Music Review: Okean Elzy
I always wondered how unusual it would be for any nation, whose native language is English, to listen to foreign music, because most of the songs that I always listened to were English-speaking and it took me a long time until I actually realized what they were singing about without asking for help from Google translate.
If you get tired of listening to songs where you understand words, there’s a great opportunity for you to explore something new and to put yourself on the place of a foreigner. Океан Ельзи (“Okean Elzy” translation: Elza’s Ocean) is a Ukrainian alternative and indie rock band. Each album has a wide variety of tunes, as the group experiments with their music.
This is how at the same time melancholy and melodic “Obiymy” (Hug Me) combines with loud and explosive “Ya ne zdamsa bez bou” (I Won’t Give Up Without A Fight). Even though the lyrics are elaborate and have a lot of sense, it’s easy to understand what the band is singing about even without words.
As an example, I would like to attach two songs with different moods.
The first one is called “On the Line of Fire”
Autumn boycott…
Between you and me
A seven-digit code
That I can’t get through
Everyone wants news
And I don’t know where to hide
I am alone
Ever since you said “no!”
(Chorus):
On the line of fire
I gave you my love
On the line of fire
You were my secret
Tell me:
Why do we live on the line of fire ?
Don’t be silent, don’t be silent…
Naive motive is starting to make sense
Among the gentle words
With which you said “no”
Run or don’t run
All the same, nobody can say
Where is the end
And if it will help me
The second one’s name is “Life Starts Again”:
You start my day at dawn
Like an unrestrained summer rain
You are an orange juice for breakfast,
On a photo with a bright raincoat.
You are flying into my window at lunchtime,
Along with the wind, that is calling the Spring
The new one, again…
A dark hair of a stranger in a cafe
That’s an evening greeting from you.
A phrase in the cinema in the final minute
It leaves an unexpected trail.
And you haven’t left a free space
in the life of mine
Your… weapon…
Somewhere in the ocean of events
Somewhere on the height of my dreams
Somewhere where love reigns
I feel like my heart is singing,
Like with you by my side
life starts again…
starts again…
There’s a place I can hear the faint sound of radio,
The near and dear words.
But here, because of that laughter afar
my head is spinning.
And every moment it seems that I notice
As fate gives me a sign
Again and again…
Somewhere in the ocean of events
Somewhere on the height of my dreams
Somewhere where love reigns
I feel like my heart is singing,
Like with you by my side
life starts again…
There’s too many of my favorite songs from this band so if you got interested and would like to listen to some more, they are:
- Стріляй (“Shoot!”) Shoot!
-
Мить (“The Moment”) The Moment
-
Обійми (“Hug Me”) Hug Me
- Коли навколо ні душі (“When No Soul Is Around”) When No Soul Is Around
This band would give a person an opportunity to learn something new about European culture and just simply find something new to listen to.
Here’s the link for their website, where you could listen to some other songs or even find this band on Itunes: Okean Elzy’s Website