We all are Ukrainian now

на підтримку україни (in support of Ukraine)

Hi all,

Thank you for joining me for this week’s songs. They are both on the same topic, the war in Ukraine.

As with most everything, there are many ways to interpret things. I invite you to leave a question or comment at the end.

For Japanese students, vocabulary words in bold are provided in Japanese.

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The Song

(294 words)

The first song is Ukrainian Now by Tom Paxton, a singer-songwriter since the 1960s, and John McCutcheon, a folk singer-songwriter who has been producing music since the 1970s. In this song from 2022, they sing about the experience of someone who is watching the news about the current war in Ukraine and how the person can no longer sit by and be passive about the horror that is happening in that country.

The lyrics are pretty clear, but I’ll explain a few things that some people might not understand.

Davids against the Goliath - In the Bible, there is a story about a young boy, David, who fought a giant, Goliath. David won the battle. In this song, it refers to the “Davids”, the people of Ukraine, and the “Goliath”, the Russian invasion.

Muscovite - a person who is from Moscow, Russia.

Rabbi - a Jewish scholar or spiritual leader. (ラビ )

I am the Rabbi learning to pray with my feet means that people are attending demonstrations against the conflict (with my feet = marching) and those people are of various religious faiths, including rabbis. Rabbi is pronounced /ˈræb.aɪ/ .

While others are mounting resistance (抵抗を組織る) and risking it all - In other words, other people are taking action to stop the invasion of Ukraine, for example, Russian citizens going against their government to protest in the streets.

How can we stand by impassive when we hear their call? How can people not show any emotion when they hear about what is happening there?

Ukrainian Now by John McCutcheon and Tom Paxton

The second song for today, I am a Soldier Now, was written just recently by Brian Cullen, a professor in Nagoya, Japan. He has been writing songs and performing music around Japan for 30 years (see notes below).

This is a touching song about how the lives of everyday citizens in Ukraine have been so drastically changed.

I Am a Soldier Now by Brian Cullen

The following vocabulary might be useful:

embrace 抱きすくめる

wander 漂う

shell 砲弾

sup 飲む

slaughter 虐殺

corpse 死体

torture 拷問

behind the lines 戦線の背後

conceit 自惚れ

invader 外敵

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NOTES

Brian Cullen’s song was found on his YouTube page at:

https://www.youtube.com/@briancullenmusic . Please consider subscribing! He also has a new CD out, singing with Sarah Mulvey. It’s called Bubbles. Check out their page on bandcamp at https://brianandsarah.bandcamp.com/

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Extra!

There are many songs and groups singing in support of the Ukrainian people. Below are three:

Slava Ukraini! A song about War in Ukraine

Slava Ukraine means “Glory to Ukraine’

Where is the love?(Peace for Ukraine and Russia)

Thousands of Estonians Sing “Oi u luzi chervona kalyna” to Support Ukraine

Kalyna is a kind of red flower that is a symbol of Ukraine.