You might not know this but I enjoy translating occasional song lyrics from Russian to English as a hobby. I usually just throw them away but I figured some people might find translations interesting! So, in the spirit of the internet, I’ll be threading them here.
In particular, I like to translate songs by Boris Grebenshikov (Aquarium). He became prominent in the 80’s when USSR underground rock music went mainstream. Lyrically, he established a unique blend of Russian songwriting, Dylan-esque imagery, references to Tolkien, Lao Tsu, etc. 
It is important to understand that in the Russian musical culture (at least between 80’s and 00’s), the music itself tends to be secondary, and the lyrics are at the forefront. Sometimes this means the music is shitty or derivative, sometimes it’s minimal (e.g. acoustic guitar).
I want to start sharing these translations because I do them for fun anyway, and I think it’s cool if they get more people to check out the songs. Especially if you’re learning the Russian language and want to venture slightly outside the “classics” (it can’t all be Pushkin!)
Disclaimer: I am not a professional translator. I tend to translate as close as I can to the original, rather than capturing the corresponding poetic form in the English language. Boris’s songwriting is full of imagery yet has an English “plainness” to it, so that helps a bit.
I will post the first translation as a separate thread soon and link it from here. Then, if I make more, I will keep adding them to this thread. So this thread will be an index. (No I’m too lazy to put them on a website or whatever—they’ll live here. Feel free to copy.)
1. Christmas Song
https://twitter.com/dan_abramov/status/1439000427522142215
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