Прощание славянки
(1912)
music by V. Agapkin, text by V. Lazarev

Наступает минута прощания,
Ты глядишь мне тревожно в глаза,
И ловлю я родное дыхание,
А вдали уже дышит гроза.

Дрогнул воздух туманный и синий,
И тревога коснулась висков,
И зовет нас на подвиг Россия,
Веет ветром от шага полков.

Прощай, отчий край,
Ты нас вспоминай,
Прощай, милый взгляд,
Прости-прощай, прости-прощай...
 

Летят, летят года,
Уходят во мглу поезда,
А в них ? солдаты.
И в небе темном
Горит солдатская звезда.

А в них ? солдаты.
И в небе темном
Горит солдатская звезда.

Прощай, отчий край,
Ты нас вспоминай,
Прощай, милый взгляд,
Прости-прощай, прости-прощай...

Лес да степь, да в степи полустанки.
Свет вечерней и новой зари ?
Не забудь же прощанье Славянки,
Сокровенно в душе повтори!

Нет, не будет душа безучастна ?
Справедливости светят огни...
За любовь, за великое братство
Отдавали мы жизни свои.

Прощай, отчий край,
Ты нас вспоминай,
Прощай, милый взгляд,
Не все из нас придут назад.

Летят, летят года,
А песня ? ты с нами всегда:
Тебя мы помним,
И в небе темном
Горит солдатская звезда.

Прощай, отчий край,
Ты нас вспоминай,
Прощай, милый взгляд,
Прости-прощай, прости-прощай...

Play 

The moment of parting is nigh
You look into my eyes with alarm.
I sense you dear breath,
And far away the storm is already gathering.

A tremor ran through the blue, misty air,
Alarm touched my temples,
And Russia calls us to a feat,
A breathe is wafting from the the marching regiments.

Farewell, the land of  the fathers,
Remember us.
Farewell, dear glance,
Forgive-farewell, Forgive-
farewell...

Years fly buy
Trains disappear in the dark.
In them -- the soldiers.
And in the dark sky
The soldier's star is shining.

In them -- the soldiers.
And in the dark sky
The soldier's star is shining.

Farewell, the land of the fathers,
Remember us.
Farewell, dear glance,
Forgive-farewell, Forgive-
farewell...

Forests, the steppe, junctions stand in the steppe
The light of the twilight, evening, morning --
So, don't forget the Slavic woman's farewell,
Repeat it to yourself in your soul!

No, the soul will not be indifferent --
The lights of justice shine...
For love, for the great fraternity
We have sacrificed our lives.

Farewell, the land of the fathers,
Remember us.
Farewell, dear glance,
Not all of us shall return.

Years fly by,
A the song -- your are always with us.
We remember you,
And in the dark sky
The soldier's star is shining.

Farewell, the land of the fathers,
Remember us.
Farewell, dear glance,
Forgive-farewell, Forgive-
farewell...

The song was composed in 1912, as Russia was awash in rumors about the impending new Balkan War, in which the Slavs would be pitted against the Ottoman Turks, and Orthodox Christianity aganst Islam. Although, this particular war did not materialize, the song spread like wildfire, and became the most popular military march during WWI as well as WWII

Although it has its author, V. Lazarev, the text of the march that has become part of the urban folklore exists in several version. One of them, by A. Mingalev, is full of patriotic and martial spirit that is rather out of keeping with the elegiac and, perhaps, more authentic tone of the original. A more recent version was produced by Aleksandr Galich (1941 and 1970)..

The word "Slavic" in the title of the march, which otherwise invokes only Russia, is a tribute as much to the pan-Slavist ideology of the preceding century as to its transformation into Russian nationalism on the eve of WWI.

Like other iconic artifacts of the pre-1917 era, the march underwent a revival after the collapse of communism. It gave its name even to a new brand of vodka. Most notably, though, during the debates surrounding Russia's new national anthem in the 1990s, Joseph Brodsky, along with many others, including General Lebed, petitioned Boris Yeltsin to adopt "The Slavic Woman's Farewell" as the national anthem of the new Russia. Later, in 2000, during the heated controversy on the same subject under Vladimir Putin, the Yabloko Party proposed it as an alternative to both Glinka's (de fact anthem under Yeltsin) and the old Soviet workhorse.

Curiously, the march continues to carry its anthem aura even now that the the official Russian hymn has been adopted. During the greeting ceremony in Seoul in March 2001, President Putin was greeted first by the two official anthems of Russia and South Korea and immediately afterwards by Proshchanie slavianki.

The marching song is so deeply imprinted on the Russian psyche that Sergey Bodrov managed to provide a whole layer of ironic meaning in his celebrated anti-war film Prisoner of the Caucasus (1996) -- by using it as the film's main theme.

GF