While I was watching “They Fought for Their Land”, it occurred to me that there was something missing from the movie. Unlike most other war movies, this one did not have a feature song. Sure, the main character occasionally breaks into a tune, but it’s a popular pre-war song called Люблю (I Love), but most well-known by the first line of the chorus, Я возвращаю Ваш портрет (I am returning your portrait).

As you can guess, this will be a post about a war song. But I bet you’ll never guess which song it will be. Ok, let me give you some подсказки (hints) so you will also learn the trivia.

Hint #1 – This song became популярная (popular) not only in Russia, but also in the UK and in the US. In fact, it became so popular that you might still recognize its мотив (the tune) when you hear it, especially in Russia where it was recently remixed. The title of this post is also a line from the song.

Hint #2 – Russia’s beloved singer, Леонид Утёсов (Leonid Utesov) performed this song in both Russian and English (well, those were the heady pre-Iron Curtain days).

Hint #3 – The first line of the chorus became крылатая фраза (a catch phrase) in both English and Russian languages and still remains fairly popular in English (at least in the American English)

Hint #4 – This is the song about самолёты (airplanes) (ok, sorry, I can’t be more specific here or it will be a dead giveaway, but do look at the image at the top of the post).

Hint #5 – While the English and Russian texts of the song match closely, there is one telling difference. Since Soviet Union was officially an atheist state, the word молитва (prayer) in the English version was replaced with честное слово (word of honor) in the Russian version.

If you haven’t guessed by now, then you can Google it using the Russian words from the above hints – честное слово Утёсов самолёт песня. If you are searching in English, use the same word – word of honor Utesov airplane song, but add “World War II” to the query. Either way, it will be in the top 3 results.

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Ok, so now you’ve found out the song was Бомбардировщики (Bombers), better known in the West as “Comin’ in on a Wing and a Prayer”. Since this song was originally written in English (in 1943) and only later translated into Russian (in 1945), here’s the English version as sang by Anne Shelton:

And here’s the Russian version as sang by Leonid Utesov (his daughter, Edith, opens up):

Here’s the full Russian text:

Был озабочен очень воздушный наш народ: 

К нам не вернулся ночью с бомбёжки самолет. 
Радисты скребли в эфире, волну найдя едва,
И вот без пяти четыре услышали слова:

“Мы летим, ковыляя во мгле,
Мы ползем на последнем крыле.
Бак пробит, хвост горит и машина летит
На честном слове и на одном крыле…”

Ну, дела! Ночь была!
В нас зенитки били с каждого угла,
Вражьи стаи летали во мгле –
«мессершмитты», орел на орле.
«Мессершмитт» нами сбит
А наш «птенчик» летит
На честном слове и на одном крыле

Ну, дела! Ночь была!
Их объекты разбомбили мы до тла.
Мы ушли, ковыляя во мгле,
Мы к родной подлетаем земле.
Вся команда цела и машина пришла 
На честном слове и на одном крыле.

And some language notes:

Воздушный народ – lit. air people – this is not really how we describe airmen, air traffic controllers, etc. But for the sake of the song, it works.

Бомбёжка – bombing; the planes that carry out бомбёжка are бомбардировщики (bombers) is the Russian title of the song.

Скрести – it means “to scrape”, but in this case it’s more like “to scan” with a connotation that радисты (radio operators) had a difficult time catching the transmission.

Эфир – comes from the word “ether”, but, depending on context, it can mean either “air waves”  and “air” as when a TV show host says мы в прямом эфире (we are live on air) or, in this case it would mean “radio frequencies”.

Волну найдя едва – just barely finding the frequency (lit. the air wave)

Ковылять – to hobble, to limp

Вражьи стаи – as in English, in Russian airplanes are frequently likened to birds. So it makes sense to use the word стая (flock) to describe enemy squadrons. The German мессершмитты (Messerschmitt planes) are compared to орлы (eagles) while Soviet planes are птенчики (nestlings). Ordinarily, орёл (eagle) is a positive character in Russian folklore (i.e. in a once popular war song soldiers are called орлы боевые (fighting eagles)). However, when you put a bird of prey next to a nestling, you know which side you are rooting for.

Объект – in the formal military speak it’s “a facility” or “a site”.

до тла – to the ground; a common phrase is сгореть до тла (burn to the ground), but here it is changed to разбомбить до тла (bomb something to pieces).

While the song was very popular, it is worth remembering that some of those объекты (sites) were civilian targets, subjected to horrific firebombing, such as in Hamburg (in 1943) and in Dresden (in 1945). Keeping that in mind, I found the music video of this song remixed by the Russian rockers Чиж & Co (Chiz & Co) rather off-putting.

As they say in Russia, из песни слова не выкинешь (lit. can’t take a word out of a song). As we remember and commemorate героев войны (war heroes) we also need to take the time to remember and commemorate the innocent victims of the war.