An Eagle of the Steppe

You may be aware that I am trying to research a PhD at the moment; indeed, the main reason I have been distinctly absent recently is that I have been pushing a draft chapter like a big old rock up a big old hill; the words have just not been coming either for the thesis or for the blog. The chapter is trying to assess the impact that a well-known Soviet blockbuster - Ivan Pyrev's 1949 film Kubanskie Kazaki (The Kuban' Cossacks) - has had on the modern-day Cossacks' attempts to articulate a contemporary identity for themselves. I'll spare you a lot of the analysis, but I'd like to offer up this draft translation of the leitmotif song from the film.

You can download the song from here - the links are in red, and the lower link is higher quality. I know there are a number of Russian speakers among my readers, and every blogger by definition takes an interest in the written word; for the former, then, I'd be interested in your opinion of the accuracy of the translation. For everyone, I'd be glad to hear how you think the translation works as verse.

Каким ты был, таким остался, Орел степной, казак лихой... Зачем ты снова повстречался, Зачем нарушил мой покой?	The way you were is the way you have remained, An eagle of the steppe, a dashing Cossack... Why have you come to me once again, Why have you ruined my solitude?
Зачем опять в своих утратах Меня ты хочешь обвинить? В одном я только виновата, Что нету сил тебя забыть.	Why do you seek once again to blame me for your losses? I am only to blame for one thing: that I have not the strength to forget you.
Свою судьбу с твоей судьбою Пускай связать я не могла, Но я жила одним тобою, Я всю войну тебя ждала.	My fate with your fate I could not allow to join, But I lived only through you, I waited the whole war for you.
Ждала, когда наступят сроки, Когда вернешься ты домой, И горьки мне твои упреки, Горячий мой, упрямый мой.	I waited for the time to come when you would return home, And your reproaches were bitter to me, my hotheaded one, my stubborn one.
Но ты взглянуть не догадался, Умчался вдаль, казак лихой... Каким ты был, таким остался, А ты и дорог мне такой.	But you never thought to see it, You went far away, my dashing Cossack... The way you were is the way you have remained, But you are dear to me that way.

This translation ©2007 Ian Appleby. No unauthorised reproduction.

The song was written by Mikhail Isakovskii, who penned some other well-known Russian songs of the Commuist era, Katyusha being perhaps the best-known. It is still commonly sung at informal gatherings, an indication of the enduring popularity of the film. In a pleasing example of a spontaneous invented tradition, many younger singers change the second line to read козёл степной. Козёл literally means "young goat", but in Russian underworld slang - which has effectively become mainstream - it is one of the worst available epithets. The English word "catamite" is one possible translation, although of a considerably higher register... The song is, notwithstanding, held in considerable affection, particularly in the Kuban'.

More troubling for the Cossack national movement is the fact that this affection indicates that popular images of the Kuban Cossacks are inextricably linked with a Soviet depiction that is highly unflattering: the male lead is stubbornly attached to the old Cossack ways (but, in fact, cannot live up to them: he cannot carry his drink; he is timid in love; His protege is timid in fighting...) He eventually sees the error of his ways, rejecting his Cossack heritage and accepting wholeheartedly the glittering Soviet Socialist future.

The modern Cossacks have, to put it mildly, an ambiguous relationship with the Soviet era: the current iteration of Cossack identity emphasises aspects of loyalty to the Empire and fidelity to Russian Orthodoxy, yet many individuals held positions of some authority in the Soviet power structure. I have yet to understand if there is a way in which these contradictions can be reconciled and the film used to help mobilise Cossack identity.

Sing 'til Dawn Kicks Through the Door

Is that the first shallow hint of a groove I see before me? For that post, I really wanted to find a clip of King Curtis playing A Whiter Shade of Pale (I thought YDKMWayne would appreciate it...), and Youtube has two - including the opening to Withnail & I, but none of the actual vinyl. There is vinyl of King Curtis, but it's a different song, and, anyway, it's not embeddable.

So that launched the hunt for another clip, which ended up in Bumble Bee Slim. ( Over a year on, I'm still waiting to be asked about my wasp jokes). If you can't have white, pace the Bonzo Dog Doodah Band, have blues. The Bonzos famously asked "Can a Blue Man Sing the Whites?"
("or are they hypoCRITES?"), with John Mayall and his Bluesbreakers apparently in mind. If ever there was a choice name for a backing band, that's got to be up there. Eric Clapton went through a phase of supporting Enoch Powell, which is pretty bloody rich for someone whom the blues made famous...

But looking through Youtube, I came across this extraordinary clip. I know the song from Joseph Porter's collaboration with Gary and Glenn Miller - Mad Dogs and Englishmen - and I have to admit I much prefer the acoustic instrumentation and the more muscular vocal performance of that incarnation. If you ever thought poetry was an effeminate pursuit, Porter's vocals - and verse - will set you, ah, straight. The version in the clip is still pretty good, mind, and I have to post it if only because I love the way the images only just stay on the right side of Monty Python's Lord Privy Seal imagery; I love films that show the Eiffel Tower, for instance, and flash up "Paris." Sublimity attained if you get "Paris, France." Subtitles for the hard-of-thinking...

Tempting the Weather Gods

Going camping. Over a Bank Holiday weekend.

The now customary silence will be maintained until at least Tuesday.

BNP Candidate Standing Up for Decent, Hard-working White Folk

Cat lover Peter Shaw was appalled to learn that he would not be considered a suitable adopter for rescued cats, simply because of the place where he lives. Jenny Sampson, the head of the charity in question, denied she had singled out just one area, citing half a dozen estates in the Bradford area that she considered unsuitable. This list includes the Ravenscliffe estate, where my own mother was brought up.

In the recent local elections, Ms Sampson stood as a BNP candidate for the Eccleshill ward in Bradford. I'm sure the residents of Ravenscliffe will be thrilled to learn that a candidate who aimed to represent them thought they were all unfit to rehome cats.

Intermission 33 1/3: Got to Get that Groove Back

So, on average, how many grooves are there on one side of a vinyl album?



I'm still stuck at this level of triviality when it comes to blogging; at some stage I will doubtless get back on track.

Intermission II: The Silence Deepens

Not drowning, but waving; not quitting, just resting. In fact, I'm rediscovering the joys of spending more time with my family and thesis. It's been a quiet week news-wise - Larry got the big story - and my muse is obviously spending more time with her family. Back when I have something to say.