Когда я Был Большим [Kogda ya Bel Bol'shem] [English translation]

When I was bigger I was not afraid of cars,

My dad was a snow leopard, and he conquered the Alps,

And from nine-to-five,

I worked as a hero.

From afar I could only see my goals,

I drank two bottles of young wine,

And trained Bruce Lee corps de ballet and walking formations 1

I could only see a single goal in my life, my wife Natalya. 2

I went to the ends of the Earth, while Salvador Dali 3

He never bargained when he bought pictures from me.

And I flew at night, like an owl,

Composed cha-cha-chas for a sick Ilyich, 4

From the cold, hemorrhoids 5

And scarlet fever 6

When I was bigger, I swallowed an Arshin,

Chumak paid a visit, but he couldn't cure me7

And for a hundred years I never went through the gate.

I created dawn, and the group “Sekret” 8

I painted the BGs on the wall, and whatnot, 9

I painted a portrait of myself,

Archimedes,

and Nino Rota 10

And I walked under the window, charming ladies,

I lived with Moshe Dayan and Saddam 11

We took Agam in both the summer and the winter. 12

Only on one occasion did talks not work,

Then one of them lost an eye 13

But he wasn’t slow and didn’t even think about it.

When I was bigger I did not smoke anasha 14

However I did buy hashish from Chiang Kai-shek 15

And he lived without torment or worry, and he still died.

I was carried in the arms of everyone and their dog,

In a world that has declared a no-working day,

And Vladislav Tretiak, in a move of despair, changed his number. 16

Then each bell from the country called me,

My name was written upon the great wall,

My wife was given Magadan and the Voodoo Island 17

But it has been two-thousand years since then,

And I, again, have come into this world,

But-but-but-but-but I’m afraid, I’m already so much bigger than before.

But I-I-I-I-I am afraid, that I’m not big enough.

Bam-pa-ram-pa!

1. Interesting line...there are more like this so it makes sense. He is saying here that he taught Bruce Lee how to dance, and how to walk information. He disciplined him.2. From ~2003 to 2010 Makarevich was married to a woman named Natalya Golub, this is from the 1989 to 2000 Album. So makes sense3. Funny I’m listening to IOWA’s Улыбайся while translating this and she says Salvador Dali in this song as well -_- 4. According to Pinchus, Illyich (Illyuch) is referring to a Lenin here (most likely), so take your pike : Vladimir Lenin, the famed Marxist who didn't want Stalin in power but somehow forgot he put Stalin in power and then died of a stroke OR Leonid Brezhnev, who died of a heart attack and was one of the SSSR's innumerable leaders before Gorbechev5. I’m sorry?6. Didn’t know hemorrhoids came as a package deal with scarlet fever7. A faith healer that came around because of good ‘ol Gorbachev, the original Televangelist8. Okay trivia time! Remember my translation of “Сосевка” and who performed? Maxim Leonidov and Andrey Makarevich. Well, Maxim Leonidov is a performer on the Soviet Rock band “Sekret” (Секрет), so again, keep this in mind when thinking about the meaning of the song9. The Bee Gees (or just BGs) is a pop band. I thought this was obvious but apparently not. Then-again I did a foot note for Sekret so I should've done it here.10. A famous Italian Composer11. Moshe Dayan was the defense minister of Israel, while Saddam, well, was the dictator of Iraq12. Agam is a ghost town in Azerbaijan. Also a port wine from the said city that is now a ghost town. Take this line how you like.13. Moshe Dayan lost an eye to a French sniper bullet through his binoculars. Yikes14. Anasha could be a reference to weed15. The former president of China.16. Vladislav Tretiak is the president of Russian Ice Hockey. 17. Magadan is a province/city/town in Russia