The Ice of Lake Eldanka1
Has been left behind
Now there's the Fossi2 and the ambulance station3
Boom barriers and papers, yeah. 4
They've got a stove in the dugout
They're playing sausage and rams5
We've got Fritzes and Maxes6
And a Petropamax lamp, yeah.7
We've been walking around, we've been conquering land.
We've been hoeing and picking lice.
War is grim
Juno doesn't make your head spin8
Boom, boom, boom, the artillery battery's booming
And the grenade-whore's barking, yeah. 9
Squelching lard
And the wonderful butt of a deer
Fried in the mess kit
Dropped into the tummy, yeah.
The horses have no hay
They're eating the stable walls
They've got sand in their guts
They don't make any dung, yeah.
We've been picking, we've been tapping
We've triggered landmines and vodka portions.
I miss my missus, while I'm eating
A vitamin pill
But my holiday is canceled
'Cause we're firing at the Russkies, yeah.
The Kis-Kis Hills 10
There's the eggs and sausages11
But we lost the Egg
So now we've only got the Sausage, yeah.
In Röhö12 there's Tiltu's road13
The muddy, dirty road leads to Uhtua
Here's Bieloje-, Tshirni-
And Tschorneje-ozeros, yeah14
In the shadow of the pines there's a Lotta canteen 15
There's lotta Lunkreeni 16
Blimey, boys
Bring my gas mask
They've been building pit latrines
They've built pit latrines, yeah.
1. "Eldanka" is a Finnish transliteration of the Russian name of a lake in East Karelia. The Karelian name is Joutankijärvi.2. Major Järvi was nicknamed "Fossi" because of his first name Alfons, Detachment Fossi was named after him.3. "Sassi" is derived from the abbreviation S.Auto.As. meaning "sairasautoasema" (ambulance station)4. The boom barriers refer to a checkpoint, where the military police would check the papers of soldiers going on holidays5. Sausage and rams are card games6. Fritzes and Maxes are German allies7. The Petropamax was a German petroleum lamp8. Juno was a German cigaret brand9. Kranaatinheitin (grenade launcher) was abbreviated as KRH, which inspired the slang word "korohoro"]10. This is a misspelling of Kiiskiskukkulat11. The Egg and The Sausage were the soldiers' nicknames for the two hills at Kiiskiskukkulat12. Röhö refers to Röhöjärvi.13. Soviet radio propagandist Aino Kallio was nicknamed Moscow Tiltu by the Finnish public. There was also Petroskoi Tiltu (Saimi Järvinen) and Leningrad Tiltu (Inkeri Lehtinen).14. Bielojeozero, Tshirniozero and
and Tschornejeozero are lakes near Uhtua]15. The Lotta Svärd was a women's voluntary auxiliary corps]16. Elsa Vanhala was a member of the Lotta Svärd, who served at the canteen at Uhtua. The songwriter changed her family name because it did not fit the melody.]