"Victory Day" () ranks among the most popular in the large corpus of

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n songs devoted to the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The song refers to the

Victory Day Victory Day is a commonly used name for public holidays in various countries, where it commemorates a nation's triumph over a hostile force in a war or the liberation of a country from hostile occupation. In many cases, multiple countries may ob ...

celebration and differs from most of these by its cheerful intonations of a

marching song A march, as a musical genre, is a piece of music with a strong regular rhythm which in origin was expressly written for marching to and most frequently performed by a military band. In mood, marches range from the moving death march in Richard ...

and by the fact that it was composed by

David Tukhmanov David Fyodorovich Tukhmanov PAR (, was born July 20, 1940) is a Soviet and Russian composer. People's Artist of Russia (2000), State Prize of Russian Federation (2003, 2019). Biography Tukhmanov is a son of an Armenian engineer Fyodor David ...

thirty years after the war. In the words of Vladimir Kharitonov, a veteran lyricist, "the song seemed to have turned back the time. Although written three decades after the war, it now seems that it was this song that helped us to gain the victory".

History

In order to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Soviet victory in the Second World War, the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

government announced a competition for the best song about the war. In March 1975, poet Vladimir Kharitonov, who had taken part in the war, approached his traditional co-author, the young composer

with a proposal to write a new song for the occasion. This effort was to differ strikingly from their previous collaborations, which had been disco-influenced chartbusters. Several days before the deadline, Kharitonov brought his lyric to Tukhmanov and the latter composed a song just in time to be recorded track of an orchestra. His wife Tatyana Sashko, a singer and the song's

lyricist A lyricist is a writer who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income derives ...

, sang Den Pobedy before the jury. However, the jury, composed primarily of elderly songwriters whose tastes had been formed during

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

's era, was exceedingly displeased with the result. The lyrics appeared to them lightsome and frivolous, while the melody was alleged to abuse the "rhythms of

tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries from a combination of Arge ...

and

foxtrot The foxtrot is a smooth, progressive dance characterized by long, continuous flowing movements across the dance floor. It is danced to big band (usually vocal) music. The dance is similar in its look to waltz, although the rhythm is in a time ...

", two "bourgeois" dances which had been banned in the Soviet Union. Although the performance of the song was strongly discouraged,

Lev Leshchenko Lev Valerianovich Leshchenko (; born 1 February 1942), is a Russian singer, who is best known for his rendition of " Den Pobedy" and the 1980 Summer Olympics closing ceremony theme song " Do svidanya, Moskva". Biography Lev Leshchenko was born ...

, one of the most popular Soviet singers, dared to premiere it during his concert in

Alma-Ata Almaty, formerly Alma-Ata, is the largest city in Kazakhstan, with a population exceeding two million residents within its metropolitan area. Located in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains in southern Kazakhstan, near the border wi ...

in late April. Then the song was performed in the ''

Little Blue Light The ''Little Blue Light'' () was a popular musical variety show aired on Television in the Soviet Union, Soviet television since 1962

'' TV show on 9 May by another singer, Leonid Smetannikov, but his interpretation was rather lackluster and failed to attract attention. Thereupon the song was not performed until 10 November when Leshchenko revived it for a grand concert, which was broadcast live on Soviet television and that took place in the Kremlin Palace of Congresses on

Militsiya ''Militsiya'' ( rus, милиция, 3=mʲɪˈlʲitsɨjə, 5=, ) were the police forces in the Soviet Union until 1991, in several Eastern Bloc countries (1945–1992), and in the Non-Aligned Movement, non-aligned Socialist Federal Republic ...

Day. His performance astounded the censors but proved to be a runaway success with the audience, who clamored for an encore. Since then, the song has been invariably performed during every Victory Day celebrations in the Soviet Union and Russia, often concluding a program of festivities, with the last stanza drowned in sounds of fireworks over the

Red Square Red Square ( rus, Красная площадь, Krasnaya ploshchad', p=ˈkrasnəjə ˈploɕːɪtʲ) is one of the oldest and largest town square, squares in Moscow, Russia. It is located in Moscow's historic centre, along the eastern walls of ...

. According to ''

Komsomolskaya Pravda ''Komsomolskaya Pravda'' (; ) is a daily Russian tabloid newspaper that was founded in 1925. Its name is in reference to the official Soviet newspaper '' Pravda'' (English: 'Truth'). History and profile During the Soviet era, ''Komsomolskaya ...

'', the Soviet leader

Leonid Brezhnev Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev (19 December 190610 November 1982) was a Soviet politician who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1964 until Death and state funeral of Leonid Brezhnev, his death in 1982 as w ...

liked this song greatly, especially when performed by

Joseph Kobzon Joseph Davydovich Kobzon (11 September 1937 – 30 August 2018) was a Soviet-born Russian singer, known for his crooner style. Early life Kobzon was born to History of the Jews in the Soviet Union, Jewish Ukrainians, Ukrainian parents in the ...

, and predicted to Kharitonov that "folks would sing this tune for many years after you and I are gone".. In Russian Brezhnev's expectation did not fail to materialize, in part because, as the US-American researcher

David MacFadyen David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Damas ...

explains, "this powerful song draws not upon the bravery of youthful soldiers but the private memories of ageing, greying veterans. Its poignant combination of joy at a stunning victory and sadness at great loss sounds just as relevant today, when the war itself is something about which many young Russians neither know nor care". In a survey conducted in 2015, the lyrics of Victory Day placed fifth on a list of the most popular poetry lines in Russia.

Lyrics

Russian lyrics

:День Победы, как он был от нас далёк, :Как в костре потухшем таял уголёк. :Были вёрсты, обгорелые, в пыли — :Этот день мы приближали как могли. :''Chorus'': ::Этот День Победы ::Порохом пропах, ::Это праздник ::С сединою на висках. ::Это радость ::Со слезами на глазах. :::День Победы! ::::День Победы! :::::День Победы! :Дни и ночи у мартеновских печей :Не смыкала наша Родина очей. :Дни и ночи битву трудную вели — :Этот день мы приближали как могли. : ''Chorus'' :Здравствуй, мама, возвратились мы не все... :Босиком бы пробежаться по росе! :Пол-Европы прошагали, пол-Земли — :Этот день мы приближали как могли. : ''Chorus'' x 2

Romanization

:Den' Pobedy, kak on byl ot nas dalyok, :Kak v kostre potukhshem tayal ugolyok. :Byli vyorsty, obgorelye, v pyli — :Etot den' my priblizhali kak mogli. : ''Chorus'': ::Etot Den' Pobedy ::Porokhom propakh, ::Eto prazdnik, ::S sedinoyu na viskakh. ::Eto radost' ::So slezami na glazakh. :::Den' Pobedy! ::::Den' Pobedy! :::::Den' Pobedy! :Dni i nochi u martenovskikh pechey, :Ne smykala nasha Rodina ochey. :Dni i nochi bitvu trudnuyu veli, — :Etot den' my priblizhali kak mogli. : ''Chorus'' :Zdravstvuy, mama, vozvratilis' my ne vse, :Bosikom by probezhat'sya po rose! :Pol-Yevropy proshagali, pol-Zemli — :Etot den' my priblizhali kak mogli. : ''Chorus'' x 2

Translation

:Victory Day, oh how far from us it was, :Like a dwindling ember in a faded fire. :There were miles ahead, they were dusty, they were burned. : We hastened this day as best we could. :''Chorus'': ::This Victory Day ::Is saturated with gunpowder, ::It's a celebration ::With temples already gray, ::It's joy ::With tears upon our eyes :::Victory Day! ::::Victory Day! :::::Victory Day! :Days and nights at hearth furnaces, :Our

Motherland A homeland is a place where a national or ethnic identity has formed. The definition can also mean simply one's country of birth. When used as a proper noun, the Homeland, as well as its equivalents in other languages, often has ethnic natio ...

didn't sleep a wink. :Days and nights a hard battle we fought— :We hastened this day as best we could. :''Chorus'' :Hello, Mother, not all of us came back... :How I'd like to run barefoot through the dew! :Half of

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, we have stridden half the Earth, :We hastened this day as best we could! :''Chorus'' x 2

Charts

References

External links

Download the song
performed by Leshchenko.
Article in the Komsomolskaya Pravda

History of the song on Tukhmanov's website
* * * * {{authority control Russian songs Soviet military songs 1975 songs 1975 in the Soviet Union Russian military marches