Nope, stopping at song 52 yesterday doesn't mean I'm a year younger. It means that I wanted to save the last song for a page by itself. I figured that framing this song by itself would give it a better than average chance of being played by whoever visits.
Nearly a decade ago, The Prof gave me a disc of Russian songs he'd burned for me. He collected Russian music, and since he knew I like folk music he gave me a mix that included folk and popular songs on it. A version of the following song was on this CD.
It wasn't until I was researching the songs to go on this list that I actually found out what the song means. I had been half afraid of looking up the song before, afraid that the meaning would ruin the feeling. It wasn't what I expected and it was exactly what it sounds like.
I've discovered that this is a popular song in Russia, and has been covered by many different stars there. I could not find the version that The Prof gave me online, but YouTube has many different versions, some by amateurs, some by professionals, some home filmed, some taped from television. There's a YouTube that uses the song as a Russian to English translation lesson.
I take it from the evidence at hand that I am not the only person in the world who is affected by this song. If you have never heard it before, I truly hope that I have found a version that brings the song to you the way The Prof's version did for me.
53. КАК МОЛОДЫ МЫ БЫЛИ (Kak molody my byli) written by Alexandra Pakhumtova