The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #139723 Message #3208986
Posted By: Artful Codger
18-Aug-11 - 02:48 PM
Thread Name: Tech: Men's Russian Chorus, 1945-1950
Subject: RE: Tech: Men's Russian Chorus, 1945-1950
I flashed on "Kalinka", too (as well as another warhorse, "Katyusha", which also mentions berries), but neither follows the story line described. Nor does "Zemlyanichka-yagodka", which is the closest popular folk song I could find with wild strawberries mentioned explicitly in the title. Of course, berry picking was a popular expedient for young lovers to meet, court, have sex and in consequence babies, so berries feature in many Russian folk songs.
I thought I was on a hot trail with raspberry-themed songs (malina/malinka/malinushka) such as "Oy kalina, oy malina" and "Iz-pod duba, iz-pod vyaza", but the story lines don't gibe. (Is it just me, or does the bass in the latter clip resemble Bert Lahr in The Wizard of Oz?) another song with the chorus line of "Oy kalina, oy malina" is "Otdavali molodu" (guitar solo) (ensemble)--I have a lovely version of this by the Fyodorova Sisters.