... in quite a Russian mood today, after an old recording of "by the long road" (some of you may know it as "those were the days") unexpectedly caught in my throat and brought me to tears. leave it to the Americans to put sweet, nostalgic lyrics to this rather heartbreaking folk song.

my treasured piece was ill-gotten during the ancient days of Napster, doesn't appear to exist online, and is performed live, with the appropriate gravitas, by the uniquely voiced Grebenshchikov:

Дорогой длинною, да ночью лунною,
Да с песней той, что вдаль летит звеня,
И с той старинною с той семиструнною,
Что по ночам так мучала меня...

Along a long road and on a moonlit night
And with that song that flies into the distance, ringing
And with that ancient, seven-stringed guitar
That, on past nights, tortured me so much...