Black Raven

You won’t find a single word of English in it, but here’s an English question: what feeling does this Cossack song convey to you?

You don’t need to understand Russian  to play the game. Empathy is a universal:

Did you feel sadness, longanimity, and the spaciousness of the Russian Steppes? Interestingly, you need at least 3 English words to get anywhere near the emotion that the song evokes. In Russian, it’s a single word, a word in common use: a bull’s-eye.

The main singer, the woman who begins the song, is Pelageya (Пелагея Серге́евна Ханова). The song is Black Raven (Чёрный ворон). It’s from the Cossack tradition. There’s a translation here.

This talented Kraków singer sent me the video and it puts the ‘coach and team singalongs’ of the British version of The Voice to shame.

© Sing Better English, 2015

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