Thread: English language songs sung in Russian

Original English

One of our planes was missing
Two hours overdue,
One of our planes was missing
With all it's gallant crew,
The radio sets were humming,
They waited for a word,
Then a voice broke through the humming
And this is what they heard:

«Comin' in on a wing and a prayer,
Comin' in on a wing and a prayer,
Though there's one motor gone
We can still carry on,
Comin' in on a wing and a prayer.

What a show! What a fight!
Yes, we really hit our target for tonight!

How we sing as we limp through the air,
Look below, there's our field over there,
With our full crew aboard
And our trust in the Lord
We're comin' in on a wing and a prayer».

Russian version

Был озабочен очень воздушный наш народ —
К нам не вернулся ночью с бомбёжки самолёт.
Радисты скребли в эфире, волну ловя едва,
И вот без пяти четыре услышали слова:

«Мы летим, ковыляя во мгле,
Мы ползём на последнем крыле,
Бак пробит, хвост горит, но машина летит
На честном слове и на одном крыле.

Ну, дела! Ночь была!
Их объекты разбомбили мы дотла!

Мы ушли, ковыляя во мгле,
Мы к родной подлетаем земле.
Вся команда цела, и машина пришла —
На честном слове и на одном крыле».

Coffee Cup... Thank you for posting Coming in on a Wing and a Prayer. I had never heard the song before (I'm so used to the Bon Jovi song, Livin' on a Prayer) and Googled it and learned...

On a wing and a prayer

This phrase originated with the WWII patriotic song Coming in on a Wing and a Prayer, 1943, by Harold Adamson and Jimmie McHugh, which tells of a damaged warplane, barely able to limp back to base. Adamson and McHugh wrote several patriotic songs in World War II and were awarded the Presidential Certificate of Merit by President Harry Truman.

The phrase hit a chord with the public and there are many references to it in US newspapers from 1943 onwards. It was taken up by Hollywood and a film - Wing and a Prayer - was released in 1944.


The allusion to a strcken aircraft limping home was probably influenced by the earlier term 'winging it', which refers to actors struggling through parts that they have recently learned in the wings of a theatre.


The phrase is sometimes given mistakenly as "on a whim and a prayer", or "on a wink and a prayer".