Свобода [Svoboda] [English translation]

How did Dunno* pay for all his questions

What was the last evil bullet hiding

And what was Sanka Matrosov** laughing at

Before he shyshel-myshel*** farted and left?

How blind Ivashka**** 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 knot

Ah, a happy grenade blows itself apart from the inside!..

So, how does this rhyme always end?*****

"My Freedom knows it"******

"My Freedom knows it"

"My Defeat knows it"

"My Victory knows it!"

*kid from a childrens book series who doesnt know anything and asks many questions

**Soviet WW2 soldier known for dying from blocking a German machine-gun with his body

***from a nursery rhyme, "shyshel-myshel, vzyal i vyshel" meaning shent-ment, came and went

****this whole stanza is referencing the super long song Vanyusha by Alexander Bashlachev. The song is a sad story about the love of a man and the sun.

*****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 obviously kills you

****** this stanza is all quotes, as in people are giving their answers to these questions. freedom, defeat, and victory of a person all know the answers to these questions: 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.