Liube - Ty Nesi Menya Reka

[upthera44.livejournal.com]

I tried to translate the lyrics to this great song by Liube, "Ty Nesi Menya Reka." I'm including my translation below, please give me your corrections of the translation. I'm sure it is flawed. I also have a few specific questions about the lyrics below. Thanks!

1. In the first verse, is he asking "Where are the fields, my fields?" or is it a statement "Where the fields are, my fields."

2. The last line of the chorus, "How lonely is the moon, she awaits me in the sky"-- Does "she" refer to the moon, or is he speaking about a person?

3. What does the title literally mean? "Bring me to the river (imperative)"? If so, why is it "reka" and not "v reku" in the accusative as is usually the case with destinations?

Ты неси меня река за крутые берега
Где поля мои поля где леса мои леса
Ты неси меня река да в родные мне места
Где живет моя краса голубы у нее глаза

Как ночка темная как речка быстрая
Как одинокая луна на небе ждет меня она

За туманом огонек как же он еще далек
Ты мне ветер помоги милой весточку шепни
Знаю ждет меня краса проглядела в ночь глаза

Take me to the river, behind the steep bank
Where are the fields, my fields
Where are the forests, my forests
Take me to the river, yes to my native places
Where my beauty leaves, with blue eyes

How the night is dark, how the river is swift
How lonely is the moon, she awaits me in the sky

Behind the fog there is a light, naturally it is still far away
Help me wind, whisper a sweet message to me
I know my beauty is waiting for me, she overlooked my eyes in the night

Comments

[spiritrc.livejournal.com]

1. It's a statement. It must be clear from the intonation. It's also a part of a common "туда, где" expression. Here there is "за крутые берега" used instead of "туда". Your confusion comes from the lack of punctuation in the lyrics that you've posted. It actually should be like this:

Ты неси меня, река, за крутые берега,
Где поля мои поля, где леса мои леса.
Ты неси меня, река, да в родные мне места,
Где живет моя краса, голубы у нее глаза.

Как ночка темная, как речка быстрая,
Как одинокая луна на небе, ждет меня она.

За туманом огонек - как же он еще далек.
Ты мне ветер помоги, милой весточку шепни.
Знаю, ждет меня краса, проглядела в ночь глаза.

(if I made any mistakes in the punctuation here, there are people who will definitely correct me :) )

2. It's about a person, his beloved woman. However due to wrong intonation in the song you get confused.
It should sound as "как одинокая луна на небе (pause) ждёт меня она". I haven't heard this song (as I don't like Любэ), but I think that in order not to break the rhythm, they sing it as "как одинокая луна(pause) на небе ждет меня она".
That reminds me of a classic mistake done by children when they recite the famous part of Евгений Онегин. Many kids read it as "его лошадка, снег почуя (pause)несется в гору во весь дух на утренней заре пастух(pause) не гонит уж коров из хлева", so it sounds like it's a shepard who rushes to the hilltop in the morning, while actually it's a horse who rushes, and the shepard is the one who doesn't take his cows out of the cow-house.

3. It's "river, bring me to..." or "river, get me to..."

4. The translation

Take me,to the river, behind the steep bank
Where are the fields are, my fields
Where are the forests are, my forests
Take me,to the river,, yes to my native places
Where my beauty leaves, with blue eyes whose eyes are blue.

(You should not translate that "да" in "да в родные мне места" because in this case it's has nothing to do with "yes". It's either "and" or has no translation at all and is there to keep the rhythm only. It's an old-style way to keep the rhythm as I understand it. For instance, you may say "по морюшку синему" or "по морюшку по синему" or "по морюшку, да по синему" - it's all the same, but the latter sounds more like a bylina style).

How the night is dark, how the river is swift
How lonely is the moon in the sky, she awaits me in the sky

Behind the fog there is a light, naturally it is still far away
(I would say "behind the fog there is a light, though it's still too far away")
Help me wind, whisper a sweet message to me
I know my beauty is waiting for me, she overlooked my eyes in the night her eyes are tired looking for me in the night.