This well-known Russian romance "Dorogoi Dlinnoiu", which means "By the Long Road", was the original song that became a big hit for Mary Hopkins in 1968 when rewritten by Eugene Raskin as "Those Were the Days". It was composed by Boris Fomin (1900 – 1948) with lyrics by Konstantin Podrevskyi.
The famous Russian singer Alexander Vertinskyi sang this song in the early ’20s and there is a possibility that he was singing the first version of Fomin’s song.
The first official recording of the song in the Soviet Union is dated 1925, and it came out in 10,000 copies with a portrait of the singer Tamara Tsereteli.
The song was popular with Russian immigrants in Paris in the 1920s, where it was heard in Russian restaurants and taverns. By this time it was more known and popular abroad than in Russia.
Lyrics and chords:
Em
Ekhali na troyke s bubentsami,
E7 ............................. Am
A vdali mel'kali ogon'ki...
.......................................... Em
Ekh, kogda by sokoliki za vami,
B7
Dushu by razveyat' ot toski!
Chorus:
Em
Dorogoy dlinnoyu,
.................... Am
Da nochkoy lunnoyu,
..................... D
Da s pesney toy,
.......... D7 ............... G
Chto vdal' letit zvenya,
.................. Am
Da stoy starinnoyu,
................. Em
Da semistrunnoyu,
................... B7
Chto po nocham
........................... Em
Tak muchila menya.
Tak zhiv'a bez radosti, bez muki,
Pomnyu ya ushedshiye goda
I tvoi serebryanie ruki
V troyke, uletevshey navsegda.
Dni begut, pechali umnozhaya,
Mne tak trudno proshloe zabit’.
Kak-nibud’ odnazhdi, dorogaya,
Vi menya svezete horonit’.
You can see a playlist of my European and South American songs here: [ Ссылка ]
I am now posting lyrics to the information panels on all my videos. Any that are too long to post in full will be found on my website: [ Ссылка ]
