by Betsy
“Sigma Boy” is a song by two young Russian singers and bloggers, Betsy and Maria Yankovskaya. It was co-written by Betsy's father, the composer Mikhail Chertishchev, and came out in October 2024. It spread quickly on TikTok, topped Spotify's global viral chart and reached the Billboard Hot Dance/Pop Songs chart in the United States. Sigma is internet slang for a confident loner who does not need anyone. In our translation every girl wants to dance with the sigma boy, but the singer is the kind of girl he will have to chase for a year. She teases him with brand names like Bentley, Skittles and Snickers, calls herself the icon of his icons and says people dream of her as if she were Bitcoin. The sigma boy stares silently into nowhere with a fiery gaze, and she tells him that years will pass before he finally wins her over.
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.
(sung in English)
Every girl wants to dance with you
(sung in English)
I'm the kind of girl you'll chase for a year
(last 4 lines x3)
Betsy, Betsy,
Betsy Jared, babe, you're like summer, like a heatwave, so this sweet boy will jump and burn
Pack yourself into my Bentley
Get into my beauty box
You're my sigma boy
But I want your tears
(understood?)
Sigma boy, put the money
I pull out the bankroll
I'll buy all the Skittles, you'll definitely be mine,
(sung in English)
I'm the icon of your icons
People dream of me like
I'm Bitcoin (got it?)
Sigma boy, but not mine, silent like a mute
Staring into nowhere, oh, what a fiery gaze
Years will pass waiting, when you get it together and finally win me over win me over
(repeat the 4 lines that include “Every girl wants to dance with you” x2)
| Word | Say it | Meaning | Type | In the song |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| каждый | kazhdy | every | adjective | каждая: nominative, singular, feminine |
| девчонка | devchonka | girl | noun | девчонка: nominative, singular, feminine |
| танцевать | tantsevat | to dance | verb | танцевать: infinitive, imperfective |
| добиваться | dobivatsya | to achieve | verb | добиваться: infinitive, reflexive, imperfective |
| год | god | year | noun | год: accusative, singular, masculine |
| мальчик | malchik | boy | noun | мальчик: nominative, singular, masculine |
| желать | zhelat | to wish | verb | желаю: present, 1st person, imperfective; here “want” |
| слеза | sleza | tear | noun | слёз: genitive, plural, feminine; here “tears” |
| икона | ikona | icon | noun | икона: nominative, singular, feminine |
| никуда | nikuda | nowhere | adverb | никуда |
| когда-нибудь | kogda-nibud | sometime | adverb | когда-нибудь; here “someday” |
| добиться | dobitsya | to achieve | verb | добьёшься: future, 2nd person, singular, reflexive; here “achieve” |
«добиваться будешь» (dobivatsya budesh) “you will be chasing”
The song uses both verbs of an aspect pair. Imperfective добиваться with будешь makes the compound future, “you will be trying to win”, a process with no end in sight, and год in the accusative says for how long. Later comes добьёшься, the simple future of perfective добиться, “you will win me over”: the result, finally achieved. Imperfective future: быть plus the infinitive. Perfective future: the conjugated verb alone.
«пакуйся» (pakuysya) “pack yourself in”
Пакуйся is an imperative. Take the present stem of паковаться (to pack oneself): они пакуются gives паку-, then add -й and the reflexive ending. After й or another consonant that ending is -ся, as here, but after a vowel it shrinks to -сь, as in учись (study!). The next line has another command, полезай, “get in”.
«твоих слёз» (tvoikh slyoz) “your tears”
Желать (to wish, to desire) takes its object in the genitive, not the accusative: слеза (tear) becomes слёз, the genitive plural, and твои (your) becomes твоих. The same verb gives the everyday wish желаю счастья, “I wish you happiness”, with счастье in the genitive. Notice the ё: in the plural the stress moves to the first syllable and е turns into ё.
«обо мне» (obo mne) “about me”
О (about) takes the prepositional case. Before мне, the prepositional of я, it becomes обо, which is easier to say: обо мне, “about me”, but о тебе (about you) and о нём (about him). The verb that follows in the song, мечтать (to dream), uses the same preposition: мечтать о море, “to dream of the sea”.
Translation, word notes and commentary by Koinei. Rights holders: see Copyright and takedown requests.