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Here is a video of a young Ukrainian girl singing. This is very traditional and old style folk music. Pay attention to how the girl dances while singing and how she is dressed. Her movements are totally those of just a girl. Streamlined, shy but at the same time very comfortable as a young female. There is no assertiveness, aggressiveness or masculinity. She is just well, a girl.

It is also a chance to listen to the language and what real Ukrainian sounds like- a song like this is a good window into the soul of the country.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y18Ycw_Dolc

The song is called The Carpathians- about the mountains in the West of the country.

Here is a brief in a nutshell translation so you won't get bored listening to strange sounds:

Cranes are flying to far away lands looking for paradise but I am staying here because this is where I grew up and where I used to talk to oak groves when little. Here is where I, as a child drank water from the stream. My hair is golden like wheat because the autumn in Ukraine is golden and my eyes are blue because the nights, the sky, and the water in Ukraine are blue.

Boy, the images do tell this website's story far better than our words can do, don't they? If that's a window into the Ukrainian soul, I sure do like what I see of it.

Here are some more videos which I have found very relaxing.

I have attempted to translate the lyrics; please read them before you listen to them:

My Native Village

Village,my home village
People arrived here by far away roads
And those who are living here now are
Kind and dear to us.
This village is beloved by me always
With its apple orchards and forests around
When I get home and walk into the house
I will put together a beautiful song about the village
Refrain:

May God give people in our peaceful home a destiny of abundance
May he help us live a thousand years and make our nation even greater

The name of our village is a thousand years old,
I will strive to make it even better known and greater
We lived in our father's home, we bloomed like poppie flowers under the auspices of the mother
And then we stepped into the unknown world...( unclear)
Oh village, you were always respected by our ancestors
They would sow crops in vegetable patches and fields
This is our land
I will stop at the threshold, bow deeply to my mother
As thanks for the cherry at the end of the village
Which I used to eat when young.
Oh village, like a crane, I have arrived back from far away voyages and upon seeing you, my youth came back.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8kV1sLi ... re=related

My native land, Ukraine

The rustling hedges, the blooming orchards
May you, the revived Motherland live
In the divine charm of your beauty
You suffered a lot and bore a lot of pain
And through the torments you kept your hope alive
You did not wish to be subjugated by enemies
And could never put up with the life of slavery
They would put chains on you and take you
To an unjust trial
They would torture you, oh innocent one
And put a wreath of thorns on your head.
When you gave away your heroes to fight bloody battles
You would wait and cry and pray
And harbor eternal memory of them
Your heroes arise from the dead and fight for freedom again
They never die, they live undyeing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwhUj3UB ... re=related

Shucks, so hard to translate and sounds so clumsy..

Music and poetry is a window into the soul of the people. For those who are Ukraine-bound, this may help you pick up on the vibe of the culture.