by EMIN
“Kamin” (“Fireplace”) is a 2020 duet by EMIN and JONY, two pop singers who were both born in Baku. EMIN, also known as Emin Agalarov, is an Azerbaijani singer and businessman; JONY is a Russian singer of Azerbaijani descent who moved to Moscow as a small child. In our translation the song opens at six in the morning by the fireplace, where her photograph and the memories of her burn. What is left is a shattered soul, and all her promises have turned to emptiness. The singer says he is tired of living while holding on to all the hurt, and he tells her to leave and close the door. He remembers running barefoot over glass for her and wishing on falling stars not to lose her, but now he admits that she is no longer his.
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.
By the fireplace at six
Your photograph
Igniting memories of you
By the fireplace at six
A shattered soul
And all your promises
Emptiness
(last 7 lines x2)
By the fireplace at six
Your beacon brought me pain
I'm tired of living, holding onto all the hurt
Leave and close the door
No matter how much I begged
You knew
You were losing me
I ran barefoot over glass
So stubbornly
If not for your sweet voice, I would have fallen with my last breath
The stars fell peacefully
As if just for me
Each time I wished
Not to lose you
But I can't anymore
I'm just torturing myself
You're no longer mine
(repeat the 7 lines from “By the fireplace at six” x2)
| Word | Say it | Meaning | Type | In the song |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| камин | kamin | fireplace | noun | камине: prepositional, singular, masculine |
| утро | utro | morning | noun | утра: genitive, singular, neuter |
| фотография | fotografiya | photograph | noun | фотография: nominative, singular, feminine |
| гореть | goret | to burn | verb | горят: present, 3rd person, imperfective; here “burn” |
| воспоминание | vospominanie | memory | noun | воспоминания: nominative, plural, neuter; here “memories” |
| разбитый | razbity | broken | adjective | разбитая: nominative, singular, feminine |
| обещание | obeshchanie | promise | noun | обещания: nominative, plural, neuter; here “promises” |
| пустота | pustota | emptiness | noun | пустота: nominative, singular, feminine |
| подарить | podarit | to give | verb | подарил: past, masculine, perfective; here “gave” |
| просить | prosit | to ask | verb | просил: past, masculine, imperfective; here “asked” |
| последний | posledniy | last | adjective | последний: accusative, singular, masculine |
| загадывать | zagadyvat | to wish | verb | загадывал: past, masculine, imperfective; here “made a wish” |
«у камина» (u kamina) “by the fireplace”
The chorus uses the same noun with two prepositions. В (in), for a location, takes the prepositional case: камин becomes в камине, “in the fireplace”, where the photo burns. У (by, at) takes the genitive: у камина, “by the fireplace”. The endings tell the cases apart: -е for the prepositional and -а for the genitive of most masculine nouns.
«шесть утра» (shest utra) “six in the morning”
Clock times take в with the accusative: в шесть, “at six”, where the number looks the same as in the dictionary. Утра is the genitive of утро (morning) and means “of the morning”, so the whole phrase is “at six in the morning”. The same pattern gives вечера (in the evening), ночи (at night) and дня (in the afternoon): в десять вечера, “at ten in the evening”.
«уходи» (ukhodi) “leave, go away”
Уходи is the imperative of уходить (to leave), an imperfective verb; закрой is the imperative of закрыть (to close), a perfective one. For “go away!” Russian normally uses the imperfective, which urges the action to start now. Closing the door is one finished act, so the perfective fits. Speaking politely or to several people, both add -те: уходите, закройте.
«сколько бы» (skolko by) “no matter how much”
Сколько бы with ни and a past-tense verb means “no matter how much”: the subject and ни come between бы and the verb, so “no matter how long you waited” is сколько бы followed by ты ни ждал. Here ни is not a negation; it turns question words into “ever” words, as in кто бы ни (whoever), где бы ни (wherever) and что бы ни (whatever).
Translation, word notes and commentary by Koinei. Rights holders: see Copyright and takedown requests.