Бурлак [Burlak] [English translation]

See how a barge haule walks on Volga-river alone

Strolling down the rope o’celestial plains

From heavens above the Lord’s fist is thrown

But he doesn’t mind - it is full of cocaine

And down the Volga, Golden Horde owns the place

Up the Volga – ladies gazing down from the shores

Oh, Kozel's living water, just give me a taste

And let me bleed out at the will of blue snows

How the winter tried to calm us with iron and ice

Pacified us, but itself swiftly turned into spring

When the snow starts to thaw, oh, what that would entice?

When the ice starts to break, what would happen to me?

So is it Volga in spring or the Biblical Flood?

Or quite simply the Lord tries to cover his trace

I don’t care at all - almost ready now

Ready to sing from the dark water depths

And the church bells would toll from this water abyss

Dazzling siskin would fly from beneath ancient wall

Please forgive all my sins with the flap of your wings

Please forgive me my sins, or are you listening at all?

Burn, you burn, Seraphim, the gold shine of your wings

Please, be my guiding star, do not hesitate

My harness is lost and I don’t care one bit

And there’s no better way than to follow your trail

So our lives are like that: either SECAM or PAL

To perish in the fields or be finally saved

Set out on a path to the root of it all

But got completely drunk and that was the end

The silence of the crows, the screaming of the girls

Who can be like sisters, or like wolves from Tambov

Some are saved by the lent. Some are saved by the poison.

I’m knocking at your door … unlock!

So treat us as angels or among the beasts

But don’t keep your silence, I can’t do it all

Wherever I roam, I am always amiss

So Dear God have mercy on my restless soul