Thread: Lady in Red

Can somebody check the following sentences for errors?
Thanks in advance.

The lady in red is dancing with me, cheek to cheek.
Леди в красном танцует со мной, щека к щеке.

Have you heard of this song before?
Вы слышали об этой песне прежде?

I like this song very much. Who sings this song?
Мне очень нравится эта музика. Кто поет эту песню?

Originally Posted by kwatts59

The lady in red is dancing with me, cheek to cheek.
Леди в красном танцует со мной, щека к щеке.

Correct.

Have you heard of this song before?
Вы слышали об этой песне прежде?

I'd say Вы слышали эту песню.
прежде is correct but раньше would sound better here

I like this song very much. Who sings this song?
Мне очень нравится эта музика. Кто поет эту песню?

музЫка

Originally Posted by net surfer

Originally Posted by kwatts59

Have you heard of this song before?
Вы слышали об этой песне прежде?

I'd say Вы слышали эту песню.
прежде is correct but раньше would sound better here

kwatts59 is correct. ...of this song - об этой песне
this song - эту песню

Well, let's ask him.

слышать об этой песне = hear some information about this song, not the song itself
слышать песню = hear this song itself, not information about it

kwatts59, what did you mean?

Though I'm not kwatts59 I'd like to guess what he meant.
Judging by what he wrote I would say that he meant слышать о песне.
Therefore, I think that kwatts59 did an entirely correct translation

Thanks everybody.

I wanted to ask "Have your heard of this song?"
It is a broader question than "Have you heard this song?"

Thanks for both explanations.

I don't get it.

What do you mean:

1) Have you heard some information about this song, not the song itself?
2) Have you heard this song itself, not information about it?
3) Have you heard this song itself OR some information about it?

It would be much better if you give the context.

"Have you heard of this song?" means

Do you know the title?
Do you know who sings it?
Do you know anything about it?
What information do you know about this song?

I am assuming that he heard the song at an earlier time.


Whereas
"Have you heard this song?" just means "Have you heard this song?"

I was in a Russian restaurant with a friend and we were listening to the song "Lady in Red". The singers were singing in Russian. I could not understand any of the words, so I asked him if he knows anything about this song so that I could look up the Russian words on the internet.

Ok, I get what it means in English. But in Russian "слышал про эту песню раньше" sounds weird in this context. We ask more specific questions like:

- песню слышал?
- кто поёт?
- как называется?

If you talk about a movie, it'll be ok to ask something like:

- Слышал про последний фильм Терри Гиллиама?

And in Russian it means only "have you heard any information (not seen a movie itself)". Have you heard where/how/when this movie was shot? What is it about? Who plays there?... But if you're listening a song or watching a movie, you ask:

- ты этот фильм видел раньше?

- ты эту песню слышал раньше?
- что за песня?
- как называется эта песня?
- кто поёт эту песню?

I think it's because a song is a pretty small thing to have enough information to be asked the way "слышал что-нибудь про песню".

Криса де Бурга песня

Криса де Бурга песня

А я думал это Бритни Спирс поёт...

Жжош ацкий агнимёт!!!

Chris De Burgh is an idiot. This is a middle-aged woman song. My mum likes this.

What's wrong with you? It's not a bad song! Maybe you're unromantic.

I think the difference is that it was popular during our parent's generation. But if you hear it for the first time now, I am sure you would like it!

BTW, did you Russians listen to this music (or any western type) during the Cold War? Legally, I mean. Did they have radio stations playing this type of music? Innocent question.

Sorry to interject but the thought of this song "Lady In Red" is forcing me to to take cyanide capsules.

Please, for any of you who have not heard this song,
do yourself a great favor and keep it that way!!

Originally Posted by kalinka_vinnie

BTW, did you Russians listen to this music (or any western type) during the Cold War? Legally, I mean. Did they have radio stations playing this type of music? Innocent question.

Sometimes, very rarely, a radio station would play a song of Beatles or something like this. This was already considered very liberal. However, you should not underestimate the power and extent of illegal activities in Russia. Thankfully, most of the good stuff was on the black market.

As for the red lady, I found samples of Chris de Burgh's songs on Amazon.com, and unfortunately they all sound the same to me. I did not feel suicidal nor did I run to get a credit card.