by Shaman
The State Anthem of the Russian Federation was adopted in 2000. Its music is Alexander Alexandrov's melody, the same one used for the anthem of the Soviet Union, and its words are by Sergei Mikhalkov, who had also co-written the Soviet anthem's lyrics in 1944. On Koinei it is sung by Shaman, who released his recording as a single in December 2022. The anthem has three verses, each followed by the same chorus. In our translation the first verse calls Russia a holy nation and a beloved country, with a mighty will and great glory. The chorus tells the free Fatherland, an age-old union of fraternal peoples, to be glorious, and ends “we are proud of you”. The second verse spans the land from the southern seas to the polar lands, and the third promises wide spaces for dreams and for living in the years to come.
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.
Russia, our holy nation
Russia, our beloved country
A mighty will, great glory
These are yours for all time
Be glorious
Our free Fatherland
Age-old union of fraternal peoples
Given by our forebearers
Popular wisdom
Be glorious, our country
We are proud of you
From the southern seas
To the polar lands
Spread our forests and fields
You are unique in the world
One of a kind
Native land protected by God
(repeat the 7 lines from “Be glorious”)
Wide spaces for dreams
And for living
Opened for us by the coming years
Our loyalty gives us strength
To the Fatherland
Thus it was, thus it is
And always will be
(repeat the 7 lines from “Be glorious”)
| Word | Say it | Meaning | Type | In the song |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| страна | strana | country | noun | страна: nominative, singular, feminine |
| славиться | slavitsya | to be glorious | verb | славься: imperative, singular, reflexive, imperfective; here “glorify” |
| отечество | otechestvo | fatherland | noun | отечество: nominative, singular, neuter |
| свободный | svobodny | free | adjective | свободное: nominative, singular, neuter |
| братский | bratskiy | fraternal | adjective | братских: genitive, plural |
| народ | narod | people | noun | народов: genitive, plural, masculine; here “peoples” |
| союз | soyuz | union | noun | союз: nominative, singular, masculine |
| предок | predok | ancestor | noun | предками: instrumental, plural, masculine; here “ancestors” |
| мудрость | mudrost | wisdom | noun | мудрость: nominative, singular, feminine |
| народный | narodny | folk | adjective | народная: nominative, singular, feminine |
| гордиться | gorditsya | to be proud | verb | гордимся: 1st person, plural, reflexive, imperfective; here “pride” |
| раскинуться | raskinutsya | to spread out | verb | раскинулись: past, plural, reflexive, perfective; here “spread out” |
«славься» (slavsya) “be glorious”
Славься is the imperative of славиться (to be famous, to be glorified). The imperative is built from the present stem, here слав-, plus a soft sign: славь. A reflexive verb keeps its ending, which stays -ся after a consonant or a soft sign and becomes -сь after a vowel: учись (study!), but не бойся (don't be afraid). Addressing a country with ты forms is normal in Russian poetry and anthems.
«гордимся тобой» (gordimsya toboy) “we are proud of you”
Гордиться (to be proud) takes the instrumental case with no preposition, so ты (you) becomes тобой, where English needs “of”. Интересоваться (to be interested in) and заниматься (to be busy with) work the same way. The song's гордимся is the 1st person plural, “we”; for “I am proud of you” say я горжусь тобой, where д changes to ж in the first person.
«хранимая Богом» (khranimaya Bogom) “protected by God”
Хранимая is a present passive participle of хранить (to keep, to protect), formed with -им- and an adjective ending. Like an adjective it agrees with its noun, земля (land), in the feminine nominative. The one who does the action goes into the instrumental case with no preposition: Бог (God) becomes Богом. The chorus has the same structure with a past passive participle, данная (given), and предками (by ancestors).
«до полярного края» (do polyarnogo kraya) “to the polar lands”
От (from) and до (up to, as far as) both take the genitive, and together they mark the start and end of a range in space or time, as in от дома (from home) and до утра (till morning). Here край (edge, land) becomes края, a genitive singular, and the adjective полярный (polar) agrees with it. In the line before, the southern seas are in the genitive plural.
Translation, word notes and commentary by Koinei. Rights holders: see Copyright and takedown requests.