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Songs You Are Listening To -- Part II

Italo-Greek musical group Klama of Salento (South-East Italy) sings about fathers and husbands who have to go to work far North to earn money for their families...
 
SeaAndSky said:
Hi Cyrus,

Your favorite above is remarkably similar (in terms of visual and dramatic elements) to a long time favorite of mine:


Here it is with the Russian subtitles and some translations:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLTf-R9gj_0

Cordially,
S&S
Click to expand...
Russian upper classes?

When Napoleon was in Moscow, his closest people were unspeakably surprised to find out in what an exuberant luxury and overcare the Russian upper classes lived in that epoch. Yes, they posessed serfs, whom they bought and sold like cattle, yet at the same time, they were so patriotic, that when the French troops approached, they all fled, together with their enslaved countrimen.

Things that I cannot make coexist in my head.

The voice in that song seems a woman's, but I wonder, why the adjectives the singer uses stand in the feminine (in the Russian Grammar the adjectives have gender and number, just like in the Spanish/Italian and partly in the German Grammars).

I mean, when that voice sings smth. like 'my darling', the words 'my' and 'darling' stand in the feminine form, i.e., it looks like a love song from a woman to another woman. Hm-hm-hm.

Oh, those Russians.

Just couldn't resist not exposing my PL nostalgia once again.
Such landscapes, as below, you'll never find in Spain, where cypresses are believed to be Trees of Death (for their foliage being of such dark colour), and only grow in cemeteries here - something I really miss in any Spanish landscape...

Wish you all the best, pal. Take care.

 
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Cyrus said:
Russian upper classes?

When Napoleon was in Moscow, his closest people were unspeakably surprised to find out in what an exuberant luxury and overcare the Russian upper classes lived in that epoch. Yes, they posessed serfs, whom they bought and sold like cattle, yet at the same time, they were so patriotic, that when the French troops approached, they all fled, together with their enslaved countrimen.

Things that I cannot make coexist in my head.

The voice in that song seems a woman's, but I wonder, why the adjectives the singer uses stand in the feminine (in the Russian Grammar the adjectives have gender and number, just like in the Spanish/Italian and partly in the German Grammars).

I mean, when that voice sings smth. like 'my darling', the words 'my' and 'darling' stand in the feminine form, i.e., it looks like a love song from a woman to another woman. Hm-hm-hm.

Oh, those Russians.

Just couldn't resist not exposing my PL nostalgia once again.
Such landscapes, as below, you'll never find in Spain, where cypresses are believed to be Trees of Death (for their foliage being of such dark colour), and only grow in cemeteries here - something I really miss in any Spanish landscape...

Wish you all the best, pal. Take care.

Click to expand...
Hi Cyrus,

I wish I lived somewhere as beautiful! But, back to the video I posted. The scenes are from the Russian movie "Admiral"--about the life and death of Admiral Kolchak:


And, of course, about his love affair with the poet Anna Timiyova. So, the setting is during the First World War and the Russian Revolution rather than the Napoleonic Era. I found it worth watching myself, but I would not recommend it to anyone who avoids tragic love stories. The "Once Upon a December" music is not a part of the movie (as far as I can tell). However, I do like it. There is something magical in that tune for me, and I love the sound of the Russian language in song (though I do not understand a word of it). In terms of the Russian upper classes during the Napoleonic period you are (of course) correct. But I despise Bolsheviks even more.

I hope things are going well for you in Spain. As you may have noticed, things have been a bit tumultuous over here. Nonetheless, I do not expect matters to devolve as far as they did in Russia, nor even as far as they did during the "Unpleasantness" here during the 1860s.

Cordially,
S&S
 
SeaAndSky said:
Hi Cyrus,

I wish I lived somewhere as beautiful! But, back to the video I posted. The scenes are from the Russian movie "Admiral"--about the life and death of Admiral Kolchak:


And, of course, about his love affair with the poet Anna Timiyova. So, the setting is during the First World War and the Russian Revolution rather than the Napoleonic Era. I found it worth watching myself, but I would not recommend it to anyone who avoids tragic love stories. The "Once Upon a December" music is not a part of the movie (as far as I can tell). However, I do like it. There is something magical in that tune for me, and I love the sound of the Russian language in song (though I do not understand a word of it). In terms of the Russian upper classes during the Napoleonic period you are (of course) correct. But I despise Bolsheviks even more.

I hope things are going well for you in Spain. As you may have noticed, things have been a bit tumultuous over here. Nonetheless, I do not expect matters to devolve as far as they did in Russia, nor even as far as they did during the "Unpleasantness" here during the 1860s.

Cordially,
S&S
Click to expand...
Hi, S&S,

Thanks for your kind words.

As to my PL picture, as my favourite English writer used to say, "I cannot contemplate beauty long".

As to the film, I refused to see it several times, due to what I had been told about that personage by my Siberian friends living here in BCN.
No doubt that love story must be beautiful, but it's hardly true historically, so, what's the use seeing one more fiction?
As someone said, "The (ex-)Soviets deify the society they themselves had annihilated".
And the Russian upper classes were more or less the same in 1914 as in 1812: a bunch of exquisite and good for nothing loafers.
I've seen a couple of films about your country, just before that "Unpleasntness", as you put it, and they affected me enormously, due to some resemblance with one of my PLs.
A mess for several next generations. Hope you cope with it as wisely as I believe is proper of your race.

Take much care of you,

Yours, very truly,
C.

 
Cyrus said:
The voice in that song seems a woman's, but I wonder, why the adjectives the singer uses stand in the feminine (in the Russian Grammar the adjectives have gender and number, just like in the Spanish/Italian and partly in the German Grammars).

I mean, when that voice sings smth. like 'my darling', the words 'my' and 'darling' stand in the feminine form, i.e., it looks like a love song from a woman to another woman. Hm-hm-hm.
Click to expand...

Just to shed some light on the lyrics:

This song is from the children’s animated movie „Anastasia“. It was a lullaby Anastasia’s grandmother sang for her when she was a child. She gifted her granddaughter a musicbox that played the melody when she was about to leave. It was also a promise to meet each other again one day. The song helped Anastasia to regain her lost memories of her past as a member of the former Russian royal family.
In the movie it’s Anastasia singing the song while having visions of the past and remembering the words of her grandmother to her.




The original song and movie are in English. But the Russian version of the lyrics is even better suited for the plot of the movie IMO.
 
Ocean said:
Just to shed some light on the lyrics:

This song is from the children’s animated movie „Anastasia“. It was a lullaby Anastasia’s grandmother sang for her when she was a child. She gifted her granddaughter a musicbox that played the melody when she was about to leave. It was also a promise to meet each other again one day. The song helped Anastasia to regain her lost memories of her past as a member of the former Russian royal family.
In the movie it’s Anastasia singing the song while having visions of the past and remembering the words of her grandmother to her.

The original song and movie are in English. But the Russian version of the lyrics is even better suited for the plot of the movie IMO.
Click to expand...
Hi, Ocean, long time no talk...

As far as I know, Anastasia's grandmother was Dane.

How funny just to imagine her singing lullabies to Anastasia in Danish, or in Russian with a strong Danish accent.

Anastasia's mother was German, so the most common language in that family usually was French, sometimes - English.

When still a Russian Tsarin, and seated on the royal throne beside her husband - Tsar Alexander III - during official ceremonies, she often whispered to him in fairly colloquial Russian "Сашка, не пей" ("Alexander, don't drink"), referring to an open bottle of vodka that the Tsar used to hide behind his back...

Alexander III was a remarkable person in many aspects, I really admire him.
I don't put here the most famous of his sayings, as it would be an offtop, but anybody can easily find them on Google.
It was he who built the famous Transiberian Railroad.
I guess, one can see a glimpse of it in the following video at the bottom of this page.

The very best...
Regards.

"Find me in your next life"
 
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Cyrus said:
As to my PL picture, as my favourite English writer used to say, "I cannot contemplate beauty long".
Click to expand...
I am not sure whether I agree with Maugham or not. Perhaps it is because I have never tried to distinguish (as he seems to) between the most "perfect" beauty and less perfect but still wonderful works. I only know what I like, and if I like it I can gaze on it for quite a long time, whether it is considered a more perfect or less perfect work of art. Having said that, I can say that I generally enjoy paintings and art works from periods preceding the 20th Century more than recent works, but have no firm rules other than what appeals to me.
Cyrus said:
As to the film, I refused to see it several times, due to what I had been told about that personage by my Siberian friends living here in BCN.
No doubt that love story must be beautiful, but it's hardly true historically, so, what's the use seeing one more fiction?
Click to expand...
I am fine with seeing "one more fiction" myself if it is a good story, but I don't like to have fiction misrepresented as fact. However, since I have been viewing Hollywood productions since my earliest years, I am used to the idea that most cinema productions that purport to be "based" on fact are only very loosely related to what actually happened. Even documentaries tend to be more reflective of the creator's viewpoint than what actually happened or is happening. One of the first things I do after seeing a movie like this is go online to try and find out how close it is to reality. In this particular case, it is not as bad as some IMO. Its primary flaw is the fact that it tends to only portray the facts that flatter Kochak and ignores the rest, probably to make the characters and the story more appealing. One might say that its lies appear to be lies by omission rather than commission, but I really didn't look into it deeply enough to say for sure. Anyhow, for someone raised on Hollywood, this is nothing unusual, and the story held my interest, so . . . . :cool:

As someone said, "The (ex-)Soviets deify the society they themselves had annihilated".

I've seen some of that over here as well, both in terms of the South (during the "Gone with the Wind" period in Hollywood) and in terms of the Native Americans (in the modern period), but it would take a long time to discuss either topic.
Cyrus said:
And the Russian upper classes were more or less the same in 1914 as in 1812: a bunch of exquisite and good for nothing loafers.
Click to expand...
Agreed. Aristos are Aristos, generally speaking, though they can also produce some quality people if not too inbred. ;)

Cordially,
S&S
 
Ocean said:
Just to shed some light on the lyrics:

This song is from the children’s animated movie „Anastasia“. It was a lullaby Anastasia’s grandmother sang for her when she was a child. She gifted her granddaughter a musicbox that played the melody when she was about to leave. It was also a promise to meet each other again one day. The song helped Anastasia to regain her lost memories of her past as a member of the former Russian royal family.
In the movie it’s Anastasia singing the song while having visions of the past and remembering the words of her grandmother to her.




The original song and movie are in English. But the Russian version of the lyrics is even better suited for the plot of the movie IMO.
Click to expand...
Hi Ocean,

For me the movie comes down to the one sequence with Anna in the deserted ballroom that contains that song.

On the whole, the movie is typical animated fantasy, filled with the impossible, the improbable, and the absurd, but fun enough if one is in the mood. I even like the ending (since I am a sucker for romance). However, that song and the accompanying animation is what holds my attention and draws me in--for that scene at least--whenever the grandkids come over and put it on. It speaks to the memories and loves that are lost to me, but seem--at times--to be so tantalizingly close.

Cordially,
S&S
 
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Been finding myself listening to instrumental music a lot lately since I can't stand modern pop. Anyone else hate modern pop and prefer stuff without lyrics or am I the only one?
 
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