The Sacred War (Svyaschennaya Voyna) - The Alexandrov Ensemble

Russians make for good singers

Vstavai, strana ogromnaya! - Arise, vast country!
Vstavai, na smertny boi! - Arise for a fight to the death!
Fascistkoy siloy tyomnoyu! - Against the dark fascist forces!
S proklyatnayu ordoi! - Against the cursed hordes!

CHORUSx2 :


#Pust jarost blagarodnaya,- Let noble wrath,

Skipaet kak volna! - Boil up like a wave,
Idyot voyna narodnaya! - This is the people's war!
Svyaschennaya Voyna!# - A sacred war!

Dadim otpor dushitelyam,- We shall repulse the oppressors
Vsech plamminech idey! - Of all ardent ideas!
Vasil nikam grabitelyam,- The rapists and the plunderers,
Muschitelyam lyudey! - The torturers of people!

CHORUSx2

Ni smeyut krilya chorniye,- The black wings shall not dare
Nad rodinoy letat! - Fly over the Motherland!
Polya ejo prostorniye,- On her spacious fields,Ne smeyit vraag toptat! - The enemy shall not dare tread!

CHORUSx2

Gniloy, fascistkoy nyechisti! - We shall drive a bullet into the forehead,Zagonim pulyu lob! - Of the rotten fascist filth!
Otrebju chelovechestvo! - We shall build a solid coffin!
Skolotim krepkiy grob! - For the scum of humanity!

CHORUSx2



The Sacred War (Svyaschennaya Voyna in Russian) is both a Russian Folk Song and a patriotic march song. It was written in 1943 by Aleksandr Aleksandrov and was sung by the Alexandrov Ensemble, more popularly known today by the name of the Russian Red Army Choir. This song has serious and extreme patriotic overtones, to the point of making God Save The Queen look moderate in comparison. However, given the circumstances under which the song was sung and written, it's hardly surprising and understandable.

For a patriotic song, it does what it's supposed to do. The first stanza itself is very much uplifting and urgent; it calls for the Soviet people to stand and fight against the foreign aggressors. At that time, their enemies were the fascist Nazi Germans under the direction of Adolf Hitler. The term vstavai was used intentionally and repeated for effect; the word means Stand Up! or Arise! in Russian, and was well-placed at the beginning to give the Soviet people a sense of urgency to act against oppressors.

The chorus too is uplifting. It likens the wrath of the Russian people to an unstoppable wave, and most importantly it gives possession to the Soviet people not only towards their own country, but also the war. This is evinced in the lines ,"Idyot voyna narodnaya! Svyaschennaya Voyna!", which means "This is the people's war, A Sacred War!" To spread these concepts to a people at is crucial; citizens of a country must believe that their country belongs to them, and that they must also believe that they stand a chance of victory.

Victory Day Parade 2012 commemorating the victory over Nazi Germany.

The last three stanzas reinforce the whole patriotic theme of the song. It assures the people that the oppressors shall be halted and thrown back (Dadim otpor dusitelyam! Vsech plamminech idey!), that the planes and airforce of the enemy will not so much as lay a finger to precious Soviet skies (Ni smeyut krilya chorniye, nad rodinoy letat!), that their soldiers and tanks will not gain any more ground (Polya ejo prostornoiye, ne smeet vraag toptat!), and that every single enemy that so chooses to try will pay for it with their lives (Gniloy fascisti nyecisti, zagonim pulyu lob!). This too is important; it gives the people a reason to fight and a reason to believe in victory. In times of war, it is important that the people of a nation remind themselves that no matter what, victory will be the final outcome. To have victory, one must believe in it. That helps to make the fight bearable for all intents and purposes.

Russian tanks in Berlin

All in all, The Sacred War is a good patriotic song, so much so that it makes me patriotic for Russia. After all, in the war they lost 20 million people and suffered the most destruction. Yet today, Russia is the 11th largest economy and the fastest growing economy in the world. The Sacred War is a monument and testament to the hard willpower of the Russian people. This is certainly a trait anyone could learn to attain.

If you have any comments, leave them below. :)

This is Nik Rashid, signing off. :)

Feeling good- Nina simone, Michael Buble, Muse, Carly Rose Sonenclar

Birds flyin' high, you know how I feel

Sun in the sky, you know how I feel
Breeze driftin' on by, you know how I feel
It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me.
Yeah, it's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me, ooooooooh...
And I'm feelin' good.This stanza is as if the singer is feeling high above the sky

We can say that he or she is going through a reincarnation, when it says it's a new life for me.

And feeling good

Fish in the sea, you know how I feel
River runnin' free, you know how I feel
Blossom on the tree, you know how I feel
It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me,
And I'm feelin' good

This song puts too much of "You know how I feel" which make it weird.

Feeling good is one of a legendary song which only certain people can sing.
Carly Rose Sonenclar, Muse and Michael Buble are the people who make the song become more appreciated by the music lovers.
They are many genres for this song such as Jazz and Rock.
The original singer is NINA SIMONE.

As always, if you have any comments or suggestions, leave them below :)
This is Aina, signing off

                              

Everything You Do – m2m

This song portrays a distant yet surreptitious love between 2 individuals. I can infer that the writer  has a sense of love at first sight from the first two stanzas of the song:

From the moment you looked at me
And ever since you called my name
You've been everything that I've seen
And know I'm caught up in this game

My mind is spinning round and around
There's something special I have found
Every time I close my eyes
All I can think of is you and me
Oh baby can't you see

It is clear to me that the girl has a great liking towards a certain guy. She admires this person from afar and dreams of being together with him some point in life.

However in the 2nd verse that goes:

They're trying to build a fence
By saying that this won't last
They tell me I don't have a chance
That everything moves too fast

But every time I close my eyes
All I can think of is you and me
Oh baby can't you see


I believe that though people are giving doubts that their relationships would not work out, but nevertheless, she is persistent in being pursuing the relationship further regardless of what people around her think. She could not care less of their negative remarks and comments. She loves the guy and does not want to let her hopes down.

On the other hand, the chorus that goes:

That everything you do
Everything that you do
Makes me wanna go...
Everything you say
Everything that you say
Makes me wanna go...

Though it may sound rather monotonous and repetitive, but nevertheless I can infer that the girl admires every action that the guy does and every word that the guy says. The man is truly the apple of the eye for the lady.

If you have questions, or perhaps anything to say, leave them in the comments section below. :D

This is Nazim, and thanks for reading. :)

The Man Comes Around - Johnny Cash

The title says it all : Armageddon!

And I heard as it were the noise of thunder
One of the four beasts saying come and see and I saw
And behold a white horse


There's a Man going around taking names
And He decides who to free and who to blame
Everybody won't be treated all the same
There'll be a golden ladder reaching down
When the Man comes around


The hairs on your arm will stand up
At the terror in each sip and in each sup
Will you partake of that last offered cup?
Or disappear into the potter's ground
When the Man comes around

Chorus

#Hear the trumpets, hear the pipers
One hundred million angels singing
Multitudes are marching to the big kettledrum
Voices calling, voices crying
Some are born and some are dying
It's Alpha and Omega's kingdom come


And the whirlwind is in the thorn tree
The virgins are all trimming their wicks
The whirlwind is in the thorn tree
It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks#

STANZA 2

Till Armageddon no shalam, no shalom
Then the father hen will call his chickens home
The wise man will bow down before the throne
And at His feet they'll cast their golden crowns
When the Man comes around


Whoever is unjust let him be unjust still
Whoever is righteous let him be righteous still
Whoever is filthy let him be filthy still
Listen to the words long written down
When the Man comes around

CHORUS

In measured hundred weight and penny pound
When the Man comes around.

Close (Spoken part)
And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts
And I looked and behold, a pale horse
And his name that sat on him was Death
And Hell followed with him.

Johnny Cash is one of the few phenomenal American classical country singers. He is popular for having a knack for combining the elements of country, gospel and rock and roll in his songs. In this one, The Man Comes Around, has predominantly Abrahamic undertones as it talks about Armageddon.

This song is one of my favorites because it has a religious theme to it. Even though he is Christian, in this song when he sings about the day of Judgment, Johnny Cash does not use any Biblical terms. If we look at the song's lyrics, Jesus Christ is not mentioned anywhere. Johnny Cash refers to God as the Man, and while in Islam we do not associate Allah SWT with anyone or anything, out of the sake language we always refer to Allah by the male pronoun and in capital letters. It must be understood that Johnny Cash used the term Man not to attribute a human quality to God; capitalizing the term separates it from being used in a more general context. Precisely because of his choice of words, as a Muslim I am still able to relate to the message of the song.



More importantly, this song has a very good message. In the first stanza, the singer says that "There'll be a Man going around taking names, And He decides who to free and who to blame." As with the Christians and the Jews, we Muslims too believe in the day of Judgement. We too believe that only God has the sole right to judge all of mankind for their sins and deeds. This line is a reminder to me and others everyone will be taken into account, and their actions will all be brought to judgement. It is a good reminder; we are all living towards the End of Times, and it would be good if we took note of this. After all, we all "won't be treated the same" and will face our judgement as God sees fit.

In the second stanza, the singer talks about how all humans, whoever they were on Earth, will be on the same level on the day of Judgement. It doesn't matter if you were smart or dumb, or whether you had titles or fame, because:

The wise man will bow down before the throne
And at His feet they'll cast their golden crowns
When the Man comes around

This is the same thing that I believe in as a Muslim. When the world ends, all that humanity makes for itself will be nothing but ashes. All that will be left for us is our deeds and our sins. Who we acted or pretended to be in life will not be the criteria for our judgement. God doesn't care if we were politicians, rich or poor. We will all be judged for what we have done.

Overall, Johnny Cash has combined his excellent style and genre with a good message. People of different faiths, be it the Jew, the Christian or the Muslim, should definitely give this song a try.

Give your thoughts and opinions down below! Happy to read them!

Thanks for reading people, Nik Rashid, signing off.

Johnny Cash in his younger years.

Fall- Justin Bieber

Well let me tell you a story
About a girl and a boy
He fell in love with his best friend
When she's around, he feels nothing but joy
But she was already broken, and it made her blind
But she could never believe that love would ever treat her right
But did you know that I love you? or were you not aware?
You're the smile on my face
And I ain't going nowhere
I'm here to make you happy, i'm here to see you smile
I've been wanting to tell you this for a long while

What's gonna make you fall in love
I know you got your wall wrapped all the way around your heart
Don't have to be scared at all, oh my love
But you can't fly unless you let ya,
You can't fly unless you let yourself fall

This song is mainly about Justin and Selena, obviously.( Although they are no longer together)

It tells to the audience about how a boy and girl fall in love with each other and going through a phase of hardness and happiness.

The boy tried to convince the girl to believe in him and let herself fall.
When I listen to this song, it makes me want to fall in love and hoping for someone to catch me
The song is just "sweet"

The rhythm of the song works perfectly well for romantic dinner, wedding and prom.

Hope you guys enjoyed reading this one! If you have anything to ask or say, leave em in the comments area.

This is Aina, and happy reading people!

Picture of You- Boyzone

From an overall view, I would have to say that this song is mainly about a guy who underestimated a friend there was there all this while. In the first Stanza that goes:


Didn't they say that I would make a mistake
Didn't they say you were gonna be trouble
People told me you were too much to take
I couldn't see it I didn't want to know
I let you in and you let me down
You messed me up and you turned my life around

I can infer that the people around this man we're commenting bad aspect towards this one peculiar friend of his. initially, his friend was acting very odd and behave's strangely. Then in the second Stanza:


You left me feeling I had nowhere to go
I was alone how was I to know that
You'd be there when I needed somebody
You'd be there the only one who could help me
I had a picture of you in my mind
Never knew it could be so wrong
Why'd it take me so long just to find
The friend that was there all along

He realized that his friend was not that bad after all. His friend would always be there for him when he needed him the most. Despite of strange behavior, his friend has a beautiful heart and was always willing to lend a helping hand. In the end, they turned out to be the best of friends.

This song was the theme song for the Mr.Bean the Movie. This song is very memorable for me as this particular movie was one of my favorite movies when I was a child. Every time I hear this song I feel nostalgic and will always reminisce those old memories of mine that I will cherish for a life time.

I'd be happy to get some other thoughts on this. Leave em in the comments section peeps.

Love, Nazim! :D

Just The Way You Are- Bruno Mars

Oh, her eyes, her eyes make the stars look like they're not shinin'
Her hair, her hair falls perfectly without her tryin'
She's so beautiful
And I tell her everyday

First of all, why are you stammering? because you are sick.
It is so amazing when you have the time to tell her beautiful everyday

don't you have something else to do? don't you have a job?

And it's so, it's so sad to think that she don't see what I see
But every time she asks me do I look okay?
I say There's not a thing that I would change
'Cause you're amazing
Just the way you are
The whole world stops and stares for awhile
'Cause girl, you're amazing
Just the way you are

How can a girl look amazing when she has a stomach ache or puking? Isn't it look weird?

When the whole world stops and stares for a while, that girl might be ugly, everybody would probably stop and say "what is wrong with you girl?"

However, despite all the criticism Bruno Mars, I still love you :)

If you guys have anything to add, do so in the comments! Thanks people!

With love, Aina! <3