Свобода [Svoboda] [English translation]

How did Dunno1 pay for all his questions

What was the last evil bullet hiding

And what was Sanka Matrosov2 laughing at

Before he shyshel-myshel3 farted and left?

How blind Ivashka4 ran after the sun

How an angel sat on his shoulder

How the last shirt ripped and melted

What and how did the flying Bashlachev find?

The partisan burnt the hell out of his own house

A belt tied itself into a know

Ah, a happy grenade tears itself from the inside!..

So, how does this rhyme always end?5

"My Freedom knows it"6

"My Freedom knows it"

"My Defeat knows it"

"My Victory knows it!"

1. a character from a childrens' book series who knows little and asks too man questions2. Soviet WW2 soldier known for dying from blocking a German machine-gun with his body3. from a nursery rhyme, "shyshel-myshel, vzyal i vyshel" meaning something like shent-ment, came and went4. this whole stanza is referencing the song Vanyusha by Alexander Bashlachev5. the answers to the questions at the end of each stanza are death and dying. Sanka/Alexander Matrosov was shot by a machine gun, Bashlachev committed suicide by jumping out of an eighth story window (the flying Bashlachev), a grenade exploding inside you kills you6. the chorus is all quotes, meaning someone is answering all the questions. freedom, defeat, and victory all know the answer to these questions, which is death. death is the ultimate freedom from all things. at the same time, it's both the ultimate victory and the biggest defeat you can suffer. at least, that's my interpretation