This is a song dedicated to the Russian Civil War /1917-1922/
The plot of the song describes the life of an anonymous lyrical hero, who first received a gunshot wound in the chest in a collision with a red detachment, lost his leg, and then his wife. The refrain is the appearance of the commissioner, who first seriously wounded the hero, and then took his wife and horse. In the last couplet, the hero sets fire to the house and goes into the forest, hiding the icon of the Savior on his chest.
English translation of the lyrics:
There, a bullet whizzed by,
It struck me in the chest
I was saved on the steppe upon a spirited steed
But the commissar took me out with a sabre
I swayed to, and fell from the horse
CHORUS:
Hey, ho, yes my horse is jet-black!
Hey, yes a sawed-off shotgun too
Hey, yes a thick fog!
Hey, ho, yes Father Ataman,
Yes Father Ataman!
On a but one leg I came back from the war,
Tied up the horse, I sat with my wife
But an hour had not passed -
The commissar, he came,
He untied my horse, and took the wife.
Chorus x2
"The Savior" I took from the wall beneath my shirt,
I set the house afire, I got the sawed-off shotgun
To live under the Soviets -
Is to sell out your faith!
So many of us, we went into the woods...
Original Russian lyrics:
Вот пуля просвистела,
В грудь попала мне -
Спасся я в степи на лихом коне.
Но шашкою меня комиссар достал -
Покачнулся я и с коня упал.
ПРИПЕВ:
Эй, ой да конь мой вороной!
Эй, да обрез стальной!
Эй, да густой туман!
Эй, ой да батька атаман,
Да батька атаман!
На одной ноге я пришёл с войны,
Привязал коня, сел я у жены.
Но часу не прошло -
Комиссар пришёл,
Отвязал коня и жену увёл.
Припев х2
"Спаса" со стены под рубаху снял,
Хату подпалил, да обрез достал.
При Советах жить -
Торговать свой крест!
Много нас таких уходило в лес.
Припев