Katyusha

A rousing Russian rendition of the World War II Soviet hit Katyusha to send us into the weekend.

The song is one of longing by a young woman who is waiting for her intended away with the Red Army.  Written in 1938, it was not performed until 1941 when young ladies from a Moscow industrial school serenaded Soviet troops on their way to the front with it.   Needless to say, the song was massively popular with soldiers in the Red Army ever after.

Pears and apples blossomed on their branches.
Mist (was) creeping on the river.
Katyusha set out on the banks,
On the steep and lofty bank.
She was walking, singing a song
About a grey steppe eagle,
About her true love,
Whose letters she was keeping.
Oh you song! Little song of a maiden,
Head for the bright sun.
And reach for the soldier on the far-away border
Along with greetings from Katyusha.
Let him remember an ordinary girl,
And hear how she sings,
Let him preserve the Motherland,
Same as Katyusha preserves their love.

The Soviet mass rocket launchers during the war were nicknamed Katyushas, after the song, by Red Army troops due to the fact that they were constructed at the Voronezh Komintern Factory and were marked with a K.  I am sure the Germans would have much preferred the song.