Anyone for a good cry before bedtime?
I hate to say it, but nothing like war for producing really tear-jerking folk ballads. This one -- author & music anonymous, of course -- comes from the Russian Civil War. Its title is "Brother officers, Don't Be Sad." They are White Army officers, of course, and they are doomed, and they know it. (Sung by a woman, oddly enough; but she is absolutely the best 'bard' in Russia today.)
Here's the music (text below). Pay no attention to the incomprehensible script; just hit whichever RealPlayer button suits you (14, 28, 28m, or 56).
music.ru:8080/cgi-bin/play.cgi?tab=45&language=r&re1=7163&auth=NO
Brother officers, don't be sad.
What we've lost will never return,
Our fatherland is gone, our faith is gone.
And our needless way is marked with blood...
The enemy presses us back and back,
But a little land is still left to us,
A few villages, a few huts,
Whatever the fire has not destroyed...
Wae have retreated far across the steppes,.
And I thank you, friends, that I am not alone.
If I die in this next battle,
I shall die, a Russian nobleman...
Let the dry steppe winds blow over us.
Noone will ever learn where we lie.
But so that Russia may be always with us,
Take a handful of Russian earth.
Brother officers, don't be sad.
What we've lost will never return,
Our fatherland is gone, our faith is gone.
And our needless way is marked with blood...
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