From the movie The Irony of Fate - lyrics by A. Aronov, music by M. Tariverdiev
If you don’t have a house,
Fire is not a threat,
And your cat won’t choke on a mouse
If you don’t have a cat.
If you don’t have a lover,
Your love will never end.
And your friend won’t invite himself over (at 2 in the morning)
If you don’t have a friend.
Oh, it can be so confusing,
So hard to decide what’s what.
You do the thinking, you do the choosing:
To have or to have not.
If you’re afraid of leaving,
You don’t have to say goodbye,
And if you never start living,
You’ll never have to die.
Oh, it can be so confusing,
So hard to decide what’s what.
You do the thinking, you do the choosing:
To have or to have not.
December 6th, 2009 at 4:50 am
Mika,
Your translations of the songs that we’ve all grew up with - were just superb!
Now I will finally be able to show the GOOD STUFF, the “reall McCoy” to my my american friends (if you don’t mind me doing so)
Thank you, Good Man!
December 6th, 2009 at 11:26 am
Thanks, I am very happy you like them
December 7th, 2009 at 3:19 pm
Thank you Alexander - You can show it to anyone you like, no problem
January 14th, 2010 at 11:36 am
как переводчику,
мне приходится выслушивать чуть больше поэтических всяких переводов страшных,
чем простым людям.
обычно выходит печально
а здесь, видимо, потому что человек не только язык знает, но и сами песни хорошо прочувствовал, всё получилось. Спасибо за тщательный, неподдельный труд.
August 22nd, 2010 at 8:58 am
THANK YOU!
YOU ARE THE BEST! I AM RUSSIAN, BORN IN 1966 IN LENINGRAD. LIVE IN AMERICA FROM 1997 WITH MY THREE CHILDREN. I GOT MARRIED 2 WEEKS AGO.
FINALLY FOUND A MAN I WAS LOOKING FOR ALL MY LIFE! HE IS A WONDERFUL MUSICIAN AND A SONG WRITER, EVEN THOUGH HE IS NOT DOING IT PROFESSIONALLY FOR THE MONEY. I STARTED TO TRANSLATE VYSOTSKY’S SONGS FOR HIM MYSELF AND LETER FOUND YOU. I AM VERY PROUD OF MYSELF - MY TRANSLATIONS WERE VERY CLOSE TO YOURS, BUT NOT AS GREAT…
THANK YOU AGAIN. GOD BLESS YOU!
August 30th, 2010 at 10:22 am
Congratulations on your marriage, Olga - He sounds like a great guy - And thanks for your kind words, they mean a lot to me
September 3rd, 2010 at 1:13 pm
Mika, thank you so much for your great job!
I’m very fond of Russian bards in general and Vysotsky in particular, I’ve tried doing translations on my own, but they were never even a mile close to yours! Your translation of the Plagiarist’s song is absolutely brilliant, not losing even a bit of Vysotsky’s original humor. This translation of “To have or to have not” is also amazing!
It is especially good that you have sung all the translated versions.
Now I indeed can direct my English-speaking friends to your site so that they can listen to almost the original songs. And at least by the spirit they indeed are original!
Thank you!