"Все позади - и КПЗ, и суд ..." ["Vse pozadi - i KPZ, i sud ..."] [English translation]

It’s all behind: the city jail and court,

The prosecutor, my attorney, judges.

I’m now just waiting,

Waiting to be called

And transferred somewhere to work without wages.

So, my mom, she starts to weep,

Starts to guess and tries to think,

To where, to where they will send me

And my mom, she starts to weep,

But I, myself, don’t give a shit

To where, to where they will send me

To Vorkutá1 all shipping goes forever,

A little faster if to Magadán,2

But there everyone

Is such a scumbag, vermin, pervert,

That I for sure can kiss my mail good-bye.

So, my mom, she starts to weep,

Starts to guess and tries to think,

To where, to where they will send me

And my mom, she starts to weep,

But I, myself, don’t give a shit

To where, to where they will send me

But now I hear: it’s time, they came for me.

The door is opened, and they take me from my sleep.

And now they will, oh, yes, they will,

Will transfer me…

But where, of that these bitches hardly ever speak.

So, my mom, she starts to weep,

Starts to guess and tries to think,

To where, to where they will send me

And my mom, she starts to weep,

But I, myself, don’t give a shit

To where, to where they will send me

We have arrived: the railway station’s hum.

At least tobacco is not yet at shortage.

So finally, they told us where we go:

Tmutarakán,3

The Kola Tundra in the Murmansk Oblast.4

And my mom, she starts to weep,

Starts to guess and tries to think,

To where, to where they will send me…

Dear Mom, please stop your weep,

Better try to guess and think

Of when will I return from my long trip!

1. A coal-mining town in the Komi Republic, Russia, situated just north of the Arctic Circle. In Soviet times it was the location of one of the largest GULAG camps with over 73 thousand prisoners. It's also the coldest city in all of Europe, boasting a record cold temperature of −52 °C.2. A port town in the Russian Far East. It was nicknamed a "capital of Kolyma region" notoriously known for countless GULAG camps. 3. Here it is used jokingly, as some distant place with strange sounding name. It actually was a medieval Kievan Rus' principality. 4. Kola Peninsula in the original, a peninsula in the extreme northwest of Russia, also the location of numerous GULAG camps in the Soviet era.

• Artist:Vladimir Vysotsky