by Basta
“Sansara” is a song by Basta, the stage name of the rapper and musician Vasily Vakulenko from Rostov-on-Don. It came out as a single on Gazgolder in April 2017, with guest voices from singers including Diana Arbenina, Alexander F. Sklyar, Sergey Bobunets, SunSay and Skriptonit. The title is the Russian spelling of samsara, the cycle of birth and death in Indian religions. In our translation the singer has spent his life sinking and searching for love, and hears that it is too late to save or heal his generation. His answer is the chorus: our children will be better than us. When he is gone, he will sing with the voices of his children and their children, because people are simply swapped around. That is the law of samsara, the cycle of people. A teacher lives on in the student, and a thousand like him came before and will come after.
Koinei's own English translation. The original Russian lyrics are not shown on this page: open the reader to follow them word by word with the audio.
Defy the odds, do it by hand
Turn the world upside down
In every sketch, in every draft
A teacher lives on in their student
All my life, I've been sinking
All my life, I've searched for love
To love just one
They said it's too late to save or heal us
Who cares, our children will be better than us. Better than us.
Better than us.
When I'm gone, I'll sing with the voices of my children and their children.
We're just swapped around
That's the law of samsara, the cycle of people. Oh, mama.
When I'm gone, I'll sing with the voices my children and their children's voices
We're just swapped around
That's the law of samsara, the cycle of people, oh mama
We can't be erased, we live out of spite
Even if luck's not on our side, we'll get what's ours
This sky is our stage, everything's upside down here
And these stars lanterns you lit
A thousand of me before me, and after me a thousand of me and a thousand not me, a thousand of me
And we're shattered again beyond repair. Who cares, our children will be better, better than us
Better than us...
Better than us
When I'm gone, I'll sing with the voices of my children and their children
We're just swapped around
That's the law of samsara, the cycle of people, oh mama
(last 3 lines x3)
| Word | Say it | Meaning | Type | In the song |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| делать | delat | to do | verb | делай: imperfective |
| учитель | uchitel | teacher | noun | учитель: nominative, singular, masculine |
| ребёнок | rebyonok | child | noun | дети: nominative, plural, masculine; here “children” |
| хорошо | khorosho | good | adverb | лучше; here “better” |
| стать | stat | to become | verb | станет: future, 3rd person, perfective; here “become” |
| петь | pet | to sing | verb | петь: infinitive, imperfective |
| голос | golos | voice | noun | голосами: instrumental, plural, masculine; here “voices” |
| менять | menyat | to change | verb | меняют: present, 3rd person, imperfective; here “change” |
| таковой | takovoy | such | adjective | таков: singular, masculine |
| закон | zakon | law | noun | закон: nominative, singular, masculine |
| сансара | sansara | Samsara | noun | сансары: genitive, singular, feminine |
| круговорот | krugovorot | cycle | noun | круговорот: nominative, singular, masculine |
«петь голосами» (pet golosami) “sing with the voices”
Голосами is the instrumental plural of голос (voice). With no preposition, the instrumental names the tool or means of an action, so петь голосами is “to sing by means of voices”. Compare писать ручкой, “to write with a pen”. With с it would mean singing alongside the voices instead. Note also буду петь: the future of an imperfective verb is буду plus the infinitive.
«меня не станет» (menya ne stanet) “I'm gone”
Не станет is the future of не стать, and with the genitive it means that someone or something will no longer be there. Меня is the genitive of я (I), so меня не станет, literally “there will not be of me”, is a gentle way to say “when I am gone”. The same genitive of absence follows нет, as in меня нет дома, “I'm not at home”.
«Таков закон сансары» (Takov zakon sansary) “that's the law of samsara”
Таков is a short adjective meaning “such” or “that is how it is”, and like every short adjective it agrees with its noun: таков закон (masculine), такова жизнь, “such is life” (feminine), таково правило (neuter). The noun after закон is in the genitive, which does the work of English “of”: сансары is the genitive of сансара.
«Мир переверни» (Mir pereverni) “turn the world upside down”
Переверни (turn over) and опрокинь (tip over) are imperatives of the perfective verbs перевернуть and опрокинуть: each asks for one complete action with a result. The song opens with an imperfective imperative instead, делай (do), from делать, which sets a general way of acting rather than a single task. Putting the object first, мир before the verb, gives the world extra weight.
Translation, word notes and commentary by Koinei. Rights holders: see Copyright and takedown requests.