Write it. Sing it. Make it yours
Adapt Olga Anikina’s Russian lyric into singable English. Keep her images, word meanings, expressions and structure. No Russian needed. Write, sing or collaborate.
Russian recording · Our English version
Song story · Make a recording · Full working text
Literal English and idiom notes are working materials, not finished lyrics.
The song’s story
Prisoners remember the dances they loved before the war. Music becomes a fragile meeting place for memory and the longing for freedom.
RIGLI's recording notes connect Anikina's Russian adaptation to Niewolnicze tango and its later Yiddish version.
Start from Olga’s Russian
Her Russian text is our starting point. Olga reimagines earlier songs while keeping their spirit.
Keep her images, word meanings, expressions and structure. Make the English sing without replacing her story.
Producer-confirmed: exclusive rights to these Russian lyrics. Rights to underlying music and recordings are separate.
Russian → literal English
Meaning to work from, not words to sing.
All 32 written lines from the cited Russian text, including four chorus appearances and their wording differences. English is explanatory, not singable.
| Russian source | Literal English meaning |
|---|---|
| 1 Фокстрот и танго среди других мелодий | Foxtrot and tango, among the other melodies |
| 2 Мы больше всех любили до войны | Were the ones we loved most before the war |
| 3 Их грусть была тогда как будто в моде | Their sadness seemed to be fashionable then |
| 4 А их слова наивны и нежны | And their words were naive and tender |
| 5 Но позади остался тихий город | But the quiet city is left behind |
| 6 Где мы с тобой бродили у реки | Where you and I once wandered by the river |
| 7 Так спой мне мейдл за лагерным забором | So sing to me, girl, behind the camp fence |
| 8 Про выстрелы про печи и штыки | About the gunshots, the ovens, and the bayonets |
| 9 Это наше танго играй под чёрным дулом | This is our tango; play it under the black gun barrel |
| 10 Наше танго пой в Освенцинском бараке | Sing our tango in the Auschwitz barrack |
| 11 Чтоб наконец-то в дыму и мраке | So that at last, in the smoke and darkness |
| 12 Свобода белой птицею мелькнула | Freedom might flash past like a white bird |
| 13 Это наше танго играй под чёрным дулом | This is our tango; play it under the black gun barrel |
| 14 Наше танго в Освенцинском бараке | Our tango in the Auschwitz barrack |
| 15 Чтоб наконец-то в дыму и мраке | So that at last, in the smoke and darkness |
| 16 Свобода белой птицею мелькнула | Freedom might flash past like a white bird |
| 17 И вспомнит негр как брал он мандолину | And the Black man will remember taking up his mandolin |
| 18 И прозвенит неслышно пара нот | And a couple of notes will ring out inaudibly |
| 19 Француз подхватит и расправит спину | The Frenchman will join in and straighten his back |
| 20 А третьим англичанин подпоёт | And an Englishman will be the third to sing along |
| 21 Поляк возьми же маленькую флейту | Polish man, take up the little flute |
| 22 Она давно охрипла от тоски | It has long been hoarse from longing |
| 23 Сыграй про вёсны сыграй про лето | Play about springs, play about summer |
| 24 Сыграй ещё про город у реки | Play once more about the city by the river |
| 25 Это наше танго играй под чёрным дулом | This is our tango; play it under the black gun barrel |
| 26 Наше танго в Освенцинском бараке | Our tango in the Auschwitz barrack |
| 27 Чтоб наконец-то в дыму и мраке | So that at last, in the smoke and darkness |
| 28 Свобода белой птицею мелькнула | Freedom might flash past like a white bird |
| 29 Это наше танго играй под чёрным дулом | This is our tango; play it under the black gun barrel |
| 30 Наше танго пой в Освенцинском бараке | Sing our tango in the Auschwitz barrack |
| 31 Чтоб наконец-то в дыму и мраке | So that at last, in the smoke and darkness |
| 32 Свобода белой птицею мелькнула | Freedom might flash past like a white bird |
Idioms & meaning
Мейдл
Literal: Girl, in Yiddish.
The singer addresses a girl or young woman. It is a retained Yiddish word, not a person's name.
Играй под чёрным дулом
Literal: Play under the black gun barrel.
The phrase places the music under armed threat. Do not translate the barrel as a musical instrument or soften the coercion into ordinary stage fright.
И прозвенит неслышно пара нот
Literal: And a couple of notes will ring out inaudibly.
The paradox allows the music to exist in memory or imagination. 'Barely audible' is a possible reading, but the Russian literally says it cannot be heard.
И вспомнит негр
Literal: And the Black man will remember.
The Russian source uses a racial label. The explanatory English uses 'Black man'; importing a harsher English slur would distort its force. Preserve the source wording when quoting Russian.
Она давно охрипла от тоски
Literal: It has long been hoarse from longing.
The flute is personified as having a voice exhausted by sorrow. The line does not state that a particular musician is ill.
Свобода белой птицею мелькнула
Literal: Freedom flashed past like a white bird.
Within 'so that,' this is a hoped-for glimpse of freedom, not a report that the prisoners escaped.
Your writing brief
Hear our current English version, then help write a stronger adaptation of Olga Anikina's Russian text.
Keep pre-war tenderness, music under threat and freedom's white-bird image. These notes explain meaning; they are not a finished English lyric. Confirm permissions separately.
Improve our English
We want stronger English lyrics. Improve this draft, or write a fresh adaptation from the Russian.
Accepted draft improvements: $100–150. Independent Russian-source adaptations: $200/$100. No payment for rejected lyrics.
Your voice. Any lineup
Video or audio only. Solo, duet, band or choir. Write, sing, produce or collaborate; use your voice, Suno or other permitted tools.
Your voice and stage presence can shine even if the lyric needs work. Clear song, backing-track and tool permissions before posting.
Recording links: YouTube, Spotify or YouTube Music only. No files or other platforms.
Let us hear what you can do
Strong, original versions can be featured on JewishHit.com and possibly RIGLI’s music channel, with credit and permission.
Even if we do not accept your lyric, we may invite you to record our songs for a separately agreed fee. This is not an automatic payment for submitting.
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Credits & sources
- Russian text
- Olga Anikina
- Producer
- Walter J. Kin
- Russian recording
- Performed by Elechka.
Working materials, not a blanket recording license. Agree rights separately.