Про дурачка [Pro durachka] [English translation]
Про дурачка [Pro durachka] [English translation]
Death wanders through the streets, carrying blinis on a plate1.
Anyone who gets one will meet his fate2.
She3'll pat him on the shoulder and kiss him hotly
Small change will soon spring off his breast4.
A fool wanders through the forest,
looking for an even greater fool.
Cogwheels started turning inside my head
that was drenched in armor piercing rain.
Quicksilver started boiling5, a fist took a swing.
Put a cross on your chest and you'll end with coins6 on your eyes.
A fool wanders through the world,
looking for an even greater fool.
Today I bought balloons.
With these I'll fly over wonderland.
Then I'll swallow some fluff7 and dive into the ground,
and to all questions I'll answer "always alive!"
A fool wanders through the sky,
looking for an even greater fool.
A fool wanders through the sky,
looking for an even greater fool.
Sun shone night and day
There are no atheists in a trench under fire8
The blind will make it, the wretch will win.
You couldn't even dream of that.
A fool wanders through the forest,
looking for an even greater fool.
A fool wanders through the forest,
looking for an even greater fool.
1. The Russian says "saucer" but that's a bit small for blinis. Probably just there for the rhyme.
The image is based on a Russian custom to cook a bunch of pancakes or other similar portion-sized food with one of them differing from the others (more salty or containing a small token). The guest who draws the special pancake can make a wish. Of course, when death is dealing the pancakes, the outcome is slightly different...2. hijacking of a line from a traditional peasant song3. death is feminine in Russian4. Death will hug him so fiercely that small change will be squeezed out of his clothes!5. Letov wrote this song during a lasting bout of fever, it might be an allusion to his temperature6. 5 kopecks coins used to close the eyes of the dead7. poplar fluff, technically8. that's a common saying of unclear origin
- Artist:Nayk Borzov