Tih Nye Chital _Vlastelina Kolets_
(You haven't read Lord of the Rings)
Lyrics and Music: Deglyn
Translation: Maureen S. O'Brien 

The little things come  back to me, back to me
Your apartment building  without doors, without keys
But there was Borges,  and all of Tom Waits, 
And most of Grebenshikov's tapes.

Vodka you don't drink,  only spirits or tea
But if you poured, the glass   would brim over for me.
But if you gazed at the fire  as long as a year,
My question you never would hear:

   But have you read Tolkien's Lord of the Rings?
   And have you read Tolkien's Lord of the Rings?
   And why am I sitting here with you?
   And why am I sitting here with you?

But your velvety   baritone, baritone,
Is heard as it sings,  ev'ry tone, ev'ry tone.
And your finger stalks where   the harmony walks
Like a hunter along the wolves' trail.

You fight with yourself.   You are water and flame.
I swear Aragorn   is your name, is your name.
Fall in love with you  means forget all, it's true, 
And the world becomes like one made new.

    But have you read Tolkien's Lord of the Rings?
    And have you read Tolkien's Lord of the Rings?
    And why am I still sitting here with you?
    And why am I wasting time with you?

The blushing sundown  you drank down, you drank down.
I took my glass up   and drank up, and drank up;
And I rose up, and from   my score I brushed the crumbs, 
And so was my prison term done.

You chase after me,  you catch up, you rush up;
You rant and you rave,  and that all holds me up.
"We got along. Why?    Don't tell me goodbye!"
"No problem. I'll come back," say I.

     But you have to read Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.
     Simply plan to read Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.
     And then I will stay here with you --
     Forever, and only with you.

     But you could not read Tolkien's Lord of the Rings,
     And you would not read Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.
     So why am I still sitting here with you?
     And why am I wasting time with you?

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Translated by Maureen S. O'Brien for the enjoyment of 
other fans who don't speak Russian.