Story Behind The Song

Written as part of the 'Songwrights' project, formed by members of Norwich Folk Club. A long time ago I stood in Red Square on May Day when Glasnost was turning to Perestroika. Everyone knew that change was in the air but few were convinced that it would

Song Description

The Kremlin bell A commentary on the fall of the Soviet Union

Lyrics

We stand on the stones, hard under our feet
The tanks they roll as the years go by
The banners are red and our star shines bright
And comrade Ulyanov is sleeping on high

Ch: Now our dreams are gone and the red star fades
The voices of past lives call from the grave
As cracked as the Kremlin bell

I am old, I remember their names to this day
Karl and Friedrich who showed us the way
But they disappeared from the corner one day
And nobody mentioned their names again

Now it is mayday, we stand in the square
And wonder at changes and look at the fear
In the eyes of the hungry who do not believe
In anything, anymore, for them I grieve

Stoyeem moy na tverdoikx kamyenyax,
Tanki prokhodyat kak godoi,
Pod krasnoym znamyenam i zolotoym zvezdam,
Nash vozhd Ulyanov speet b pokoi

We stood on the stones, hard under our feet
The tanks they rolled as the years went by
The banners were red and our star shone bright
And comrade Ulyanov was sleeping on high