Thread: About a song

О прекрасная даль поглотившая небо

I'm not here to ask what this means; It's the first line of a song by ДДТ. I think the song is called "что нам ветер".

My questions are as follows:

Why does "O" seem to take the nominative case here? Does it function as a preposition here? If not, then what is it? Perhaps it would be necessary to explain the meaning of the line.

Also, why is it "поглотившая небо"? The agreement is wrong, isn't it? I got this from an internet site, as I like to see the words to the songs I listen to written down. Shouldn't it be "поглотившoe небо"?

Thanks for the help with what I consider quite an odd question.

Jack

Could the answer to my second question be something to do with the noun in the second line?

О прекрасная даль поглотившая небо
Облака как к любимой прижались к земле
Где ты и я под простой да нескошенной крышей
Ищем друг в друге тепло
Что что что нам ветер да на это ответит
Несущийся мимо да сломавший крыло
И упав между нами так недолго любимых
Разбил он объятья как простое стекло
Мы стояли на прошлом мы ждали начала
Прижимаясь к стене где исчезли они
Где еще одну жизнь одна смерть обвенчала
Парой вспышек огня да в эти смутные дни
Что нам ветер да на это ответит
Несущийся мимо да сломавший крыло
И упав между нами так недолго любимых
Разбил он объятья как простое стекло
Что нам ветер да на это ответит
Несущийся мимо да сломавший крыло
И упав между нами так недолго любимых
Разбил он объятья как простое стекло

I don't understand the song, for the most part, however I like listening to Russian all the same; this in particular.

Thanks for the help
Jack

Ok, that's another proof of the importance of punctuation.

О, прекрасная даль, поглотившая небо
"O" is an exclamation here, the same as English "oh".

The word "поглотившое" doesn't exist. It can be "поглотивший" (masc.), "поглотившeе" (neutr.) or поглотившая (fem.). Since "даль" is feminine it's the latter. The phrase is correct.

Ok, that's another proof of the importance of punctuation

There are numerous ways of improving this sentence.

"Ok, that's more proof of the importance of punctuation"

"Ok, that's more proof of why punctuation is important".

"Ok, that highlights the importance of punctuation".

Any of those would do.

Thanks for the help. Does anyone know the song? I don't know how well known DDT is known in Russia, or whether it's advisable to "copy" how they pronounce the lyrics; I have no idea what part of Russia they're from, as I haven't developed an ear for Russian accents yet

Jack

Great! Thanks for your corrections.

DDT is very well known and respected group, they are a legend of a Soviet/Russian rock and have a huge following (there are actually books about them). Many Russians regardless of their actual musical preferences can recite at least a few lines from DDT songs. Me? I was a fan when I was a teenager and still can remeber some of the songs by heart.

The pronunciation is a good standard Russian, nothing to worry about. But the lyrics are probably too hard for a beginner, there are many allusions and a fairly difficult vocabulary.

Wikipedia article (in English):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ДДТ

Originally Posted by JackBoni

Does anyone know the song? I don't know how well known DDT is known in Russia, or whether it's advisable to "copy" how they pronounce the lyrics; I have no idea what part of Russia they're from, as I haven't developed an ear for Russian accents yet

"ДДТ" is a very popular group in Russia. I love them. That song is well-known, and I, personally, like it very much.

Юрий Шевчук (the leader) is from Уфа, but he's been living in Peterburg for many years now. But actually it has nothing to do with an "accent" because Russian pronunciation is almost the same everywhere, and Russian language does not have dialects (which I'm so tired to repeat and which foreigners don't want to understand... )

Originally Posted by JackBoni

Could the answer to my second question be something to do with the noun in the second line?

О прекрасная даль поглотившая небо
Облака как к любимой прижались к земле
Где ты и я под простой да нескошенной крышей
Ищем друг в друге тепло
Что что что нам ветер да на это ответит
Несущийся мимо да сломавший крыло
И упав между нами так недолго любимых
Разбил он объятья как простое стекло
Мы стояли на прошлом мы ждали начала
Прижимаясь к стене где исчезли они
Где еще одну жизнь одна смерть обвенчала
Парой вспышек огня да в эти смутные дни
Что нам ветер да на это ответит
Несущийся мимо да сломавший крыло
И упав между нами так недолго любимых
Разбил он объятья как простое стекло
Что нам ветер да на это ответит
Несущийся мимо да сломавший крыло
И упав между нами так недолго любимых
Разбил он объятья как простое стекло

I don't understand the song, for the most part, however I like listening to Russian all the same; this in particular.

Thanks for the help
Jack

My approximate translation is:
Oh beautiful expanse having swallowed up the sky,
Clouds, like to lovely girl, have snuggled down to the ground
Where you and me, under ordinary and unramshackle roof,
Are looking for something warm in one another.
What will wind tell us on that,
Carrying past us and having broken the wing,
And having fallen between us who are loved not so long
it broke the embrace like a simple glass.
We was standing on the past, we was waiting for the beginning
snuggling up to the wall where they disapeared
Where another life was married by death
By the couple of flash fire in that anxious days.
What will wind tell us on that,
Carrying past us and having broken the wing,
And having fallen between us who are loved so not long
it broke the embrace like a simple glass.

Ветер - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7z0jtmbOC8 or http://www.russiandvd.com/store/album_a ... Fnumber=09



Группа "ДДТ" - viewtopic.php?f=7&t=13209

Возможно песня про смутные 90-е, ветер – ветер перемен как у Scorpions.
В первом куплете я не могу понять, что такое прекрасная даль? Будущее, маячащее в туманной дали? Ты и Я – кто? Он и она, влюблённые или те, кто погибнет у Белого дома на баррикадах (ветер разбил объятья, как стекло)? Сломавший крыло кому? Себе или тем, на кого упал? Хотя тогда крыльев должно быть несколько. Прошлое, на котором мы стояли – это что? Обломки уходящего строя или монумент погибшим в борьбе за новый строй? Вспышки огня – салют павшим (им, кто исчез) или вспышки автоматных очередей, принесших смерть, обвенчавшую ещё одну жизнь? Одни вопросы, ответить, но которые трудно. Можно только петь, в надежде, что смысл в песне есть, но не на поверхности, в глубине.

Wow, thank you for all the replies. I didn't realise that ДДТ was so popular in Russia. The reason for that is probably because I had hardly heard of them before discovering this song on youtube

Anyway, judging by the translation that alexone has kindly provided, the lyrics are actually quite complicated, which goes a long way to explain why I am only able to understand a few words here and there.

Russian pronunciation is almost the same everywhere, and Russian language does not have dialects (which I'm so tired to repeat and which foreigners don't want to understand

I will bear that in mind, Оля. I seem to remember you mentioning it a few times, but it seems to have slipped my mind. Can anyone recommend any Russian groups like ДДТ with simpler lyrics? Perhaps then I could learn the words faster, learn more useful words, and even be able to sing them better, who knows?

Thanks
Jack

Oops, I forgot to write out your corrections.

Originally Posted by Оля

Russian language does not have dialects (which I'm so tired to repeat and which foreigners don't want to understand...

Оля, here I would prefer it if you say "Russian does not have". To me, it is obvious that you are talking about the Russian language, so there's no need for the word language to be there, in my opinion. I think it sounds slightly stilted when it's there. This is the reason why I get confused about when to use the word язык in Russian and when to omit it; I don't think it's necessary in English very often. The context explains what you're talking about.

Also, it would be better to say "which I'm so tired of repeating.

gRomoZeka - DDT is a very well respected group - "a" is needed here. Perhaps to specify that other very well respected groups exist in Russia, too. They're not the only one, is perhaps what the indefinite article implies here. Don't take my word as definitive, though, as this is a very difficult point to explain.

"Many Russians, regardless of their actual musical preferences, can recite at least a few lines from DDT songs". - The commas are needed here, I think. The reason for this is fairly simple, I think. The information you have included in the commas is optional - it could be omitted if you wanted it to be. Optional information is often encased within commas in English. If anyone disagrees with me, speak up!

"and can still remember" - the word order is slightly wrong here. Your spelling of "remember" was wrong, too, although I'm fairly sure it was just a typing mistake.

Jack

Originally Posted by JackBoni

Can anyone recommend any Russian groups like ДДТ with simpler lyrics? Perhaps then I could learn the words faster, learn more useful words, and even be able to sing them better, who knows?

"КИНО"!!!!!
This group is another titan of the Soviet rock and it's still very popular in spite of the fact that the leader Виктор Цой died in 1991.

The best about "Кино" for a Russian learner is that Tsoy has a very distinctive pronunciation, the lyrics are original but not overly "brainy". Fairly simple to understand, but not boring.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Tsoi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kino_(band)

PS. Thanks for the corrections, I really appreciate it.

Ah ha! Another one I've heard of! Thank you. Unlike with some of the French or German bands I listen to, I don't seem to have trouble making out the words in Russian songs, despite the fact that I have a lot more experience speaking French, German and even Danish than Russian. I find that quite odd, but perhaps that's something to do with Russian's phonetical approach to spelling.

I like to have a few groups for each language, so, are there any others? Кино and ДДТ. Any others? I find it funny that there is a Russian band called Кино , as the word itself has been borrowed from German!

Jack

Well, there are others, iof course. But these are my all-time favourites.
Really, if you don't listen to "Кино" I'll be very sad.

Originally Posted by gRomoZeka

Well, there are others, iof course. But these are my all-time favourites

"Well, there are others, of course. But those are my all-time favourites.

If you say "these" in this case, I would expect you to list the groups you're talking about.

For example:

"Well, there are others, of course, but these are my all-time favourites - DDT, Kino, Rammstein".

Thanks
Jack

I like very much "Аквариум" (or "БГ-бэнд", their another name). A very famous group, too. Their leader Борис Гребенщиков is considered to be "the father of the Russian rock".

I also like:
"Машина времени"
"Чайф"
(they are very famous too)

Машина времени - viewtopic.php?f=7&t=12712

Аквариум - viewtopic.php?f=7&t=9325

Бутырка - viewtopic.php?f=7&t=13126

"Кино", "Легенда":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ce3PBE9l ... re=related

A few home records, young Tsoy sings for his friends the songs from his first album (1982):
Бездельник:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loAbt7uH ... re=related
Лето:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhVnFk0KlLI
Последний герой:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYfTFKfh ... re=related

Каждую ночь:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzgafyXBmF4

Печаль:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVh9ooPe94U

Восмиклассница:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvyNPd-r ... re=related

Thank you for the your further suggestions, Оля, and thank you for the links, Lampada. I will look into them all.

Оля, "I like very much" doesn't sound quite right to me. I imagine you are trying to translate "мне очень нравится", are you? I'm not even sure if that works in Russian, but I would imagine your thinking is somewhere along these lines. You could say this is a number of different ways, although a lot of the variants are more paraphrases than alternatives.

"I like Аквариум a lot".
"Аквариум is a good group/band".
"I really like Аквариум" - obviously stronger than the previous two variants.

Jack

And thanks for the other links that have come through while I was writing my last post. I would be writing in Russian, but I'm not at home at the moment; I'm at my parents' house and am without my Cyrillic keyboard. It's very difficult for me to write Cyrillic without it

Jack