5 on Friday - 47

Travis at Trav's Thoughts invites everyone to lay down a short set of music that takes their fancies for his 5 on Friday meme.

Just in time for New Year's Eve! Here are some selections from a gorgeous set of films watched every single year by millions of Russians, in the same way that North Americans watch It's a Wonderful Life.

I cannot tell you how much I love these films and the music from them.

1 - Original film score for Ironiya sudby (The Irony of Fate) - Composed by Mikael Tariverdiev

This is a medley of the major musical themes that appear in the film. They're repeated in the sequel, made thirty-two years later. This clip contains scenes from both films. The two principal actors from the first film are the older couple in the sequel footage.

I just adore the melancholy magic of this musical score. It gets in my head and in my heart and just nestles in.



2 - Yesli u vas netu tyoti ( If You Have No Auntie) - Konstantin Khabensky

The film is peppered with what is known as ambient music, or music which appears in the scene itself (not as overdubbed soundtrack that only the audience can hear.) The characters are musical and the action stops - as in a musical - for a song. But it's entirely as a cultural reality, and not as the suspension of disbelief that a true musical employs, when the character's inner monologue becomes song and dancing breaks out.

The composer used the poetry of major Russian literary figures for his lyrics, and set music to them, drawing on a form known as the author song movement, or bard songs - these arose in the 1960s as something similar to the western beatnik movement.

Here the actor who plays the son of the major romantic lead from the original film sings the song his character's father once sang.

If you don't have a house
It won't catch fire
And your wife won't leave you

If you haven't
If you haven't
If you haven't got a wife
Got a wife

If you don't have a dog
A neighbour won't poison it
You won't fight with a friend

The orchestra is playing loudly
trumpets blow...
You must think for yourself
To have or have not

If you don't have an auntie
You can't lose her
And if you don't live
You can't die

The orchestra is playing loudly
Trumpets blow...
You must think for yourself
To have or not to have

- Aronov / Tariverdiev




3 - I Bless You - Alla Pugacheva

Both main actors had their singing voices dubbed over by professional singers in the original Irony of Fate. Here Nadya, played by Barbara Brylska, sings with the voice of the woman who became a major singing star in Russia - Alla Pugacheva.

I want to ask the mirror
With the cloudy, misty dreams

I want to make it tell me
Where you are heading
And where will you find shelter

I see
The mast of a tall ship
And you standing on the deck
And in the stern of the train
I see fields

Wrapped in the dusky sadness
The evening fields in dew
Ravens circling over them

I bless you
I bless you
I bless you
To go wherever you want

- Tariverdiev / Tsvetaeva




4 - Ya sprosil u yasenya (I Asked the Ash Tree) - Sergey Nikitin

Although this scene follows Nadya through a difficult decision, the song is performed by Zhenya, played by Andrey Myagkov and sung by Sergey Nikitin. This is one of the only times in the film where the song functions as in a normal musical, revealing character development without being an ambient performance.

I asked the ash-tree:
Where is my loved one?
The ash-tree didn't answer me
It just shook its head

I asked the poplar:
Where is my loved one?
The poplar threw its autumn leaves
All over me

I asked autumn:
Where is my loved one?
Autumn answered
With a pouring rain

I asked the rain:
Where is my loved one?
The rain shed its tears
Outside my window

- Kirshon / Tariverdiev




5 - Opyat Metel (Snowstorm Again) - Alla Pugacheva and Kristina Orbakayte

For the sequel, released for the thirty-year anniversary of the original film, the main singing star from Ironiya sudby is joined by her real-life daughter, to sing about the complicated love lives of the mother and daughter characters in the second film.

Not closing the door behind you
I live for another year

And since then
My unintentional losses
I'm waiting for someone

Again a snowstorm
And the past suffers in darkness

Again a snowstorm
Two eternities united
In one short day

Forgive me
Without understanding me
Don't languish on the threshhold
For long

Because of our
Second chance at love
Our past will become
Ancient history

- Lyrics by unknown artist

5 on Friday - Set 5

For my fifth set, I've collected several songs featured in films by one of my favorite directors - Timur Bekmambetov of Kazakhstan, formerly one of the Soviet republics.



If you've seen the Angelina Jolie - James McAvoy action film Wanted, then you've seen a Bekmambetov film.

"Timur Bekmambetov established himself as a master of dense narrative. His films often surprise the viewers with eerie details, hectic pace and unusual twists and turns, and remain a challenge even for experienced audiences." - Steve Shelokhonov

Bekmambetov somehow managed not only to become a filmmaker who pushes the envelope by any country's standard, but he emerged onto the film scene at a time when the collapse of the Soviet Union meant there was no longer a distribution infrastructure for Russian films (a new one is still rising from the ashes.) He comes from the first generation of artists out of Russia who can choose to work in Hollywood without having to defect in order to do so.

"We understood from the very beginning," he says, "that Russia needs big, ambitious and brave film-making. Before us, there was only art-house - great, talented movies for European festivals - and very bad, very cheap and creatively weak commercial movies."

For today's 5 on Friday, here are songs which capture the Bekmambetov soundtrack style: kick-ass rock, often showcasing Russian rock bands. For the sequel to a beloved Russian New Year's film, he put a new twist on the cherished memory of the original.

To play along, visit Travis at Trav's Thoughts.


1 - Every Day is Exactly the Same - Nine Inch Nails - Wanted soundtrack, 2008

I believe I can see the future
'Cause I repeat the same routine
I think I used to have a purpose
Then again
That might have been a dream

- Trent Reznor




2 - Shatter - Feeder - Night Watch soundtrack, 2006

Coming around my senses torn
It's no illusion
It's here everyday
I bleed
As long as you see it
As long as you know
As long as you fake it
Nobody knows

Break down again
I'm suffering
My head's out of sync
And I can't hide the pain

- Feeder




3 - Voronka - Slot - Night Watch soundtrack, 2006

No matter how determined I was, I couldn't find any translated lyrics for this one.




4 - Another Snowstorm (Opiat metel) - Alla Pugacheva and Kristina Orbakaite - Irony of Fate 2 soundtrack, 2007

This real-life mother and daughter duo gives voice to the complicated love lives of the mother and daughter characters in the film.

Translated lyrics:

Not closing the door behind you
I live for another year
And since then
The countdown of my unwitting losses
Has resurrected
Is waiting for someone

Again a snowstorm
And the past
Is getting anxious in the dark
Again a snowstorm
Where two eternities merge into one short day

Forgive me
Without knowing it

Don't suffer, standing there by a doorway
Our resurrected love
Will last for a lifetime

- Konstantin Meladze




5 - If You Don't Have an Aunt (Yesli u vas netu tyoti) - Konstantin Khabensky - Irony of Fate 2, 2007

Translated lyrics:

If you don't have a house
It cannot be destroyed by a fire
And your wife will not leave you for another
If you don't, if you don't, if you don't have a wife
If you don't have a wife

If you don't have a dog
It won't be poisoned by a neighbour
You will never get into a fight with your friend
If you don't, if you don't, if you don't have a friend
If you don't have a friend

The orchestra is playing bass
The trumpet player is blowing his brass
Think for yourself, decide for yourself: to have, or not to have

If you don't have an aunt
You won't lose her
And if you don't live
You won't die, you won't die

The orchestra is playing bass
The trumpet player is blowing his brass
Think for yourself, decide for yourself: to have, or not to have

- Alexander Aronov



Jamie says Since these were movies that I haven't seen it was nice to hear the music as it supported the films.

Travis says I like the way you play! I get to hear the music and see the video.

Jennifer Leeland says I LOVED "Wanted". Even though it didn't really have a happy ending. I still loved it.