Russian song “Katyusha” (sometimes spelled without the y)? I’ve heard it, and Nat Cole’s version, but I don’t know if it’s an actual translation. I read that a certain melody in the song is also what inspired the naming of that Soviet artillery piece as such (a.k.a. Stalin Organs).
Much thanks in advance.
Well, here are the lyrics:
http://www.ludd.luth.se/~silver_p/Muzik/Rus/Lyr/katyusha.html
::: g, d, & r :::
You can also find the Russian lyrics, the transliterated lyrics of the Russian in Roman font, and a translation to English about 3/4 of the way down this page. I can’t vouch for the quality of the translation.
The three versions, side-by-side are 3/4 of the way down this page:
I don’t know the version you speak of; in fact, I wasn’t aware of an English version at all. My Russian phonetics professor told us it was a WWII era song about pounding the crap out of the Germans with an artillery gun whose real model name escapes me at the moment (normally I couldn’t care less about weaponry, so it didn’t stick in my head). The Russians named it Katyusha, which is a nickname for Ekaterina (usually translated Catherine; Katya in diminutive form, or Katyusha as a warmer, more affectionate diminutive).
From a random book on my bookshelf titled “Pesennik: Kak zvonkaya struna” (Songbook: How resounding the string!), bought from a sidewalk vendor in lovely Akademgorodok, a university town outside Novosibirsk in central Siberia, where I spent the summer of 1995 (please bear in mind that this translation is very much on the fly, and it’s past my bedtime, so if some Slavist comes along and want to fix it, please feel free. Plus verse translation is far, far from being my strong suit):
Rastsvetali yabloni i grushi,
Poplyli tumani nad rekoi,
Vykhodila na bereg Katyusha,
Na vysokii na bereg krutoi.
(The apples and pears were blooming,
The clouds were swimming over the river,
Katyusha came up to the riverbank,
To the tall, steep bank.)
Vykhodila, pesnyu zavodila
Pro stepnovo sizovo orla,
Pro tovo, kotorovo lyubila,
Pro tovo, ch’i pis’ma beregla.
(She came out, starting a song,
About the blue-gray eagle of the steppe,
About the one she loved,
About the one who was saved by her song.)
Oy, ty, pesnya, pesen’ka devich’ya,
Ty leti za yasnym solntsem vsled,
I boytsu na dal’nem pogranich’e,
Ot Katyushi peredai privet.
(Oh, you, maidenly song,
Fly, following the bright sun,
And the soldier on the distant frontier,
Tell him that Katyusha said hello.)
Pust’ on vspomnit devushku prostuyu,
Pust’ uslyshit, kak ona poyot,
Pust’ on zemlyu berezhet rodnuyu,
A lyubov’ Katyusha sberezhet.
(May he remember the simple girl,
Let him hear how she sings,
May he save his native land,
And Katyusha’s love will save him.)
(Repeat first verse)
Does that help? Anna Petrovna at Novosibirsk State U. would be so proud! How close is it to the one you’re talking about, content-wise?
Yes, that would be the song. I’m still perplexed as to why an artillery piece was named after the song.
Damn! I have to get faster with the damn translations; 3 replies while I was working on the damn thing!
Katyusha were rockets… they were probably named in a similar way to “Screaming Meemies” or “Moaning Mini’s”… because of the sound.