Take only that which you can carry
Take the letters, icons, golden replicas
And take the wooden crucifix
We gonna run with the dogs
Gonna sleep with the cows
Gonna scoop up the water with our bare hands
Gonna wait in the camps
Call out to the dragons on banners of war
Take only that which you can carry
To the city of refugee
Візьми лише найважливіше
Візьми лише найважливіше
Візьми, візьми
Take every bit of foreign news
Of this catastrophe
Blood on women's youth, exhausted guards
Covered with snow
We gonna run with the dogs
We gonna sleep with the cows
We gonna scoop up the water with our bare hands
And the quiet of our cemetery
Take only that which you can carry
To the city of refugee
Візьми лише найважливіше
Візьми лише найважливіше
Візьми, візьми
Well, now I hear the quiet lovers muttering:
So longer down, won't be enough, done, done, done, done
Don't check them for your own name, name, name
And I'm not on the list of the dead
And I'm not on the list of the dead
And I'm not on the list of the dead, the dead, the dead
Dead
Take the letters, icons, golden replicas
And take the wooden crucifix
We gonna run with the dogs
Gonna sleep with the cows
Gonna scoop up the water with our bare hands
Gonna wait in the camps
Call out to the dragons on banners of war
Take only that which you can carry
To the city of refugee
Візьми лише найважливіше
Візьми лише найважливіше
Візьми, візьми
Take every bit of foreign news
Of this catastrophe
Blood on women's youth, exhausted guards
Covered with snow
We gonna run with the dogs
We gonna sleep with the cows
We gonna scoop up the water with our bare hands
And the quiet of our cemetery
Take only that which you can carry
To the city of refugee
Візьми лише найважливіше
Візьми лише найважливіше
Візьми, візьми
Well, now I hear the quiet lovers muttering:
So longer down, won't be enough, done, done, done, done
Don't check them for your own name, name, name
And I'm not on the list of the dead
And I'm not on the list of the dead
And I'm not on the list of the dead, the dead, the dead
Dead
inviata da Dq82 - 27/8/2024 - 11:49
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Solidaritine
“Take Only What You Can Carry” encapsulates emotional message of uprooted people whose lives were destroyed by this fucked up war in Ukraine. The idea was to bring 3 very different Ukrainian artists together responding to the situation ASAP. Oleksandra Zaritska of Ukrainian synth pop group Kazka band brings cathartic justice to lyrics of Serhiy Zhadan, a punk rocker and Nobel Prize nominated writer and poet from hard-fighting city of Kharkiv. Translated into English by great Virlana Tkacz and me. We’ve never used someone else’s poetry before, but this is coming out of exceptional on all levels and I’m very proud of this collaboration.
This song is based on the 2015 poem by Serhiy Zhadan, a resident of Kharkiv.
Zhadan wrote: “Take only what is most important. Take the letters. Take only what you can carry.
Take the icons and the embroidery, take the silver,
Take the wooden crucifix and the golden replicas.”
Zhadan is himself alluding to a quote from Alexandr Solzhenitsyn, who wrote: “Own only what you can always carry with you: know languages, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag. Remember! Remember! Only these bitter seeds will one day sprout and bear fruit!”