Songs
Modern songs are a great resource for learning a language. They contain an abundance of common phrases; the rhythm helps you remember where the stress is (one of the daunting parts of learning Russian!), and the rhyme is your best helper in memorization of the new words. Listening to a song that you like over and over and singing along is a natural way to reinforce the new language material. We keep adding Russian songs to this section. The choice is mainly based on our personal taste. Most of the featured artists are interesting poets, sometimes more so than musicians. We didn't aspire to translate the songs into English artistically, but rather focused on providing aid to learners of Russian in understanding how the language "works" in the lyrics. But you won't find any weird mistakes made by a machine translator here. Every song is translated by people who want to share their interest in language learning with you.
About Paintings
О картинах
This song is part of a popular Russian animation from the 1980s. The film that you can watch by clicking the link below is a cover version. It uses animated pictures created by young students of an art school. It tells in a lighthearted manner about three genres of painting – still life, landscape and portrait.
Do You Want?
Хочешь?
Zemfira is a Russian rock singer who has enjoyed immense popularity in Russia over the last two decades.
I Don't Like It
Я не люблю
Vladimir Vysotsky's anthemic song written in 1969 is the poet's manifesto in which he states his life principles through negation of the things he hates.
L'Equipage Cafe
Кафе Экипаж
Irina Bogushevskaya is a contemporary Russian poet, composer and performer of songs. Her style is often defined as 'theatrical jazz' and 'cabaret rock'.
Sitting on a Beautiful Hill
Сидя на красивом холме
Sitting on a beautiful hill is an iconic song by Boris Grebenschikov's band Aquarium. It appeared in the album The Day of Silver ('День серебра'), which was influenced by the music of the classical Russian composer M. Glinka as well as by the band members' interest in mystical theories and practice.
Stand by the River
Встань у реки
The legendary Boris Grebenschikov and his band Aquarium have created a completely new and unique musical and social aesthetics.
Without Women
Без женщин
Alexander Vertinsky's song featuring a parallel literal translation to English to help you understand the lyrics.
You Are For Me The Only One
Ты у меня одна
Yuri Vizbor was a well-known Soviet singer-songwriter ('bard') as well as a theatre and film actor.