Thread: Translating Vladimir Vysotsky songs to English (College task!)

A few things about the first two stanzas

Originally Posted by Valda

Смотришь конкурс в Сопоте - Watching the sing-alongs in Sopot Competition (Festival)

Originally Posted by Valda

А кого ни попадя
Пускают в Израиль!" - Set off to Israel

"And they allow anyone to go to Israel"
The whole idea is, we are sitting here living our boring life, and some dudes are allowed to go to Israel!

Originally Posted by Valda

В радиоприемнике..." - On the TV

On the radio, duh!

Originally Posted by Valda

И такое рассказал, - And so he spoke on
До того красиво!- ???

and he told me such things, so attractively...

Originally Posted by Valda

Что я чуть было не попал - That I almost didn't understand
В лапы Тель-Авива. -

That I nearly found myself in the clutches of Tel Aviv. (Tel Aviv stands for Israel, metonymically).