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Language: Russian


Vladimir Semënovič Vysotskij / Владимир Семёнович Высоцкий

List of versions


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vystag
Bałłada o liubvi
[1975]
Testo e musica / Lyrics and music / Paroles et musique / Sanat ja sävel: Vladimir Semënovič Vysotskij

La locandina del film Strely Robin Guda. Nella locandina si specifica che "il film comprende le ballate di Vladimir Vysotskij".
La locandina del film Strely Robin Guda. Nella locandina si specifica che "il film comprende le ballate di Vladimir Vysotskij".

Scritta per il film Стрелы Робин Гуда ("Le frecce di Robin Hood") (1975) del regista Sergej Tarasov. Il film fu interpretato dall'attore protagonista Boris Chmel'nickij. Le vicende del film e della sua colonna sonora sono in realtà particolari e complesse. Sergej Tarasov era divenuto celebre per i suoi adattamenti cinematografici dei romanzi cavallereschi di Robert Louis Stevenson e di sir Walter Scott; già da tempo nutriva l’idea di adattare per il grande schermo le leggende basate sulle ballate di Robin Hood, ma lo spunto decisivo fu dato proprio da una conversazione, avvenuta all’hotel “Riga” di Mosca, con l’attore Chmel’nickij e con lo stesso Vladimir Vysotskij. Al momento dell’inizio delle riprese del film, però, Vysotskij dovette rinunciare per poter effettuare un viaggio in Francia. Tarasov gli chiese allora di scrivere delle ballate per il film su temi universali: l’amore, l’odio, il tempo. Al momento di sottoporre il film già terminato alla direzione del Goskino (la Commissione statale incaricata di coordinare e organizzare l’attività cinematografica nell’URSS), quest’ultimo ordinò che le sei ballate composte da Vysotskij fossero eliminate dalla colonna sonora. Un’altra musica per il film fu rapidamente composta da Raimond Pauls. Alla morte di Vysotskij, Sergej Tarasov fu autorizzato a utilizzare le sei ballate per un altro suo film, La ballata del valente cavaliere Ivanhoe (1982). Le sei ballate di Vysotskij sono state reintegrate nel film originale su Robin Hood solo nel 1990. [RV 2-7-2025]
Когда вода всемирного потопа [1]
Вернулась вновь в границы берегов,
Из пены уходящего потока
На сушу тихо выбралась Любовь,
И растворилась в воздухе до срока,
А срока было сорок сороков...

И чудаки еще такие есть:
Вдыхают полной грудью эту смесь,
И ни наград не ждут, ни наказанья,
И, думая, что дышат просто так,
Они внезапно попадают в такт
Такого же неровного дыханья.

Только чувствую, словно кораблю
Долго оставаться на плаву,
Прежде чем узнать, что я люблю,
То же, что дышу или живу.

И вдоволь будет странствий и скитаний:
Страна любви - великая страна!
И с рыцарей своих для испытаний
Все строже станет спрашивать она:
Потребует разлук и расстояний,
Лишит покоя, отдыха и сна...

Но вспять безумцев не поворотить.
Они уже согласны заплатить
Любой ценой. И жизнью бы рискнули,
Чтобы не дать порвать, чтоб сохранить
Волшебную невидимую нить,
Которую меж ними протянули.

Свежий ветер избранных пьянил,
С ног сбивал, из мертвых воскрешал,
Потому что, если не любил,
Значит, и не жил, и не дышал!

Но многих захлебнувшихся любовью
Не докричишься, сколько не зови.
Им счет ведут молва и пустословье,
Но этот счет замешaн на крови.
А мы поставим свечи в изголовье
Погибших от невиданной любви...

Их голосам всегда сливаться в такт,
И душам их дано бродить в цветах,
И вечностью дышать в одно дыханье,
И встретиться со вздохом на устах
На хрупких переправах и мостах,
Hа узких перекрестках мирозданья.

Я поля влюбленным постелю –
Пусть поют во сне и наяву!..
Я дышу, и значит я люблю!
Я люблю, и значит, я живу!
[1] Bałłada o liubvi

Kogda voda vsiemirnovo potopa
Viernułaś vnov’ v granicy bieriegov,
Iz pieny uchodiašćevo potoka
Na sušu ticho vybrałaś Liubov’,
I rastvoriłaś v vozduchie do sroka,
A sroka było sorok sorokov...

I čudaki ješće takije jesť:
Vdychajut połnoj gruďiu ätu smieś,
I ni nagrad nie ždut, ni nakazańia,
I, dumaja, što dyšat prosto tak,
Oni vniezapno popadajut v takt
Takovo že nierovnovo dychańia.

Tolko čuvstvuju, słovno korabliu
Dołgo ostavaťsja na płavu,
Prieždie čem uznať, što ja liubliu,
To že, što dyšu ili živu.

I vdovol budiet stranstvij i skitanij:
Strana liubvi — vielikaja strana!
I s rycariej svoich dlia ispytanij
Vsie strože staniet sprašivať ona:
Po trebujet razłuk i rasstojanij.
Lišit pokoja, otdycha i sna...

Po vspiať biezumcev nie povorotiť.
Oni uže sogłasny zapłatiť
Liuboj cenoj. I žizńiu by risknuli,
Štoby nie dať porvať, štob sochraniť
Vołšebnuju nevidimuju niť,
Kotoruju miež nimi protianuli.

Sviežij vietier izbrannych p'janił,
S nog sbivał, iz miortvych voskrešał,
Potomu što, jesli nie liubił,
Značit, i nie žił, i nie dyšał!

No mnogich zachliebnuvšichsia liubov’iu
Nie dokričiśsia, skolko nie zovi.
Im sčot viedut mołva i pustosłov’ie,
No ätot sčot zamiešan na krovi.
A my postavim svieči v izgolov’ie
Pogibšich ot nievidannoj liubvi...

Ich gołosam vsiegda slivaťsia v takt
I dušam ich dano brodiť v cvietach,
I viečnosťiu dyšať v odno dyxańie,
I vstrietiťsia so vzdochom na ustach
Na chrupkich pieriepravach i mostach,
Na uzkich pieriekrestkach mirozdańia.

Ja polia vliublionnym posteliu -
Pusť pojut vo snie i najavu!...
Ja dyšu, i značit ja liubliu!
Ja liubliu, i značit, ja živu!

Contributed by Viacheslav Chetin - 2008/11/16 - 15:08




Language: Italian

Traduzione italiana / Italian translation / Traduction italienne / Italiankielinen käännös:
Riccardo Venturi, 1-7-2025 22:45


Video presumably contributed by Anonymus Polonicus
Ballata dell’amore

Quando le acque del Diluvio Universale
Rientrarono entro le rive litorali,
Dalla spuma del mare che si ritirava
L’amore si diffuse in silenzio in terraferma,
E, per un po’, si dissolse nell’aria
Per mille secoli almeno… [1]

E ancor ci sono di quei tipi un po’ strani
Che a pieni polmoni inspirano questa mistura,
E non s’aspettano né premi, né punizioni.
E che, pensando d’esser liberi di respirare,
All’improvviso assumono lo stesso
Respiro irregolare di qualcun altro.

Sento soltanto che la nave
Dovrà ben a lungo navigare
Prima di scoprire ciò che amo,
Come respirare, o vivere.

E ci sarà da soffrire e vagare:
Il Paese dell’Amore è un grande paese!
E ai suoi cavalieri, per metterli alla prova
Comincerà a far richieste sempre più severe.
Esigerà separazioni e distanze,
Li priverà della pace, del riposo e del sonno…

Ma questi folli non indietreggeranno:
Sono già disposti a pagare
A qualsiasi prezzo. Rischierebbero la vita
Per preservare il magico filo invisibile
Che tra di loro era stato teso,
E non venga strappato.

Il vento fresco inebriò i prescelti,
Li fece cadere, li resuscitò dai morti,
Perché se non si ama
Vuol dire che non si vive, né si respira!

Ma tanti rimasti soffocati dall’amore
Non sentiranno mai, non li chiamar neppure.
Se ne fa la conta a voci e a chiacchiere
Ma questa conta è mescolata a sangue.
E piazzeremo candele in testa al letto
Di chi è morto per un amore mai visto prima…

Le loro voci si confondono nel tempo,
Le loro anime vagano sempre in mezzo ai fiori,
Respiran l’eternità in un solo respiro
E s’incontran con un sospiro sulle labbra
Ai fragili crocevia, sui ponti,
Agli stretti crocicchi dell’Universo.

Disporrò dei campi per gli amanti,
Che cantino nei sogni e nella realtà!
Respiro, quindi vuole dire che amo!
Amo, quindi vuole dire che vivo!
[1] L’espressione idiomatica russa significa, alla lettera, “un periodo di quaranta quarantine” (o “quaranta quarantenni”), per indicare un periodo di tempo innumerabile. Ho “preso a prestito” “per mille secoli almeno” dalla canzone dei Nomadi e di Guccini, Noi non ci saremo. Sull’origine dello strano numerale сорок “40”, proprio esclusivamente della lingua russa e non presente nelle altre lingue slave, sono state fatte le ipotesi più disparate. Sembra volesse dire in origine: “quaranta secchi di sabbia”. C’è chi lo ha considerato un prestito dal greco bizantino σαράκοντα “40”, e chi lo ha messo in relazione con il norreno serkr “camicia; 200 pellicce”.

2025/7/1 - 22:46




Language: English

English Version / Versione inglese / Version anglaise / Englanninkielinen versio: Viacheslav Chetin.

Viacheslav Chetin's YouTube channel

It's not an ordinary song.
This song is a ballad, and Vysotski tries to sound bard-like, philosophic, in it.

Only one example: Cogito ergo sum (Descartes) =>I think therefore I am (in English) ~> I love therefore I live (Vysotskij).
Ballad of Love

As soon as it was time for the Deluge current
To back away, at last, to former grounds,
From hissing foam of a receding torrent,
Upon dry land, Love quietly crawled out,
And, in the air, dissolved till time was proper,
The proper time being forty, forty rounds...

Besides, around, there always are odd fellows,
Inhaling rashly all this stuff full breath,
Expecting no reward, disdaining failures.
And thinking they are breathing for no reason,
All of a sudden, they fall in the rhythm of
A similar faltering breathing...

Only there's a feeling that my ship
Has to remain long afloat,
Prior to cognizing that 'I love'
Is equal to 'I breathe' or else 'I live'.

There'll be a lot of pilgrimage and travels:
The Realm of Love is an extensive realm.
From chivalry of hers for the ordeals
Ever more will she expect,
Demanding distances and separation,
Depriving of repose, of sleep and rest...

But there's no way to lead the guys astray
Because, by now, they will agree to pay
Whatever price. They'd even risk their lives
In order to keep whole and to retain
A fairy unnoticeable thread,
Extending to the hearts of the beloved.

Fresh breeze makes the chosen feel drunk,
Knocks off feet and raises from the dead,
Insomuch as if you haven't loved,
Then you haven't lived, nor have you breathed.

But plenty who are breathless out of love
Will never hear, call them as you will.
Their count is kept by hearsay and twaddle.
On blood, however, this count is often mixed.
Be candles put to decorate the head bed
Of victims of unprecedented feeling...

Blend their voices, always keeping time.
Roam their souls perennially in flowers.
Breathe they eternity together in one breath.
Come they across each other with a sigh,
On fragile bridges and on brittle gangways,
At narrow crossroads of space and time.

For lovers, the fields will I lay -
Sing they in a sleep and in a wake.
I breathe therefore I love,
I love therefore I live.

Contributed by Viacheslav Chetin - 2008/11/17 - 02:51




Language: English

English translation / Traduzione inglese / Traduction anglaise / Englanninkielinen käännös
Ballad About Love

When, after all, the great deluge was over,
The seas came back within their coastal lines,
Out of the foam of the receding water
The love came out softly to the land.
And, for some time, it faded in the air,
And lasted for an eon and some then.

And some eccentrics that still do exist
Inhale with their full lungs that crazy mix,
Expecting neither scolding nor reward,
And thinking they are free to breath it in
They realize one day that they fit in
Somebody else's intermittent breathing.

But remember: a feeling’s like a boat
It’s afloat until you realize:
That the words «I love» mean simply that
«I can breathe» and «I am still alive».

There will be plenty of despair and roaming.
The land of love is the most noble land.
The knights of love will have to go through testing
With ever higher standards and demands.
They will be separated by a distance,
Devoid of leisure, sleep without rest.

But nothing in the world can turn them back.
Those madmen do agree to pay it back,
Pay any price, their lives won't be excepted
In order to preserve and to protect
Some indiscernible and magic thread
Which love between them now has extended.

Wind and snow swept them off their feet,
Made them drunk and raised them from the dead.
'Cause remember you have neither lived,
Nor have breathed, if you have never loved.

And most of them have choked with love forever.
They can't be reached no matter what you do.
They are accounted by idle talk and rumor,
And that account is laced with pure blood.
But we will light up candles in the memory
Of those who died from the unprecedented love.

Their souls, among the flowers, will run
And their voices will blend and sound as one.
They will inhale eternity together.
And somewhere, on a fragile river cross,
A narrow bridge across the universe
Holding their breath, they will meet each other.

I will open fields to those who love!
Let them sing awake and in their rest.
I do breathe and that means I'm in love.
I'm in love and that means I exist.

Contributed by Riccardo Venturi - 2008/11/16 - 18:40




Language: English

English version / Versione inglese / Version anglaise / Englanninkielinen versio:
--> YouTube video (removed; presumably by Vyacheslav Chetin)
Ballad of Love

When the Deluge was over, and its current
Had to back down to former shore extents,
From hissing foam of a receding torrent,
Love quietly crawled out upon dry land
And strewed in air before the term was over,
In fact, the term was forty bags of sand...

And now, odd folk (there is this like around)
Are breathing rashly in this stuff full out,
Expecting no reward, disdaining failures,
And, unsuspecting, thinking they but breathe,
Are falling all at once into the rhythm
Of tremulous inhaling and exhaling...

Only there's a feeling that a ship
Has to stick around too long adrift,
Prior to cognizing that 'I live'
Equals to 'I love' or else 'I breathe'.

There'll be a lot of pilgrimage and veering:
The Realm of Love is a prodigious land;
Moreover, ever more severe ordeals
For chivalry of hers, she will demand:
She’ll rob of any rest, repose and sleep,
She’ll call for years of living far apart.

And still these madcaps can't be led astray,
In fact, they even are about to pay
Whatever price; they'd peril their lifeblood
In order to keep whole and to retain
A tenuous extraordinary braid,
Extending to the hearts of the beloved.

Bracing head breeze makes the chosen drugged,
Knocks off feet and raises the deceased,
Insomuch as if you haven't loved,
Then you haven't lived, nor have you breathed.

Alas, a lot of those, who gushed love out,
Will never hear you, call them as you will:
Folk’s hearsay and twaddle keep their count,
On blood, that count is much too often built.
Shall candles burn to decorate the shrouds
Of victims of inimitable bliss...

Shall their voices couple, keeping time.
In dales of flowers, shall their souls abide.
Shall they inhale eternity together.
Come they across each other with a sigh
At transient junction points of space and time,
On fragile bridges and on brittle gangways.

I shall lay for lovers dales of flowers:
Sing they when awake and in a sleep.
I draw breath, therefore I'm in love,
I’m in love, therefore I live.

Contributed by Vyacheslav Chetin - 2013/1/9 - 23:24




Language: Finnish

Traduzione finlandese / Finnish translation / Traduction finnoise / Suomennos: Miku ja Turkka Mali

Balladi Rakkaudesta

Kuin suuri vedenpaisumus
se tiesi rannoillemme palata.
Maihin selviytyi rakkaus
virran pakenevan kahleista.
Sai aikaa ikuisuuden,
ilmaan liukeni kadoten.

Nyt houkat kyltymättömät
sitä seosta hengittävät,
ei minkään palkinnon toivossa,
ei rangaistuksen pelossa.
Silti joutuvat hengittämään
rytmiin joskus niin kiihkeään.

Heille pellot vuoteiksi teen,
laulan laulun rakastuneen.
Hengitän, rakastan edelleen,
rakastan, rakastan, siis elän.

Tosin paljon joudut vaeltamaan,
sillä laaja on rakkauden maa.
Se koettelee ritareitaan,
kysymyksin sun uuvuttaa.
Vaatii erojakin rakkauden maa,
unen vie etkä lepoa saa.

Ei mielipuolia järkiinsä saa,
he vaikka uhmaavat kuolemaa,
ettei katkeais' väliltään
säie rakkauden vieläkään.
Hinnan kuinka suuren he vaan
siitä valmiit on maksamaan.

Tuuli rakkauden humalluttaa,
jalat alta vie, kuolleet eloon saa.
Jos ei rakastanut ole nyt,
ei ole elänyt, hengittänyt.

Rakkauteen tukehtuneet
kutsun kuoleman kuulleet he on.
Heidät tilille vieläkin saa
kohu, hälinä taukoomaton.
Himoon, rakkauteen kuolleille
me kynttilät sytytämme.

Saavat vaeltaa kukkasissa
heidän sielunsa, unelmansa
ja hengittää ikuisuutta,
kuulla huokaus huulilta,
nähdä silloilla niin haurailla,
maailmankaikkeuden turuilla.

Heille pellot vuoteiksi teen,
laulan laulun rakastuneen.
Hengitän, rakastan edelleen,
rakastan, rakastan, siis elän.

Contributed by Juha Rämö - 2015/7/12 - 11:53




Language: Finnish

Traduzione finlandese 2 / Finnish translation 2 / Traduction finnoise 2 / Suomennos 2: Antti Torvinen
Rakkauden balladi

Kun yleisen vedenpaisumuksen jälkeen
vesi palasi uudestaan rannoille ja meriin,
pakenevan veden kuohuvasta vaahdosta
kuivalle maalle ilmestyi hiljalleen Rakkaus
ja sulautui yhteen ilman kanssa ennen aikojen alkua,
ja rakkauden aika jatkuu loputtomiin.

Ja jotkut hassut ihmiset - sellaisiakin vielä on -
siemaisevat keuhkot täyteen tätä sekoitusta,
ja odottamatta palkintoja tai rangaistuksia,
ajatellen, että näin yksinkertaisesti hengittäen,
he yht'äkkiä osuvatkin samaan tahtiin
tällaisesta epätasaisesta hengityksestä.

Minä levitän pellot rakastuneille,
laulakoot unessa ja valveilla!
Minä hengitän, siis minä rakastan!
Minä rakastan, siis minä elän!

Ja paljon tulee olemaan vaeltamista ja kuljeskelua.
Rakkauden maa - se on valtava maa!
Ja ritareilleen - kuin koetellakseen heitä -
yhä ankarammin se on esittävä kysymyksiä,
vaativa heiltä erossaoloa ja välimatkoja,
vievä heiltä rauhan, levon ja unen...

Mutta takaisin nämä mielettömät eivät käänny,
he ovat valmiit maksamaan
minkä tahansa hinnan - riskeeraamaan vaikka elämänsä,
etteivät antaisi katketa, että säilyttäisivät
tämän taianomaisen näkymättömän langan,
joka heidän välilleen on kytkeytynyt.

Minä levitän pellot rakastuneille,
laulakoot unessa ja valveilla!
Minä hengitän, siis minä rakastan!
Minä rakastan, siis minä elän!

Mutta monille rakkaudesta pakahtuville
et saa neuvoja perille - vaikka kuinka yrittäisit...
Ja tuloksena on oleva paljon melua ja jaarittelua,
ja seuraukset voivat olla vaikka vereensekoittuneita .
Mutta me asetamme kynttilät heidän ylleen,
jotka ovat menehtyneet ennennäkemättömään rakkauteen...

Ja heidän sielunsa on määrätty harhailemaan kukkasissa,
ja heidän äänensä yhtyvät yhteiseen rytmiin,
ikuisesti he tulevat hengittämään samaan tahtiin,
ja he tapaavat - huokaisut huulillaan -
haurailla poluilla ja silloilla,
maailmankaikkeuden kapeissa risteyksissä.

Raikas tuore tuuli juovutti valitut,
löi jalat alta ja herätti kuolleista,
koska jos ei ole rakastanut -
ei ole myöskään elänyt - eikä hengittänyt!

Contributed by Juha Rämö - 2016/11/26 - 10:06


Typo: In the Russian variant of the song, the word 'замешЕн' should be changed for 'замешАн'.

If there's a possibility, will you make the necessary correction. It's near the end of the song.
(Viacheslav Chetin)

Thank you Viacheslav for this correction, you caught very well the spirit of our website! [CCG/AWS Staff]

2008/11/17 - 00:40


Here's a slight correction for the first refrain, which drastically changes the meaning:

Only there's a feeling that [A] ship
Has to remain long afloat,
Prior to cognizing that 'I love'
[ALSO MEANS] 'I breathe' or else 'I live'.

The first line has long been a pain in the neck because of the First Person, Singular used later on (quotation marks are not pronounced). I thought Vysotski was speaking of himself and I was mistaken.

The second correction is just a better wording.

Viacheslav Chetin - 2008/11/17 - 12:25


Bravo! Dopo la ballata dell'amore e quella dell'odio manca solo Баллада о детстве.

Flavio Poltronieri - 2025/7/2 - 09:14


Forse manca Il tempo?
Flavio ci traduci cosa manca?

P.r - 2025/7/2 - 11:36


Белла фиха, si dice a Firenze sull'Arbat! Esattamente la più lunga canzone di Vysotskij, che veramente non finisce più! :-) Ma sai che a te non posso dire di no...insomma, ho già cominciato ...

Riccardo Venturi - 2025/7/2 - 12:21


Guarda che era solamente una battuta...comunque grazie mille Big Ric, effettivamente 37 quartine...però ne vale la pena, no? trovo assai "breliana" la frase "come noi anche voi non vi siete risparmiati, vi siere russificati, i miei sono spariti, i vostri, detenuti innocenti"

Flavio Poltronieri - 2025/7/3 - 09:37




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