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Lyrics and music by Vladimir Visotsky
From the movie Vertikal (1966)
Song translations by me, with lots of liberties taken. I cannot even hope to match the level song writing of one of the great bards. And Russian has a ton more adjectives and words that are shorter in general. (Seriously, mountains is 2 short syllables go-ry. I ended up going for peaks for rhythm reasons) I also abused commas for notation of breathing breaks
Song 1
If a friend turned out to be,
Neither friend nor foe - just so
If at first you can’t tell,
Which one he is to be
Take him up to the peaks, with you
Don’t leave him alone, just yet
Let him go up with you, up there
There you’ll see who he is
[whistling]
If in the mountains he’s not, all well
If in minutes he bolts, back down
Took a step on the ice, and froze
One mis-step and he screamed
Then a stranger is there, with you
Don’t keep him along, let him go on alone
These types don’t go up, and here
About such we don’t sing
If not a whine nor a moan you heard
He would grump and would groan, but go
When you fell from the alps,
He gritted but held
[If he went up with you, like war
At the top he did stand, quite proud
Then as if he is you, put your trust onto him] 2x
[whistling]
Song 2
This isn’t the flats, the climate’s all new
One ravine after another
And avalanches follow close by
[And you may fall into a cliff
But we take the hardest route
As dangerous as any war has been] x2
Those who haven’t been,
Who haven’t risked
Who haven’t tested himself yet
Even if he grasped the stars at base
[There you won’t meet, no matter the stretch
In your full life a part of the beauty that is here to see] x2
There are no roses, or funeral tape
That’s not a monument to you,
That rock that brought you peace
[Like an eternal ember flame in day,
The top will glow
The one you haven’t conquered yet] x2
And they will talk
Oh let them talk
But no, no one dies in vain
Its better than from flu or from drink
[Others will come and trade their peace for risk
And under hardships they will walk
The paths that you did not win] x2
These aren’t the walls of your house at home
Don’t yawn or ignore
Forget about relying on your luck
Not rock nor ice will hold you up
[We only trust the strength of arms
Of friendship and of all our skill
And pray that the support won’t give] x2
We carve in our steps
Not a pace we’ll give
From the force our knees do shake
Our hearts have already reached the top
[The whole world in your palms
In utmost joy you’re standing there
With jealousy for those who have yet to climb to the top] x2
Song 3
There's bullets and bombs
And death did count its final toll
Yours is tomorrow, but for now
The ringing shouted to the skies
And walked off by the pass
[chorus]
Leave all talk behind,
Ahead and up and there
These are our mountains
They will protect us here
They will protect us here
Before the war this same slope
The German boy did go up with you
He did fall down but was he was saved
And now perhaps that is he
Who aims at you
[chorus]
You’re here again
You’re good to go
You’re waiting for the signal now
And that boy, he is here too
Among the shooters from Edelway
They must be rid off
From this cliff
[chorus]
Song Four
To the bustle of cities
And the rivers of cars
We return
Nowhere else left to go
As we climb back to Earth
From the peaks that we conquered
Leaving there - leaving there our hearts
[chorus]
Leave all talk behind
I’ve proven all to me
The only thing better than peaks
Are the ones left for me to climb
Are the ones left for me to climb
Who wants to live in pain
And remain all alone
Who will want to leave
Song of your heart not heard
But we do return
From the peaks that we conquered
Oh what can we do
Even the gods do go down, down to Earth
[chorus]
How many words and hopes
How many songs and themes
Do the mountains awake
And call us to stay
But we do climb down
For a year or for all
Because always, because always we must return
[chorus]