Post by Nitaidas on Dec 20, 2009 7:23:14 GMT -6
Another of my favorites these days. There is a corny version by Mario Lanza with different words. I think the original words are better, though neither really capture India like the music does.
www.youtube.comwatch?v=05973b86JZk
"Do not count the diamonds in caves of stone
Do not count the pearls in the southern sea
Of distant India so full of wonders.
There is a wondrous stone, a ruby set in the warm sea;
And on that stone there is a Phoenix, a bird with the face of a maiden
Who keeps singly songs of paradise so sweetly
Scattering her feathers and covering the sea.
Whoever hears this bird will forget everything.
Do not count the diamonds in caves of stone
Do not count the pearls in the southern sea
Of distant India so full of wonders"...
A rough translation of the original words of the Russian song.
Compare those with with the Lanza version:
And still the snowy Himalayas rise
In ancient majesty before our eyes,
Beyond the plains, above the pines,
While through the ever, never changing land
As silently as any native band
That moves at night, the Ganges Shines
Then I hear the song that only India can sing,
Softer than the plumage on a black raven's wing;
High upon a minaret I stand
Upon an old enchanted land,
There's the Maharajah's caravan,
Unfolding like a painted fan,
How small the little race of Man!
See them all parade across the ages,
Armies, Kings and slave from hist'ry's pages,
Played on one of nature's vastest stages.
The turbaned Sikhs and fakirs line the streets,
While holy men in shadowed calm retreats
Pray through the night and watch the stars,
A lonely plane flies off to meet the dawn,
While down below the busy life goes on,
And women crowd the old bazaars;
All are in the song that only India can sing,
Softer than the plumage on a black raven's wing;
Tune the ageless moon and stars were strung by,
Timeless song that only could be sung by
India, the jewel of the East.
www.youtube.comwatch?v=05973b86JZk
"Do not count the diamonds in caves of stone
Do not count the pearls in the southern sea
Of distant India so full of wonders.
There is a wondrous stone, a ruby set in the warm sea;
And on that stone there is a Phoenix, a bird with the face of a maiden
Who keeps singly songs of paradise so sweetly
Scattering her feathers and covering the sea.
Whoever hears this bird will forget everything.
Do not count the diamonds in caves of stone
Do not count the pearls in the southern sea
Of distant India so full of wonders"...
A rough translation of the original words of the Russian song.
Compare those with with the Lanza version:
And still the snowy Himalayas rise
In ancient majesty before our eyes,
Beyond the plains, above the pines,
While through the ever, never changing land
As silently as any native band
That moves at night, the Ganges Shines
Then I hear the song that only India can sing,
Softer than the plumage on a black raven's wing;
High upon a minaret I stand
Upon an old enchanted land,
There's the Maharajah's caravan,
Unfolding like a painted fan,
How small the little race of Man!
See them all parade across the ages,
Armies, Kings and slave from hist'ry's pages,
Played on one of nature's vastest stages.
The turbaned Sikhs and fakirs line the streets,
While holy men in shadowed calm retreats
Pray through the night and watch the stars,
A lonely plane flies off to meet the dawn,
While down below the busy life goes on,
And women crowd the old bazaars;
All are in the song that only India can sing,
Softer than the plumage on a black raven's wing;
Tune the ageless moon and stars were strung by,
Timeless song that only could be sung by
India, the jewel of the East.