No. 016 Primorye Election Campaign Songs: May 10, 2001

                                                            

 

                                                                                                       No. 16

                                                    

                  

                                                     U.S. Consulate General, Vladivostok

                                                                           May 10, 2001

 

 

Primorye Election Campaign Songs: May 10, 2001

 

 

 

1.  Kirilichev:  Ahead in the Race for Catchy Slogans, But That’s About All

Sasha Kirilichev: A Song in His Heart

PRISCO Chairman Aleksandr Kirilichev may be trailing in the polls, but that has not stopped him from churning out endless campaign slogans at the rate of about one a day.  While Sergey Darkin is content with the rather obvious slogan “Zdes Nam Zhit” (Here We Live), Apanasenko with “Order and Heat for Primorye,” and Dubinin with “Znayet, Umeyet, Rabotayet” (He Knows, He Knows How, He Works), Kirilichev is not content with just one catchphrase.  This week, he came up with two new ones:  “Khozyaystvovat a ne khozyanichat” (loosely – “work for the people and not oneself), and “Zhit a ne prozyabat” (loosely – why just survive when you can live well?).  Perhaps in recognition of Victory Day, May 9, Kirilichev has even come out with a campaign song, to the tune of the theme of the very popular war movie “Belorusskiy Vokzal.” The song goes like this:

Здесь окна не горят и трубы холодны

А нам все время говорят:

" Вы - дальний край страны"...

 

Но, мы  устали ждать ответа,

Сними  невзгод с нас тяжкий груз

Нам так нужна одна твоя победа!

Кириличев, Приморью- новый курс,

Кириличев, Приморью- новый курс.

 

Нас ждут борьба и споры,

Мы верим в силу чувств.

Сомненья прочь, мы повторяем снова:

Кириличев, Приморью- новый курс,

Кириличев, Приморью- новый курс.

 

Very loosely translated:

 

No light shines through the windows,

And all the pipes are cold.

You’re at the end of this fine earth

Is all we’re ever told.

 

We’re tired of no good answer,

And this burden on our backs,

We need your victory so much-

For that we’ll give our thanks

 

Kirilichev, Primorye, a new course!

Kirilichev, Primorye, a new course!

 

Strife and struggle await us,

But we know what we believe,

There is no doubt among us

Of the one we want to lead:

 

Kirilichev - Primorye!

Kirilichev - Primorye!

2.      Darkin Releases Stealth Campaign Song

He’s in the Top Ten – Songwriters, that is

In keeping with the ancient Primoryan custom of campaigning while appearing not to campaign, a new pop tune has hit the top of the charts in Primorye. The song is called “Nam Zdes Zhit” (We Are Meant to Live Here.  It’s a pretty catchy tune, and not everyone knows that the song was commissioned by “Roliz” Director Sergey Darkin as a way of injecting his main campaign slogan into the popular consciousness.  The song, which is a sort of feel-good paean to Primorye, goes like this:

 

Вдаль уходят города,

Чайки мчатся над волнами,

И горит вечерняя звезда

Над моими парусами!

 

А земля, земля она всегда

Остается с нами.

Спят на сопках облака,

Листья склоны укрывают

Слышно как бежит, бежит река,

Птицы улетают.

И в моей руке твоя рука,

Осень золотая

 

Нам здесь жить, сеять хлеб, детей растить,

Строить общий дом,

Дом,  в котором мы живем

Край родной , мы останемся с тобой,

Потому что нам здесь жить!

 

Утром солнечного дня

Нас с тобой зовет  дорога.

Для тебя, для нас и для меня

Это значит очень много.

Впереди свободная земля,

Это очень много.

 

Нам здесь жить, сеять хлеб, детей растить,

Строить общий дом,

Дом, в котором мы живем.

Край родной, мы останемся с тобой

Потому что нам здесь жить!

 

 

 

The towns recede, they’re far away;

As sea-gulls race over waves;

The Evening Star is shining bright

Above my sails it blazes!

 

But the Land is always here;

It stays with us forever.

The clouds sleep on its highland peaks;

The green will leave them never;

You can hear a river running;

And birds are flying by.

And your hand is in my hand,

This golden autumn will never die.

 

We are meant to live here,

To plow our crops and raise our kids.

To build our home and never-

Ever leave but stay forever.

Our home, our Kray,

Because we are meant to live here!

 

It’s a morning full of sun,

The road ahead awaits us -

For you, for me, for all, for one

This means so much to us.

A free land lies ahead

This means so much to us!

 

We are meant to live here,

To plow our crops and raise our kids.

To build our home and never-

Ever leave but stay forever.

Our home, our Kray,

Because we are meant to live here!

 

Kind of makes you all misty-eyed, doesn’t it?