When Your Girlfriend’s Sick
The Soviet woman in front of MGU is the very picture of health. Or so it would seem...
This is a nice, funny song from Viktor Tsoi’s otherwise bleak final album, released posthumously; he had recorded the vocals before his tragic death in a car accident. Anyway, I’ve often read that Tsoi was influenced by The Smiths — one of my all-time favorite bands (seeing a Morrissey concert in St. Petersburg, where he sang several Smiths songs, was a highlight of my life). Generally it’s hard to pinpoint their influence, largely because KINO’s sound is so different. But it’s hard to imagine that the Smiths song “Girlfriend in a Coma” (1987) wasn’t the inspiration for this one, especially since Morrissey’s dark humor and biting wit are rather unusual for Tsoi — though they certainly share a certain Romantic mindset (Tsoi was called the последний романтик) that tends toward melancholy, or, in Tsoi’s case, a defiant fatalism. In any event, Tsoi produces something totally his own, reminiscent of a lot of his earlier, more light-hearted songs.
Quick language note: in Russian, you “drink” medicine, even if it’s in pill form (although one can also use the verb “to take,” принимать АЙ / принять Й/М). This has sometimes thrown me off a bit — e.g. when I cough a bit and my Russian mother-in-law asks me if I’ve been “drinking.” “Why, yes I have, in all honesty.” Oh, dammit, she was talking about medicine!
When Your Girlfriend’s Sick
KINO (Viktor Tsoi)
A day like any other, but you’re sad for some reason.
Everyone around you is singing; you alone are silent.
You’ve lost your appetite, and don’t want to go to the movies.
You head for the store to buy some wine.
The sun is shining and the grass is growing,
But grass is the last thing you need.
Everything’s off, and everything’s wrong
When your girlfriend is sick.
Mmmmm… When she’s sick.
You go to the store, your head drooping,
As if a pure mountain spring has run dry.
She’s lying around somewhere, eating honey and taking aspirin,
And here you are, going to the party alone.
The sun is shining and the grass is growing,
But grass is the last thing you need.
Everything’s off, and everything’s wrong
When your girlfriend is sick.
Mmmmm… When she’s sick.
Когда твоя девушка больна
КИНО (Виктор Цой)
День как день, только ты почему-то грустишь.
И вокруг все поют, только ты один молчишь.
Потерял аппетит и не хочешь сходить в кино.
Ты идёшь в магазин, чтобы купить вино.
Солнце светит и растёт трава,
Но тебе она не нужна.
Всё не так и всё не то,
Когда твоя девушка больна.
М-м-м-м. Когда больна.
Ты идёшь в магазин, головою поник,
Как будто иссяк чистый горный родник.
Она где-то лежит, ест мёд и пьёт аспирин,
И вот ты идёшь на вечеринку один.
Солнце светит и растёт трава,
Но тебе она не нужна.
Всё не так и всё не то,
Когда твоя девушка больна.
М-м-м-м. Когда больна.
