С чего начинается Родина? [S chego zachinaetsya Rodina?] [English translation]

This song is about what's the beginning of Motherland

*sample from "The Beginning of Motherland" by Mark Bernes*

...Maybe with the bribe in the hospital for being born,

With the shattered road surfaces and police stations

With the puppet cartoons and criminal chronicles,

With fear of being blown up or being held hostage,

With the purchase of phony diplomas and fake certificates,

Technical inspections and deputy mandates,

From the first bottle of vodka in the school library,

From the bands "Na-na" and "Carmen" 1 in the record library...

If you are well off, do not forget to say "Thank you!",

otherwise she comes with a checkup, she has any permission.

Motherland smells in the economy-class trains 2,

It's in the living wage and in the general's epaulettes...

In the supermarket "Ostrov", in the parliament,

She's in the songs of Sergei Zhukov 3 in country club

Homeland begins with cigarettes sold singly

With port wine 4 and sunflower seeds 5,

Homeland and I are inseparable...

She overtakes me with a queue at the hospital,

She puts me on the register in the police, 6

Take off your shoes, take off your outer clothing,

Clap your hands to Nadezhda Babkina's music 7

Motherland sends me summons from the military bureau,

Homeland meets me with crowds at slot machines ...

The white birch stands and rocks,

Here the motherland began and never ends.

She says: "Be proud of Pushkin 8 and Fyodor Dostoyevsky 9,

Sergei Yesenin 10 and Alexander Nevsky" 11,

but what happened so long ago doesn't really matter

Now's not motherland for you,now you are for her! 12

She promptly reports on the radio:

"Catch this guy he does not have a registration" 13

You're free, if you don't like it you can cut and run

And by this homeland ends for many...

When you retire, immediately order a coffin,

"No country for old men" it's a custom here

Reading the "The Little Golden Calf" 14 I never laughed out.

I always wanted Bender to leave

But in the book everything always ended badly,

People leave, with them the time is running out...

The white birch stands silently,

comedy on TV, but my soul is full of yearning...

1. "Na-na" and "Carmen" are the pop bands that were popular in the 90s2. So-called platzkart (from german Platz-Kart - Place Card) or the couchette car is the most common type of trains in post-soviet countries. 3. Sergey Zhukov is a Russian pop musician. He is the lead singer of Ruki Vverh!4. Port wine is really popular within the youth because of it's cheapness5. Sunflower seeds are popular as a snack6. "ставить на учёт в милиции" means that the adolescent committed a minor offense therefore the police records his data and information about him and tries to provide psychological help. But this "registration" may cause some problems in future.7. Nadezhda Babkina is а Soviet and Russian pop singer8. Alexander Pushkin was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era who is considered by many to be the greatest Russian poet and the founder of modern Russian literature9. Fyodor Dostoyevsky was a Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist and philosopher. 10. Sergei Yesenin was a Russian lyric poet. He is one of the most popular and well-known Russian poets of the 20th century. 11. St. Alexander Nevsky served as Prince of Novgorod, Grand Prince of Kiev and Grand Prince of Vladimir during some of the most difficult times in Kievan Rus' history 12. Meaning of "Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country" - allusion to John F. Kennedy's 1961 presidential inauguration13. Registration in the Russian Federation is the system that records the residence and internal migration of Russian citizens 14. "The Little Golden Calf" is a satirical novel by Soviet authors Ilf and Petrov, released in 1931. The plot has been focused on the adventures of Ostap Bender, the character of the novel "Twelve Chairs", taking place in Russia in the early 1930s.