Песня о сентиментальном боксёре [Pesnya o sentimental'nom boxere] [English translation]

A jab, a jab… Another jab...

A body punch… and look!

Boris Butkéev1(Krasnodár)2

Now lands a perfect hook.

He promptly cornered me once more:

I barely escaped.

An uppercut… I’m on the floor

And feeling quite unwell!

Butkéev was thinking, while crushing my jaws,

That life can’t be better, it has no flaws!

A ref counts seven. I still lie,

All my supporters pray.

I’m getting up, I bob and dive,

I’m scoring on the way.

It’s just a lie that I save strength

Before the final rounds.

To hit a person in the face

I can’t on moral grounds.

Butkéev was thinking, while crushing my ribs,

That life can’t be better, it’s perfect indeed!

And bleachers yell, and bleachers scream:

“A coward! Finish him!”

Butkeev swarms, he’s stepping in,

And on the ropes I lean.

But he came through. Persistent chap,

Siberian3by birth.

I said to him: “Will you relax?

You’re running out of breath!

But he would not listen, he only exhales:

That life can’t be better, and it never fails!

But he still hits: a hulk of sort,

A problem on my hands.

Well, boxing’s not a fight, but [a] sport

Of fearless, valiant men.

He punched me once, he punched again,

And … to the floor he slips.

A referee then raised my arm

Which landed zero hits.

He’s lying and thinking that life is quite good,

For someone it’s good, but for others it’s rude!

1. Just like Vysotsky, Boris Butkeev was an artist of Taganka Theater in Moscow. The use of his name in this song is an insider joke.2. A large city in Southern Russia.3. The city of Krasnodar in not located in Siberia, but Krasnoyarsk is. Another joke by Vysotsky