# Forum Learning Russian Language Translate This!  Перевод песни

## Grogs

Всем привет!  I've been listening to this song a lot lately.  I found the lyrics online, and I've attempted to translate it, but there are quite a few lines that don't make sense to me in context with the rest of the lyrics.  Are they _supposed_ to make sense?  If anyone can help, it would be greatly appreciated. 
Thanks, 
Grogs  
Поплачь о Нем 
Shed a tear for him 
Зачем тебе знать, куда он идет?
Зачем тебе знать, о чем он поет?
Зачем тебе знать, то, чего он не знает сам?
Зачем тебе знать, кого он любил?
Зачем тебе знать, о чем он просил?
Зачем тебе знать то, о чем он молчит?  *The dative is confusing to me in the context of the song.  Is there a word (like надо) that’s assumed?  Otherwise, I can’t figure out what these sentences mean.* 
Why do you have to know where he is going?
Why do you have to know what he sings about?
Why do you have to know what he doesn’t even know himself?
Why do you have to know whom he loves?
Why do you have to know what he asks about?
Why do you have to know what he is silent about? 
Пр-в:
Поплачь о нем, пока он живой, \
Люби его, таким, какой он есть. / 
Chorus:
Shed a tear for him while he’s alive.
Love him just the way he is. 
На детском рисунке домик с трубой -
Фидель Михаилу машет рукой,
Мы никак не можем привыкнуть жить без войны.
В космос совместно валютный полет,
Ночью толпа - крестный ход.
Она уже видит себя в роли вдовы. 
In a childhood drawing, a small house with a chimney.
Fidel throws up his hands [gives up hope] at Mihail. 
There is no way we can get used to living without war.
In space, togetherness is the currency of flight.
A nighttime crowd – a religious procession.
She already sees herself in the role of a widow. 
Пр-в: 
У тебя к нему есть несколько слов,
У тебя к нему даже, наверное, любовь -
Ты ждешь момента, чтоб отдать ему все.
Холодный мрамор, твои цветы,
Все опускается вниз, в горле комок,
Эти морщины так портят твое лицо. 
You have a few words for him.
You probably even love him.
You will wait for a time to repay him for everything.
Your colors are those of Cold marble.
Everything falls down, a lump in your throat.
Those wrinkles really mar your face. 
Пр-в: 
Тихо утро, над городом смог,
Майская зелень, энцефалит.
Там хорошо, где нас с тобой нет.
Канистра с пивом, причем здесь вода?
Искусственный белок, причем здесь народ?
Сегодня умрешь, завтра скажут - поэт... 
A quiet morning under the city smog
The May greenery, encephalitis
It’s good over there, where we’re not
A keg of beer, is there water here?
An artificial egg white, are there people here?
Today you die, tomorrow the poets will say… 
Пр-в:

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## Оля

> *The dative is confusing to me in the context of the song.  Is there a word (like надо) that’s assumed?  Otherwise, I can’t figure out what these sentences mean.*

 Dative is absolutely idiomatic in a case like this.  _Зачем тебе надевать эту кофту?
Зачем тебе брать на себя ответственность?
Зачем нам туда ехать?
Зачем мне это надо?_   

> Why do you have to know where he is going?
> Why do you have to know what he sings about?
> Why do you have to know what he doesn’t even know himself?
> Why do you have to know whom he loved?
> Why do you have to know what he asked about?
> Why do you have to know what he is silent about?

  

> In a childhood drawing, a small house with a chimney.
> Fidel throws up his hands [gives up hope] at Mihail. 
> There is no way we can get used to living without war. A combined space flight, paid by foreign currency,
> A nighttime crowd – a religious procession.
> She already sees herself in the role of a widow. 
> You have a few words for him.
> You probably even love him.
> You are waiting for a moment to give him _ everything. Cold marble, your flowers...
> Everything falls down, a lump in your throat.
> ...

 Which lines don't make sense to you, conctetely? 
Please correct my English.

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## Ramil

Your understanding of dative is correct as as the most of your translation.
Minor corrections were made by Olya, and here's my 5 cents: 
Фидель Михаилу машет рукой  - Fidel waves his hand to Mikhail 
Все опускается вниз - Everything's falling apart (or even you're falling apart), not precise but has closer meaning. 
Белок here is protein, I think, not the egg white (well, they're really the same things). 
This song is one of my favourites, and maybe the best anti-war song I've ever heard.

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## Lampada

http://www.russiandvd.com/store/album_a ... Fnumber=06 
Поплачь о нём 
Группа Чайф

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## Grogs

Спасибо всем за помощь.   

> Originally Posted by Grogs  *The dative is confusing to me in the context of the song.  Is there a word (like надо) that’s assumed?  Otherwise, I can’t figure out what these sentences mean.*   Dative is absolutely idiomatic in a case like this.  _Зачем тебе надевать эту кофту?
> Зачем тебе брать на себя ответственность?
> Зачем нам туда ехать?
> Зачем мне это надо?_

 Thanks.  It's good to know my intuition was correct here.   

> Originally Posted by Оля  A quiet morning, there is smog under the city (is it possible to say "under the city smog" in English?...)

 "There is smog under the city" is completely nonsensical.  It sounds like you're saying there is smog in the subway tunnels underneath the city, which is impossible.  "under the city smog" is a good way to describe being in a city when there is smog in the air.   

> Which lines don't make sense to you, in context?

 Well, Ramil says it's an anti-war song, and I certainly get that sense from parts of it, but not all.  The first (Зачем...) and third (У тебя...) verses sound more like a wife who constantly browbeats her husband, and never appreciates him until after he's dead.  And the final verse, with its city smog, encephalitis, beer kegs, and egg whites / proteins almost make me feel like I'm trying to translate a CCR song.  Is there some kind of background to the song which might explain those things, or are they just thrown in because they fit with the melody?   

> Originally Posted by Grogs  Фидель Михаилу машет рукой - Fidel waves his hand to Mikhail   That definitely seems to be the literal translation, but I thought the phrase implied throwing up one's hands in frustration or giving up.  This sentence sounds more like they're greeting one another. 
> Все опускается вниз - Everything's falling apart (or even you're falling apart), not precise but has closer meaning.   I agree.  That sounds much more natural (and reminds me of a certain Yeats poem.) 
> Белок here is protein, I think, not the egg white (well, they're really the same things). Well, my dictionary offered up protein, egg whites, or the whites of the eyes for белок.  None really seemed to make much sense to me.  I even considered the gen. pl. of the word for 'squirrel' (белка), but it didn't match up since the adjective is in the nominative.

  

> This song is one of my favourites, and maybe the best anti-war song I've ever heard.

 Yes, an excellent song from a very good group.  And I think the singer (Шахрин?) has an excellent voice.  Quite powerful and moving.

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## Оля

> Originally Posted by Оля  A quiet morning, there is smog under the city (is it possible to say "under the city smog" in English?...)   "There is smog under the city" is completely nonsensical.  It sounds like you're saying there is smog in the subway tunnels underneath the city, which is impossible.  "under the city smog" is a good way to describe being in a city when there is smog in the air.

 Oh my God, I wrote "under" instead of "over". I meant "There is smog over the city", well, at least it's the literal translation of the line. By the way, I still don't understand the grammatical structure of "under the city smog"... I never thought English sentences could be like this...   ::

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## Grogs

[quote=Оля] 

> Originally Posted by "Оля":2fagau0i  A quiet morning, there is smog under the city (is it possible to say "under the city smog" in English?...)   "There is smog under the city" is completely nonsensical.  It sounds like you're saying there is smog in the subway tunnels underneath the city, which is impossible.  "under the city smog" is a good way to describe being in a city when there is smog in the air.

 Oh my God, I wrote "under" instead of "over". I meant "There is smog over the city", well, at least it's the literal translation of the line. By the way, I still don't understand the grammatical structure of "under the city smog"... I never thought English sentences could be like this...   :: [/quote:2fagau0i] 
Боже мой!  А я переводил "над" 'under'.  So you're right, it should be 'over the city, smog.'  Какой кошмар!   ::   
It's a fairly common construction.  You'll often hear something along the lines of 'I slept under the stars' or 'The game took place under a gray sky.'  You can also reverse it and say something like 'the stars above twinkled as I sat quietly', which makes the stars the subject but keeps the meaning the same as 'I sat quietly under a sky full of twinkling stars.'  In this particular case, I think that either 'It is a quiet morning underneath the city smog' or 'It is a quiet morning and there is smog above the city' give the same meaning.  I just think the first one sounds better, especially in the context of a song.

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## Ramil

> Originally Posted by Ramil        Originally Posted by Grogs  Фидель Михаилу машет рукой - Fidel waves his hand to Mikhail   That definitely seems to be the literal translation, but I thought the phrase implied throwing up one's hands in frustration or giving up.  This sentence sounds more like they're greeting one another.

 Yes, it means they greet each other (or biding farewell)  
About 'anti-war', well, it's rather difficult to explain. I just got the feeling of it when I'd heard it for the first time.
It's an old song, written in 1990 (maybe even earlier, since 1990 is the date of its official publication). It was the time of decline and agony of USSR, people were desperate and the sense of imminent civil war was in the air. I remember that time quite well even though I was very young (I was only 14 that time). 
This song is addresseed to a young girl who drills her boyfriend while there is a possibility that she may lose him soon. So the song goes - Why do you do that? Just love him the way he is. 
Then the song describes the time it was written at. (Fidel Castro waves his hand to Mikhail Gorbachev) and general chaos that surrounded us all that time. 
Then again, it implies on possible death of her boyfriend - the cold marble (of a tombstone) and the flowers on it. (We all saw people die young those days). 
During the conflict in Chechnya its 'anti-war' mood was strenghtened even more. 
You should listen to other songs of this album to catch the feeling, here is the full list: http://www.chaif.ru/new/albums/list/7

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## Полуношник

I don't think the song is specifically anti-*war*. It's about all things which makes our life worse, like beer instead water, artificial protein instead natural, and so on.

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## Grogs

Благодарю вас!  Ваши объяснения мне очень помогли. 
Вот другая песня Чайфа.  Эта песня побольше весела, чем последная.   ::    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TKKY...eature=related 
Оранжевое Настроение – Чайфа
Orange Attitude, by Чайф. Is this expression meaningful in everyday speech, or did they just make it up for the song? 
Бутылка кефира, пол-батона, 
Бутылка кефира, пол-батона,
А я сегодня дома, 
А я сегодня дома,
А я сегодня дома один.  
A bottle of kefir, half a loaf of bread,
A bottle of kefir, half a loaf of bread,
And I’m at home today,
And I’m at home today,
And I’m at home alone today. 
С утра я почитаю газету, 
И, может быть, сгоняю в кино. 
И, вобщем (в обшем?), все равно, 
И, вобщем, все равно,
И, вобщем, все равно какое. 
From the morning I read the newspaper a little,
And maybe drive to the theater.
And, in general, it’s all the same…
And, in general, it’s all the same…
And, in general, it’s all just the same  
А потом, стоя на балконе, 
Я буду смотреть на прохожих. 
На девчонок, 
На девчонок,
На весенних девчонок, и немного на парней-ей-ей-ей.  
And then stand on my balcony
I will watch the passing…
of the girls…
of the girls…
of the girls of Spring, and of a few guys 
А потом, проходя мимо зеркала, 
Я скажу: "А что, не так уж я и страшен!" 
Я даже немного, 
Я даже немного,
Я даже немного ничего-о-о-о-о. 
And then, walking past the mirror
I will say “I’m not all that awful!”
I’m even a little…
I’m even a little…
I’m even a little… nevermind! I get the feeling the last 3 lines are meant to be some kind of a joke, but I don’t get it. 
А я похож на новый "Икарус" 
А у меня такая же улыбка, 
И как у него,
И как у него,
Оранжевое настрое-е-е-нье! 
And I look like a new “Icarus” I don’t understand this reference.
And I have such a smile on my face
And how it has…
And how it has…
An Orange attitude  
А кефир я допью ровно в десять.
А батон я доем чуть пораньше.
И перед сном,
И скажу перед сном,
И скажу: "Ах, мама, до чего хорошо!" 
And I will finish drinking the kefir at exactly ten.
And the bread I will finish eating just a bit earlier.
And before (going to) sleep…
And before (going to) sleep I will say…
And I will say “Oh, mama, how nice!”  
Бутылка кефира, пол-батона
Бутылка кефира, пол-батона
Бутылка кефира, пол-батона
Бутылка кефира, пол-батона 
A bottle of kefir, half a loaf of bread 
Оранжевое небо,
Оранжевое солнце,
Оранжевая мама,
Оранжевый верблюд
Оранжевые дети,
Оранжевые песни
Оранжево поют! 
An orange sky
An orange sun
An orange mama
An orange camel
Orange children
Orange songs
They sing orange!

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## Rtyom

> Вот другая песня «Чайфа».  Эта песня более весёлая, чем последняя.

  

> Is this expression meaningful in everyday speech, or did they just make it up for the song?

 I think it's not a well-known expression. It means that someone's mood is somewhat contrary to gloomy...   

> Бутылка кефира, полбатона, 
> Бутылка кефира, полбатона,

  

> И, может быть, сгоняю в кино.

 Сгонять кудан-нибудь is not necessarily means going by car, you can use your own two legs.  ::    

> И, вобщем (в обшем?), все равно,

 *в общем*   

> From the morning I read the newspaper a little,

 Are you sure it's "from the morning..."?   

> And, in general, it’s all the same…

 No, he means that it doesn't matter what movie is on, and he will watch anything. 
А потом, стоя на балконе, 
Я буду смотреть на прохожих. 
На девчонок, 
На девчонок,
На весенних девчонок, и немного на парней-ей-ей-ей.    

> And then standing on my balcony, I will watch people passig by, and watch girls, girls of Spring, and watch guys too, but only a few.

 Well, I guess it's an awkward correction, but still...   

> I will say “I’m not all that awful!”

 ужасный here = ugly   

> I’m even a little… nevermind!

 No, again he means he's not that ugly. 
«Он(а) ничего» = "(S)he is pretty".   

> And I look like a new “Icarus” I don’t understand this reference.

 "Ikarus" is a make of Hungarian bus, wide-popular in the USSR in 80s and 90s. They are no longer exploited at my place, however it was possible to see them in the years 2000-2001. 
The guy refers to headlights and the grille. I don't know is it really common, but some people fantasize about these parts of buses as «морды» ("muzzles") which have different expressions. Particularly the "muzzle" of "Ikarus" that routes in a city streets is like an open and a bit silly. You can watch yourself the first two photos: http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Икарус    

> Оранжевое небо,
> Оранжевое солнце,
> Оранжевая мама,
> Оранжевый верблюд
> Оранжевые дети,
> Оранжевые песни
> Оранжево поют!

 And this is the reference to another song, by Ирма Сохадзе — "Оранжевая песня". I guess Lampada knows where to listen to it.  ::

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## Ramil

> Оранжевое настроение
> Is this expression meaningful in everyday speech, or did they just make it up for the song?

 No there weren't any 'Orange moods' except for this song.
It's even older and it's been originally intended for children.    

> А что, не так уж я и страшен!
> I’m not all that awful!

 I'd used the word 'ugly'.   

> Я даже немного ничего I get the feeling the last 3 lines are meant to be some kind of a joke, but I don’t get it.

 It is. It's a figure of speech (a rather stupid one, but used in a song intentionally).
Consider the dialogue:
- Как тебе эта новая машина? (~"Do you like this new car?" or ~"How do you find this new car?")
- Ничего 
Literally - nothing, but it means 'Not bad' (but ничего also implies 'not good' either).
Немного ничего - it's an absurdity in general, but in the song it means 'I am rather handsome'  ::    

> And I look like a new “Icarus” I don’t understand this reference

 It's better to see. "Icarus" is a bus, they all were painted orange:

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## Rtyom

yellow was predomonant, but I've seen white and dark blue also.  ::  
They're "Ikarus", not "Icarus".

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## Grogs

Большое спасибо, Rtyom и Ramil!  I don't think I could have ever figured some of that out on my own, especially the reference to the "Ikarus".  In English, "Icarus" is the man from Greek mythology who built wings, flew too close to the Sun, and fell to his death, but I couldn't see the connection to the song.   ::     

> Originally Posted by Grogs  Is this expression meaningful in everyday speech, or did they just make it up for the song?   I think it's not a well-known expression. It means that someone's mood is somewhat contrary to gloomy...

 Thanks.  We have 'feeling blue' and 'seeing red' in English, so I didn't know if an orange mood might be common in everyday Russian.    

> в общем

 Thanks.  I should explain that my Russian isn't really good enough that I can write down the Russian by listening to the song.  When I first listened to Поплачь о нём, for example, I thought they were saying "Love the theif for who he is" in the chorus.   ::   I pulled the Russian lyrics from a guitar tab site, which are undoubtedly better than my transcriptions would be, but (judging by the numerous mistakes I've seen on English guitar tab sites) could still have a lot of errors.   

> Are you sure it's "from the morning..."?

 "From" or "since", I don't know a better way to translate с + genitive here.  I was thinking it was probably meant to be 'утром', but that just didn't fit the stress pattern of the song.   

> And this is the reference to another song, by Ирма Сохадзе — "Оранжевая песня". I guess Lampada knows where to listen to it.

 Well, if Lampada can't find it, nobody can!    ::

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## Scorpio

> Большое спасибо, Rtyom и Ramil!  I don't think I could have ever figured some of that out on my own, especially the reference to the "Ikarus".  In English, "Icarus" is the man from Greek mythology who built wings, flew too close to the Sun, and fell to his death, but I couldn't see the connection to the song.

 "Ikarus" is a Hungarian company, in Russia in some other countries mostly known by bus production.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikarus_Bus 
Most probably, company was named after the Greek myths hero (so there is some connection). 
(If company produces aircrafts instead of ground vehicles, it surely preferred to choose some other name.  ::  )

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## Оля

> In English, "Icarus" is the man from Greek mythology who built wings

 In Russian, he's *Икар*, not Икарус.

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## Leof

> Originally Posted by Grogs  In English, "Icarus" is the man from Greek mythology who built wings   In Russian, he's *Икар*, not Икарус.

 Икар сломал крылья. 
Крылья смастерил Дедал, его отец.

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## translationsnmru

Немножко не в тему... На мой взгляд, лучшая песня "Чайфа" — это "Аргентина-Ямайка 5:0". Грогс, если ты её ещё не слышал, послушай!  ::  
Пятая песня вот в этом альбоме http://www.russiandvd.com/store/product.asp?sku=43907

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## Rtyom

> I pulled the Russian lyrics from a guitar tab site, which are undoubtedly better than my transcriptions would be, but (judging by the numerous mistakes I've seen on English guitar tab sites) could still have a lot of errors.

 Oh, it's okay. People tend to write wrong here and there... I just accented the standard writing.  ::  I wish it was the only one! *sigh*   

> I don't know a better way to translate с + genitive here.  I was thinking it was probably meant to be 'утром'...

 I think it's "in the morning" (с утра = утром). Just treat the expression like "many a goose" when the latter is more common to be "many geese".  ::  
However, there is a difference: читаю с утра (since) and почитаю с утра (in). In the first variant, the verb form means durative action; in the second variant, there is no time secification.

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## Rtyom

"Ikarus"-turned-tram:

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## Grogs

> Originally Posted by Оля        Originally Posted by Grogs  In English, "Icarus" is the man from Greek mythology who built wings   In Russian, he's *Икар*, not Икарус.   Икар сломал крылья. 
> Крылья смастерил Дедал, его отец.

 Daedalus по-английски:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daedalus   

> Немножко не в тему... На мой взгляд, лучшая песня "Чайфа" — это "Аргентина-Ямайка 5:0". Грогс, если ты её ещё не слышал, послушай! Smile 
> Пятая песня вот в этом альбоме http://www.russiandvd.com/store/product.asp?sku=43907

 Это хорошая песня, но не моя любимая. 
Кстати, совершенно не в тему, я думаю, что Владимир Шахрин похож на Ernest Borgnine (лет двацать назад).  Когда я сначала увидел его фото на сайте 101.ru, я так подумал.     

> I think it's "in the morning" (с утра = утром). Just treat the expression like "many a goose" when the latter is more common to be "many geese".

 Gladly.    
Is anyone here familiar with guitar terminology?  I found the following instructions on a Russian guitar tab, and I want to see if I'm understanding them correctly.   

> * Затем выдерживаем паузу, прокатываемся по D, и поехали к следующему куплету.

 Then we pause, finger(?) a D, and go on to the next verse   

> * От куплета к куплету увеличиваем громкость, местами появляются удары по
> * струнам вместо перебора.

 Between verses we play louder, here and there are hammer ons in place of finger picking   

> * А эту строчку - тихо, перебором, со слезами на глазах

 And (play) this line quietly, with finger picking, and with tears in (your) eyes 
Я могу сыграть гитару так себе, но у меня совсем нет музыкального слуха.  Мне нужны аккорды песни, чтобы её сыграть.

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## Yul'a

> Я могу сыграть на гитаре так себе, но у меня совсем нет музыкального слуха.  Мне нужны аккорды песни, чтобы её сыграть.

 На музыкальных инструментах: _играть на гитаре, на пианино, на барабанах, на волынке._ 
В различные игры: _играть в шахматы, в карты, в бильярд, в больного и доктора._

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