The collective mind-set1 always smears us like soot.
When I reach to shake hands, I'll be tripped by a foot.2
I look in the eyes and I met by a stare,
Where higher than heads someone's buttocks would glare.
The sunrise was red, would a sunset be sienna?3
Locked together with the same chain,
All are in for the same gain.
Held together with the same chain,
All are in for the same gain.
There all limbs are so frail, but our lands are enormous.
There all trains were derailed to give way to the columns.
Some words saved for kitchens and some for street corners.4
There eagles were ditched in favor of broilers.5
And even when I'm kissing I follow drill orders…
[From those who are....]
Locked together with the same chain,
All are in for the same gain.
Held together with the same chain,
All are in for the same gain.
We have faith that all faith is abolished.6
We would work, but all works were demolished.7
The poor are praying, are trying to plead
That their penniless lives would be lives guaranteed.
You could play your trumpet but strictly close-lipped.8
And the only tune you produce is "Retreat".
And among your guests whom you going to greet,
There will be the ones whom you don't want to meet:9
[They also are…]
Locked together with the same chain,
All are in for the same gain.
Held together with the same chain,
All are in for the same...
There all women are searching, but they’re finding their oldness.
There exhaustion is viewed as a measure of progress.
You will find no usurpers in the rooms walled with leather.
There the first and the last are undistinguished together.
And they all are so tired in the identical measure10
[To be…]
Locked together with the same chain,
All are in for the same gain.
Held together with the same chain,
All are in for the same gain.
Locked together with the same chain,
All are in for the same gain.
Held together with the same chain,
All are in for the same gain.
Locked together…
1. The alternative title is these two words; hence the translation of them is critical. Dictionaries suggest that it should be a “collective responsibility”, but imho this juridical term is not adequate there, since this song is about relations within the ideologically corrupted state. The message there is more negative and is closer to the meaning of “You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours”.2. "elbow" in the original;
approximate translation: "but someone throws an elbow"3. You will see "pink sunset" in the left column, but the initial lyrics contained "brown sunset", with a message that a brown (fascist) state would follow the red (communist) state.4. a ref. to the KGB activity. In a state controlled by the secret police, one could express freely only at home, but not on the streets.5. Heraldic symbols of the Russian Empire, the double-headed eagles, are being compared to frozen chickens imported from the USA. In shortage of local skinny and unhealthy looking chickens, imported "broilers" were actually welcomed. Later imported chicken leg quarters became colloquially known as The Legs of Bush.6. This line is a bit ambiguous in Russian, but it is a clear ref. to the atheistic principles of the Soviet Union.7. a ref. to the so-called Era of Stagnation, characterized by low work productivity and by lack of produced goods. It started during Brezhnev's reign and ended with Gorbachev's Perestroika.8. a ref. to the suppressed political freedoms of speech, expression, etc.9. another ref. to the KGB, a secret police of the Soviet Union.10. There could be different interpretations of this stanza, but the message is clear - the society is rotten from the top down.