53 brit here, this song exudes the futility of war and the angst of the ordinary joe bloggs in the scheme of things.go to war pigs by sabbath same theme
Simply one of the greatest songs ever written...a masterpiece if you will. Thanx for the terrific post!!!!!! From Tim in Ontario, Canada...very much appreciated!!!
truly one of the great songs ever written about the absolute misery of war. most human beings have no idea just how bad humanity has treated each other and this planet. WHEN WILL LEARN?
@Kharkovkid: Probably not one American in 100 realizes that The Great Patriotic War was essentially won with Russian blood. America did its part, of course, invading Italy and France and beating back the Nazis, but without Russia turning back the German war machine at Stalingrad it probably would have been a different story. And had it not been for Hitler's various blunders on the Eastern Front, the war might have been quite different; Germany had the firepower to conquer all of Europe.
@LifeinSlowLane ... very true. World War II was not just about "us" and the Russian valiance renders the subsequent Cold War all the more tragic and bitterly ironic.
of course, without the red army winning and the bolsheviks taking control, and making a treaty with hitler to not attack him unless he tried to move beyond europe, none of that would have happened. if he had never invaded them, they would have been content to let him win mainland europe for himself. "great patriotic war" my hairy butt...they only got involved because he attacked them first, russia was waiting to clean up the scraps when it was done.
@LifeinSlowLane RIGHT! Vast majority of Americans have their heads up their asses about the rest of the world because of our myopic educational experience. I know first hand as a product of the idiotic American education system. Thank God I questioned it all and got a "real" education and read, read, read, and read!!!! And lived all over the world!!! Now living OUTSIDE America!!!! Loved this song in the 70s!!!! AL STEWART STILL ROCKS!!
@Karnakdmagnificent Appreciate your input and Freedom of Speech (THAT did NOT come from your commie friends,) came from AMERICA AND AMERICANS! Keep yaking your dckhole but please don't come back to America. Pete Reeves 1908 Pine Ave., Altoona, PA
@ReevesPete if you think you REALLY have freedom of speech--- just go out and try to exercise your illusion of freedom-- incl freedom of speech-- in America today! The country is owned by monstrous corporations and their ultra rich "captains" who will make sure you are shut down and hauled off. America started dying with the Vietnam genocide war. It's a dying culture of rabid consumption now....RIP the once great place
@LifeinSlowLane NOT one mention of the Soviet Union first siding with Germany. TALK ABOUT MYOPIC! NOT one mention of the Purges prior to the war or the LockDown of Eastern Europe following the war. And the fact is Vietnam and Korea should be hateful of Communism and the Soviets for bankrolling their wars and deaths. America responded but it was the Communist who made it possible (THE DEAT AND DESTRUCTION!) We were ready to build roads, schools, hospitals, KFC's...
I used to listen to this incredible song in the 70s; it was burned into my memory. You can feel the vastness of Russia, the unstoppable German Panzer divisions, the misery of a Russian winter thwarting the Germans, the guerilla warfare defeating them. What a fantastic song! And above all, the meaninglessness of a single soldier's life in the millions of humanity who died at the hands of the Germans, or at the hands of a brutal regime, that of Joseph Stalin. This was the Great Patriotic War.
had a friend david guderian 3rd cousin of heinz guderian famous german general.funny thing he said people thought he was bohemian when they heard his name.remember he pointed out this out 70 ford ltd in the yard and he said ed see how its leaning.it had a lean on it.he borrowed $700 on it from the barneveld bank guess he was a friend of the bankers he used it to buy dortmunder beer.most days wed go into the village bar for some beers and great burgers..
WRT the Tiger tank, in certain circumstances low tech and ease/rate of manufacture is the way to go, as it was here. I was wrong about the T34 designer ~ Mikhail Koshkin tho'. He was awarded the Order of the Red Star, but two years posthumously!
this song was inspired by the experience of Alexander Solzhenitsyn who ws kept prisoner by the Germans for a day. From his experience he wrote One day in the life of Ivan Denisovich Оди́н день Ива́на Дени́совича and the Gulag archepeligo read it and find out what the song is realy about
@drfjcmd Sorry but greatturbo is entirely worng. The song is written about a Russian soldier who serves his country but is betrayed and imprisoned by Stalin regime.. the Ivan Denisovitch novel was written from Solzhenistyn's experiences in the Stalinist labour camps. Turbo should really do some research
@claytonave YOUR SO RIGHT.REMBER THIS BOOK MY GRANDFATHER HAD I WAS A PRISONER IN RUSSIA ABOUT A AMERICAN CITIZEN WHO ENDED UP IN SIBERIA SLAVE LABOR CAMP.EXPOSED TO UNBELIEVABLE EXTREME CONDITIONS MEN FORCED TO PUSH TRAIN CARS BY HAND.
I found this song when I was 10, and was immediately taken back by it. The historical tale, melody. I loved it then and still do, the only song of his I love. My favorite line is, "In the footsteps of Napoleon, the shadowed figures stagger through the winter." The imagery created by that one line is haunting to me.
Stalin's order No. 280.......any russian who surrendered to the germans was considered a traitor. They and their families were sent to the Gulags. Russian prisoners faced a choice......either starve or fight for the germans. Al Stewart's song tells the story of this russian tradgedy.
the stalinists' insane demand for unalloyed fealty carried monumental consequences for the disloyal....life-long imprisonment in the gulag, death to the traitor, family and friends, on and on. thank you al stewart for putting to music this ghastly orwellian horror show. and what substantiated this weary young solider's crime? a mere day's internment by the nazis. your life, spoiled. like the microscopic drop of black paint in ellison's bucket of white, that one day was betrayal enough
No its not. Its told from the point of view of a Russian who survives the opening battles of Barbarrosa, is captured and escapes, survives the battle of Stalingrad, fights his way to Berlin, and then is sent to Gulag as he allowed himself to be captured early on in the war.
@esf428 No, Steven - it is the narrative of a Russian soldier, the battles in Eastern Europe and then the subsequent siege of Moscow by Germany. After being taken prisoner for a day, the soldier returns but under Stalin, after the war, any soldier who had been taken by the enemy, regardless for how long, would find himself sent to the gulags.
I've never heard this one before. But then my local radio stations (which really suck) don't play a lot of Al Stewart. I am very thankful for Youtube and all the posters who are actually keeping alive great music.
One of my teachers when I was in the Army introduced himself as a "two percenter." He was one of 2% of males born in Russia in 1919* still alive at the end of the war. He had spent the war held in a detention camp in Siberia; being a German speaking Jew he was considered suspect. Ironically it saved his life.
*My father was born in 1919. I took this last bit of information very personally.
The song mentions Heinz Guderian, a German general and pioneer of armored warfare. He led the Nazi blitzkrieg into Poland and France. Removed from command by Hitler in December 1941 in Russia. The Nazi's fortunes changed soon after.
One of my favourite songs when I was a kid..me and my buddy Ralph Wagner would listen to this all night...along with Tower of Power, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return To Forever, and all kinds of other great stuff in the mid 70's...Ralph tragically killed himself in 1978, at the age of about 17....still miss him to this day, never ever had a friend like that again. I still love you and miss you, Ralph, buddy, and look forward to a time when we can be together again. Your buddy, Cameron.
This album got virtually no attention when released in '74. 3 or 4 great songs on lp. GET IT IN VINYL, record to cassette and play it along with other long ballads over and over on your car stereo driving around! SUGGESTIONS FOR TAPE: Desolation Row, High Tide & Green Grass, Nostradams (Stewart), Sympathy for Devil, Kashmir
@BTLFAEN - Actually, this album got quite a lot of play in Philly on WMMR; This was my favorite track and it still gives me chills when I heard t again tonight.
Never heard this before. Came across it browsing for Roger Taylor vids in another one of my frenzied Queen-o-mania fits. And I am Russian. Thanks for this.
I watched The Battle of Kursk on Military History Channel's Famous Tank Battles and was reminded of this song. The fighting took place on farmland stretching over 120 miles. Within a week over 1000 tanks destroyed and 200,000 combatants dead. The final German offensive in the East failed in July 1943. The Soviets benefited from superior intelligence (foreknowledge of German attack plan), strategic depth, reserve strength and other intangible factors to prevail.
@mendelsohn88 Good analysis, but one of the deciding factors was the T34 tank, the history of which is very interesting. The T-34 had independent suspension (was originally conceived by the Canadians), which allowed speed and manoeuverability. The young russian designer saw the Canadian design and integrated this into the T34 design. Sloping armour (less weight), wide tracks & good gun gave great advantage over the tigers.Did he get awarded a medal or an honour ~ no he died young of pneumonia!
Way back in the 70's my husband and I were in a hi-fi shop in Nottingham buying a new system. This was playing in the shop.....I had to have it....the rest as they say is history....we've been fans ever since. This has to be my favourite of all time. Deeply emotional....just love the ending.
I really wish this song were more widely applauded... The appreciation level is despicably low. I first heard this song in my middle school English class--my teacher had a great sense of music and poetry, and had us listen and analyze just far enough to love this, but not overly so (as they do now) to the point where the beauty was destroyed.
@valbonne93 I agree wholeheartedly....I remember when his first albums came out when I was in the Air Force....his albums were on every (and I mean every) turntable...No one had heard anything like him before (or since for that matter)...You had one cool teacher, huh? My English teacher in highschool turned me on to Led Zeppelins first album...what a guy !
My dad, a history nut and Stewart fan, was recently in the hospital. He spent 4 weeks in a coma, he died and had to be revived twice, spent another week in icu in observation. My sister and I visited him nearly every night of it. It was a long hard fight and we were lucky he come out alive. I played this on the elevator on the way out. I fought tears.
They found a tumor on his kidney that may be cancerous. "I'm coming home, I'm coming home now you can taste it in the wind the war is over.."
@weats "I`m coming home,I`m coming home" Used to think of those lines every night closing down the bar at four am and tryingto figure out how not to be there by the next night..."
The invading German armies were greeted as liberators in Belarus. They cooperated with the Nazis in genocide against their Jewish population. Many were marched out of the towns and shot, some, especially children, buried alive in mass graves. After the war, these war criminals were resettled in New Jersey, USA at the behest of the American intelligence service. Read John Loftus's new book America's Nazi secrets.
Al Stewart is, indeed, one of the most underrated musicians of all time and this is one of the most under-appreciated albums of all time. I've always thought that Al's commercial successes - Year of the Cat - was a poor representation of his artistry. Picked up the vinyl copy of PP&F in a college town used record store in the late 70s and was immediately hooked. Still hooked.
My all time favorite Al AStewart song, in part because growing up I was a WW II history buff and the song is so accurate. One question, is this the original cover to Past, Present and Future? My copies (vinyl and CD) are both the cover with the man stepping through the "time portal". Thanks for posting this great song.
Thank you so much for posting this...I am presently watching a show on the end of WWII on the History Channel & I immediately wanted to hear this again. I grew up on the 1970's in Louisiana & Arkansas and I knew the history of WWII pretty well, always learning more. It's a good war to try & study and learn from. War gets us nowhere folks - I love Al Stewarts take on this...always have. Hitler was definitely evil & demented, Stalin was as well. Absolute Power seems to corrupt.
While other musicians wrote about love, sex, drugs etc. Al Stewart told a story many people have never heard about, and you were wiser for the experience
What I love about Al Stewart is his lyrical content is so educated and traveled and experienced - he captures the flavor of history and his work is seasoned by tantalizing visions of epics whether historical or intrapersonal that give the imagination a great ride , and let you get the feeling that you've just been some place or experienced some insight that you hadn't expected !
What's a trip is that no one mentions that after all the crap the narrator has gone through for "almost four years", is that it seems he's been sent to Siberia for re-education after "allowing" himself to be captured. The line about "old men and children they send out to face us" always makes me visualize the VolkSturm that were thrown in at the end. I worked with a guy at Boeing in the 70's who was sent in to defend his city at age 14, was captured, and wasn't released by the Sovs until 1956
@teenonator Yes, the point was, he'd been exposed to "non-Soviet thought" and might have been poisoned with the ideals of freedom.
If you will forgive an off-topic comment, 500,000 Japanese soldiers surrendering to the Russians in Manchuria in Aug 1945 were marched to forced labor camps in Siberia, in violation of the Potsdam agreement on treatment of POWs, and only released in the early 1950s, after most of them had died of overwork/starvation. Communism has a filthy legacy indeed.
We in the West know little about this conflict, but the fact is the Russians conservately lost 9 million in the military alone. To put things in perspective, the U.S. lost 4 to 5 hundred thousand military. A very clean recording of a tremendous song and thought provoking subject.
The Russians lost 12 million soldiers and 8 million civilians. Many in the West do know the history of the Eastern Front. Everybody that takes History 101 in college is exposed to it. Just go to a bookstore and never mind the books, look at the magazine section for WWII subject matter. It is probably the most popular historical subject there is.
@macmoondoggie: I was being conservative in my estimates to not sensationalize my point. I'd always heard 19 million in the country, so we are close. My H.S. and college education never exposed me to this (in the 1970's), other than it was the Eastern front. I learned my stuff through military board games and then reading about the history behind the games myself! It's all good, I agree with your points.
I understand a lot of personal research went into the making of this song by Al Stewart...something like >20 books he read to get the feel of that horrendous time in human history. Thank God none of us have had to endure such atrocities. Thank You, Al. Write some more!
WOW!!! I'm never disappointed when I listen to this....close my eyes and I see the movie in my mind that Stewart conjures up with this haunting vocals.
Nobody learns or knows history !! This is one of the most important times of history !! Learn People !! The Russians wanted to over run Europe in 1945. Learn!! Read !!
@jwkjr1 Yes, and in '45, in order to protect one half, the other half was sacrificed for 44 years. As Al says in the sleeve notes of PPand F ~ "The German Invasion Of Russia on the 22nd June 1941 was the greatest single event in the history of the World" 4.5 million axis troops invaded. 7 million soviet and 5 million axis troops died and upwards of 20 million soviet citizens died. Many Brits/Americans died in the artic convoys supplying Russia.
I'm quite amazed that Roger Taylor sang on it...wow...and it's a song I've listened to as long as I can remember as my father had it on tape...but I never knew that...wow!
The great thing about this track, apart from the brilliant lyrics, is the restrained orchestral backing which comes in at just the right moments with just the right mood to create just the right atmosphere ~ the steely russian skies go on forever ~ hairs on the back of the neck stuff!
The very first Al Stewart song I ever heard; made me an instant fan for life. Still one of my ATF Stewart tracks.
Songbird1226 nails it: it is just as fresh / perfect the 100th play as the 1st - for us listeners.
Maybe not for him, tho; I've read in a few places that he now hates being asked to play it at shows. I'd completely understand & sympathize if it's true -- but I really hope it isn't.
@Songbird1226 That's the amzing thing about most Al Stewart songs. They are great, and remain fresh sounding decades later! And, his new compositions sound every bit as good as the old.
That this was written in the early nineteen seventies and survived, is nothing short of astonishing. One of his best. Rock and Russian history for 8 minutes who does that? Its time to bring this AS back to younger audiences.
I picked this song up on a T.V. skip from a station in Harrisburg Ill back in the 70's. It may have been a concert on PBS I dont know. Have been hooked on his music since then.
53 brit here, this song exudes the futility of war and the angst of the ordinary joe bloggs in the scheme of things.go to war pigs by sabbath same theme
50gtg 3 days ago
One of the most evocative story songs that has ever been written. It and Canadian Railroad Trilogy by Lightfoot are both works of sheer genuis.
Diarmid63 1 week ago
Simply one of the greatest songs ever written...a masterpiece if you will. Thanx for the terrific post!!!!!! From Tim in Ontario, Canada...very much appreciated!!!
CoreaKixx420 3 weeks ago
truly one of the great songs ever written about the absolute misery of war. most human beings have no idea just how bad humanity has treated each other and this planet. WHEN WILL LEARN?
drinfothv 1 month ago
This is such an incredible song. Full of imagery, you just don't see music like this written anymore.
Sadisticjellyfish73 1 month ago
I hardly ever notice bass playin, but it's brilliant in this song
stratphil 1 month ago
@Kharkovkid: Probably not one American in 100 realizes that The Great Patriotic War was essentially won with Russian blood. America did its part, of course, invading Italy and France and beating back the Nazis, but without Russia turning back the German war machine at Stalingrad it probably would have been a different story. And had it not been for Hitler's various blunders on the Eastern Front, the war might have been quite different; Germany had the firepower to conquer all of Europe.
LifeinSlowLane 1 month ago 2
@LifeinSlowLane ... very true. World War II was not just about "us" and the Russian valiance renders the subsequent Cold War all the more tragic and bitterly ironic.
ChandlerPol 1 month ago
of course, without the red army winning and the bolsheviks taking control, and making a treaty with hitler to not attack him unless he tried to move beyond europe, none of that would have happened. if he had never invaded them, they would have been content to let him win mainland europe for himself. "great patriotic war" my hairy butt...they only got involved because he attacked them first, russia was waiting to clean up the scraps when it was done.
superllama01 1 month ago
@LifeinSlowLane RIGHT! Vast majority of Americans have their heads up their asses about the rest of the world because of our myopic educational experience. I know first hand as a product of the idiotic American education system. Thank God I questioned it all and got a "real" education and read, read, read, and read!!!! And lived all over the world!!! Now living OUTSIDE America!!!! Loved this song in the 70s!!!! AL STEWART STILL ROCKS!!
Karnakdmagnificent 1 month ago
@Karnakdmagnificent Appreciate your input and Freedom of Speech (THAT did NOT come from your commie friends,) came from AMERICA AND AMERICANS! Keep yaking your dckhole but please don't come back to America. Pete Reeves 1908 Pine Ave., Altoona, PA
ReevesPete 3 weeks ago
@ReevesPete if you think you REALLY have freedom of speech--- just go out and try to exercise your illusion of freedom-- incl freedom of speech-- in America today! The country is owned by monstrous corporations and their ultra rich "captains" who will make sure you are shut down and hauled off. America started dying with the Vietnam genocide war. It's a dying culture of rabid consumption now....RIP the once great place
Karnakdmagnificent 2 weeks ago
@LifeinSlowLane NOT one mention of the Soviet Union first siding with Germany. TALK ABOUT MYOPIC! NOT one mention of the Purges prior to the war or the LockDown of Eastern Europe following the war. And the fact is Vietnam and Korea should be hateful of Communism and the Soviets for bankrolling their wars and deaths. America responded but it was the Communist who made it possible (THE DEAT AND DESTRUCTION!) We were ready to build roads, schools, hospitals, KFC's...
ReevesPete 3 weeks ago
This is so haunting, it sends shivers down my spine. The futility of war....
dhsbear 2 months ago 2
I used to listen to this incredible song in the 70s; it was burned into my memory. You can feel the vastness of Russia, the unstoppable German Panzer divisions, the misery of a Russian winter thwarting the Germans, the guerilla warfare defeating them. What a fantastic song! And above all, the meaninglessness of a single soldier's life in the millions of humanity who died at the hands of the Germans, or at the hands of a brutal regime, that of Joseph Stalin. This was the Great Patriotic War.
LifeinSlowLane 2 months ago 2
@LifeinSlowLane Dude!! Your analysis of the song is as great as his of the war!!!...LOL Outstanding...
Kharkovkid 1 month ago
a fantastic piece of music and songwriting,, future generations take note,, your government dont give a shit about you,, cannon fodder??????
floydave 2 months ago
had a friend david guderian 3rd cousin of heinz guderian famous german general.funny thing he said people thought he was bohemian when they heard his name.remember he pointed out this out 70 ford ltd in the yard and he said ed see how its leaning.it had a lean on it.he borrowed $700 on it from the barneveld bank guess he was a friend of the bankers he used it to buy dortmunder beer.most days wed go into the village bar for some beers and great burgers..
MrRiplinger 4 months ago
ENGLISH ---- Do you speak it?
dhsbear 2 months ago
@dhsbear What?
thailandajarn 3 weeks ago
That lead guitar is mindblowing....
NezbittheGreyKitten 4 months ago
awesome!
spiceboy67 4 months ago
Awesome, you can picture the troop movements and feel the cold!
bikermike1000 4 months ago 2
History personifide
phuchuebuddy44 4 months ago
`One of the finest songs ever guitar sublime ,been a favourite since Grammar school as a kid in Leeds memories of those time flooding back thanks.
TheSuggie 5 months ago
WRT the Tiger tank, in certain circumstances low tech and ease/rate of manufacture is the way to go, as it was here. I was wrong about the T34 designer ~ Mikhail Koshkin tho'. He was awarded the Order of the Red Star, but two years posthumously!
SuperNevile 5 months ago
Stalin was a cunt
phuchuebuddy44 5 months ago 15
Flawless!
mrsolofeo 5 months ago
this song was inspired by the experience of Alexander Solzhenitsyn who ws kept prisoner by the Germans for a day. From his experience he wrote One day in the life of Ivan Denisovich Оди́н день Ива́на Дени́совича and the Gulag archepeligo read it and find out what the song is realy about
greatburbo 5 months ago
@greatburbo thanks for the info!
drfjcmd 4 months ago
@drfjcmd Sorry but greatturbo is entirely worng. The song is written about a Russian soldier who serves his country but is betrayed and imprisoned by Stalin regime.. the Ivan Denisovitch novel was written from Solzhenistyn's experiences in the Stalinist labour camps. Turbo should really do some research
claytonave 4 months ago 12
@claytonave YOUR SO RIGHT.REMBER THIS BOOK MY GRANDFATHER HAD I WAS A PRISONER IN RUSSIA ABOUT A AMERICAN CITIZEN WHO ENDED UP IN SIBERIA SLAVE LABOR CAMP.EXPOSED TO UNBELIEVABLE EXTREME CONDITIONS MEN FORCED TO PUSH TRAIN CARS BY HAND.
MrRiplinger 4 months ago
@claytonave 100% correct mate
irsdebs 1 month ago
Comment removed
claytonave 4 months ago
The imagery is breathtaking;
gives you chills.
This is one song that doesn't leave you feeling dumbed-down.
mrsolofeo 5 months ago 5
Notice how the tempo picks up as the war shifts to the side of the Russians.
mrsolofeo 5 months ago
I found this song when I was 10, and was immediately taken back by it. The historical tale, melody. I loved it then and still do, the only song of his I love. My favorite line is, "In the footsteps of Napoleon, the shadowed figures stagger through the winter." The imagery created by that one line is haunting to me.
omega14j1 6 months ago
wow. awesome!!!!! byronesque!!!
74beemer 6 months ago
wow. awesome!!!!!
74beemer 6 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
brilliant, incomparable
mrjoel59 6 months ago
brilliant, incomparible
mrjoel59 6 months ago
The Russian skys go on forever"...that is such a simple yet moving line. Great songwriting skills.
LaserBeam002 6 months ago 3
Think about it. Just think if you were Jew, Pole.
DelroyMonjo 6 months ago
" Back in the day. "...... " Good times "
cheekstc 6 months ago
Stalin's order No. 280.......any russian who surrendered to the germans was considered a traitor. They and their families were sent to the Gulags. Russian prisoners faced a choice......either starve or fight for the germans. Al Stewart's song tells the story of this russian tradgedy.
Edmund007013 6 months ago 3
Fantastic song!
Thank you Al!
No music like this being made today.
"General Guderian stands on the crest of the hill."
You can't go wrong with a line like that. I love it.
BigLongJohnny007 6 months ago 2
My Absolute. Favorite. Song.
sourisvoleur 6 months ago
8 minutes of pure, good, music
rmr1197 7 months ago
RUSSIAN SKIES GO ON FOREVER HELL YEAH!
rmr1197 7 months ago
the stalinists' insane demand for unalloyed fealty carried monumental consequences for the disloyal....life-long imprisonment in the gulag, death to the traitor, family and friends, on and on. thank you al stewart for putting to music this ghastly orwellian horror show. and what substantiated this weary young solider's crime? a mere day's internment by the nazis. your life, spoiled. like the microscopic drop of black paint in ellison's bucket of white, that one day was betrayal enough
SteveonLI 7 months ago 2
@SteveonLI -This song is mostly from a German soldiers point of view. That and a general narration in some sections.
esf428 6 months ago
@esf428
No its not. Its told from the point of view of a Russian who survives the opening battles of Barbarrosa, is captured and escapes, survives the battle of Stalingrad, fights his way to Berlin, and then is sent to Gulag as he allowed himself to be captured early on in the war.
JMLawson80 5 months ago 4
@esf428 Duh ! No it's from the point of view of a Russian soldier !!!!
MakinMagicFractals 5 months ago
@esf428 No, Steven - it is the narrative of a Russian soldier, the battles in Eastern Europe and then the subsequent siege of Moscow by Germany. After being taken prisoner for a day, the soldier returns but under Stalin, after the war, any soldier who had been taken by the enemy, regardless for how long, would find himself sent to the gulags.
darklillithca 1 week ago
I've never heard this one before. But then my local radio stations (which really suck) don't play a lot of Al Stewart. I am very thankful for Youtube and all the posters who are actually keeping alive great music.
LaserBeam002 7 months ago
Absolutely fantastic song!!!!!!
esf428 7 months ago
Una de las canciones mas Chingonas que he oido en mi vida ,Bravo Al !!!
siuloy 7 months ago
Beautiful song with beautiful lyrics.
varsity3111 7 months ago
".....And the sky is softly humming......" One of my all time Favorite songs period! I also like Terminal eyes from this album....
sullie714 8 months ago
One of my teachers when I was in the Army introduced himself as a "two percenter." He was one of 2% of males born in Russia in 1919* still alive at the end of the war. He had spent the war held in a detention camp in Siberia; being a German speaking Jew he was considered suspect. Ironically it saved his life.
*My father was born in 1919. I took this last bit of information very personally.
RichardLKentEsq 8 months ago 4
amazing song, historically accurate as well.
Al Stewart is one of the best singer-songwriters of the 60's and 70's.
Listening to Al takes me back to the days of my youth, and friends who have gone.
Thanx Al, your songs are timeless.
gerlan1234to 8 months ago
Good background on this remarkable song is available at HistoryAccessDotCom. Do a search for "Al Stewart."
thishereguitar 9 months ago
Jaw dropping. A wonderous piece of musical art.
EZFRED8339 9 months ago
Jaw dropping. A wonderous piece of musical art.
EZFRED8339 9 months ago
Nobody creates mental imagery like this guy. Timeless.
XPS9100Boy 9 months ago
they dont make them like this anymore!
Deadlockguitar 9 months ago
I love this song!
Faust8577 9 months ago
I don't know where you are from but , in Portland , Ore. we heard it broadcast every day @ least once a day when it 1st was released .
Ah for the days of the "KINK Underground" !
Whateruwatchin 10 months ago
The song mentions Heinz Guderian, a German general and pioneer of armored warfare. He led the Nazi blitzkrieg into Poland and France. Removed from command by Hitler in December 1941 in Russia. The Nazi's fortunes changed soon after.
mendelsohn88 10 months ago
one of the greatest British lyricists ever.
fewbroth 10 months ago 2
One of my favourite songs when I was a kid..me and my buddy Ralph Wagner would listen to this all night...along with Tower of Power, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Return To Forever, and all kinds of other great stuff in the mid 70's...Ralph tragically killed himself in 1978, at the age of about 17....still miss him to this day, never ever had a friend like that again. I still love you and miss you, Ralph, buddy, and look forward to a time when we can be together again. Your buddy, Cameron.
MrBassflute 10 months ago
@MrBassflute -He certainly had a good taste in music.....I love all those bands.
esf428 7 months ago
Al Stewart @ Roy Harper Have Acheived So Much with Out Being Egoist true Art!!!!
crowfoots 10 months ago
i wonder who whould will be the jerk who will be the first that dislike this vid
teemup123 10 months ago
This album got virtually no attention when released in '74. 3 or 4 great songs on lp. GET IT IN VINYL, record to cassette and play it along with other long ballads over and over on your car stereo driving around! SUGGESTIONS FOR TAPE: Desolation Row, High Tide & Green Grass, Nostradams (Stewart), Sympathy for Devil, Kashmir
BTLFAEN 11 months ago
@BTLFAEN Kashmir is one of my all-time favorites! Can anybody post some tunes from "Famous Last Words" like Trains, Feel Like, etc.?
misterdakman 10 months ago
@BTLFAEN - Actually, this album got quite a lot of play in Philly on WMMR; This was my favorite track and it still gives me chills when I heard t again tonight.
pmfzero 4 months ago
I grew up with this album, and this is the best track on the album....pure magic!!
fartstrangler 11 months ago 2
Never heard this before. Came across it browsing for Roger Taylor vids in another one of my frenzied Queen-o-mania fits. And I am Russian. Thanks for this.
CatherineInRock 11 months ago 3
I watched The Battle of Kursk on Military History Channel's Famous Tank Battles and was reminded of this song. The fighting took place on farmland stretching over 120 miles. Within a week over 1000 tanks destroyed and 200,000 combatants dead. The final German offensive in the East failed in July 1943. The Soviets benefited from superior intelligence (foreknowledge of German attack plan), strategic depth, reserve strength and other intangible factors to prevail.
mendelsohn88 11 months ago
@mendelsohn88 Good analysis, but one of the deciding factors was the T34 tank, the history of which is very interesting. The T-34 had independent suspension (was originally conceived by the Canadians), which allowed speed and manoeuverability. The young russian designer saw the Canadian design and integrated this into the T34 design. Sloping armour (less weight), wide tracks & good gun gave great advantage over the tigers.Did he get awarded a medal or an honour ~ no he died young of pneumonia!
SuperNevile 11 months ago
@SuperNevile i respect yuor viewpoint but the tiger was a superior tank when compared with the t34, or t34/85.
NezbittheGreyKitten 5 months ago
Way back in the 70's my husband and I were in a hi-fi shop in Nottingham buying a new system. This was playing in the shop.....I had to have it....the rest as they say is history....we've been fans ever since. This has to be my favourite of all time. Deeply emotional....just love the ending.
breizhlady 1 year ago 3
@breizhlady I have about the same story as I was looking to buy a new system in Memphis, I have been a fan ever since
IamElvisMemphis 11 months ago
that song´s magic.....my favorite Stewart song.....at 3:19 starts the best part....
Abraxus81 1 year ago
This is truly fantastic
BexyLovesQueen 1 year ago 10
"the flames of the tigers are lighting the road to berlin-favorite part
Mattw9105 1 year ago
@Mattw9105 Matt, I`m going there in six weeks.. Its called Seelow Heights... Be in Berlin also for bunker Week. Birthday Wedding suicide...
Kharkovkid 1 year ago
I really wish this song were more widely applauded... The appreciation level is despicably low. I first heard this song in my middle school English class--my teacher had a great sense of music and poetry, and had us listen and analyze just far enough to love this, but not overly so (as they do now) to the point where the beauty was destroyed.
valbonne93 1 year ago 3
@valbonne93 I totally agree with youbut all we can do is try we could take them to the water but.....
In fact that "Bast Presant and Futre"! album should put on the school periculum
padraigpurseal 1 year ago 2
@valbonne93 I agree wholeheartedly....I remember when his first albums came out when I was in the Air Force....his albums were on every (and I mean every) turntable...No one had heard anything like him before (or since for that matter)...You had one cool teacher, huh? My English teacher in highschool turned me on to Led Zeppelins first album...what a guy !
clyde8her 1 year ago
My dad, a history nut and Stewart fan, was recently in the hospital. He spent 4 weeks in a coma, he died and had to be revived twice, spent another week in icu in observation. My sister and I visited him nearly every night of it. It was a long hard fight and we were lucky he come out alive. I played this on the elevator on the way out. I fought tears.
They found a tumor on his kidney that may be cancerous. "I'm coming home, I'm coming home now you can taste it in the wind the war is over.."
weats 1 year ago 3
@weats "I`m coming home,I`m coming home" Used to think of those lines every night closing down the bar at four am and tryingto figure out how not to be there by the next night..."
Kharkovkid 1 year ago
The invading German armies were greeted as liberators in Belarus. They cooperated with the Nazis in genocide against their Jewish population. Many were marched out of the towns and shot, some, especially children, buried alive in mass graves. After the war, these war criminals were resettled in New Jersey, USA at the behest of the American intelligence service. Read John Loftus's new book America's Nazi secrets.
mendelsohn88 1 year ago
@mendelsohn88
Thank you for the book suggestion. I have reserved it at my public library.
tomdehen 1 year ago
Al Stewart is, indeed, one of the most underrated musicians of all time and this is one of the most under-appreciated albums of all time. I've always thought that Al's commercial successes - Year of the Cat - was a poor representation of his artistry. Picked up the vinyl copy of PP&F in a college town used record store in the late 70s and was immediately hooked. Still hooked.
laidbacklarry1 1 year ago
My all time favorite Al AStewart song, in part because growing up I was a WW II history buff and the song is so accurate. One question, is this the original cover to Past, Present and Future? My copies (vinyl and CD) are both the cover with the man stepping through the "time portal". Thanks for posting this great song.
TheBlackycat 1 year ago
Thank you so much for posting this...I am presently watching a show on the end of WWII on the History Channel & I immediately wanted to hear this again. I grew up on the 1970's in Louisiana & Arkansas and I knew the history of WWII pretty well, always learning more. It's a good war to try & study and learn from. War gets us nowhere folks - I love Al Stewarts take on this...always have. Hitler was definitely evil & demented, Stalin was as well. Absolute Power seems to corrupt.
dramaticcarmen 1 year ago 2
While other musicians wrote about love, sex, drugs etc. Al Stewart told a story many people have never heard about, and you were wiser for the experience
toolff83 1 year ago 2
What I love about Al Stewart is his lyrical content is so educated and traveled and experienced - he captures the flavor of history and his work is seasoned by tantalizing visions of epics whether historical or intrapersonal that give the imagination a great ride , and let you get the feeling that you've just been some place or experienced some insight that you hadn't expected !
rolynstone48 1 year ago
What's a trip is that no one mentions that after all the crap the narrator has gone through for "almost four years", is that it seems he's been sent to Siberia for re-education after "allowing" himself to be captured. The line about "old men and children they send out to face us" always makes me visualize the VolkSturm that were thrown in at the end. I worked with a guy at Boeing in the 70's who was sent in to defend his city at age 14, was captured, and wasn't released by the Sovs until 1956
teenonator 1 year ago
@teenonator Yes, the point was, he'd been exposed to "non-Soviet thought" and might have been poisoned with the ideals of freedom.
If you will forgive an off-topic comment, 500,000 Japanese soldiers surrendering to the Russians in Manchuria in Aug 1945 were marched to forced labor camps in Siberia, in violation of the Potsdam agreement on treatment of POWs, and only released in the early 1950s, after most of them had died of overwork/starvation. Communism has a filthy legacy indeed.
DKD81 1 year ago
This is such a fine piece of music that I haven't heard in years. Thanks to whomever put this on.
coolsouthernrain75 1 year ago
We in the West know little about this conflict, but the fact is the Russians conservately lost 9 million in the military alone. To put things in perspective, the U.S. lost 4 to 5 hundred thousand military. A very clean recording of a tremendous song and thought provoking subject.
ArkRazor1 1 year ago 3
@ArkRazor1
The Russians lost 12 million soldiers and 8 million civilians. Many in the West do know the history of the Eastern Front. Everybody that takes History 101 in college is exposed to it. Just go to a bookstore and never mind the books, look at the magazine section for WWII subject matter. It is probably the most popular historical subject there is.
macmoondoggie 1 year ago
@macmoondoggie: I was being conservative in my estimates to not sensationalize my point. I'd always heard 19 million in the country, so we are close. My H.S. and college education never exposed me to this (in the 1970's), other than it was the Eastern front. I learned my stuff through military board games and then reading about the history behind the games myself! It's all good, I agree with your points.
ArkRazor1 1 year ago
@xHAZELRAHx me too..great album!
SDsailor7 1 year ago
What a picture this song paints
SHARONTATEFAN 1 year ago
I understand a lot of personal research went into the making of this song by Al Stewart...something like >20 books he read to get the feel of that horrendous time in human history. Thank God none of us have had to endure such atrocities. Thank You, Al. Write some more!
wadesterz48 1 year ago
Al Stewart is one of the most underrated musicians of all time...
fourohfour 1 year ago 74
terrific song, such a haunting theme. the live version seems to hold even greater power, if thats the right word.
spooksixsix 1 year ago
achtung panzer, herr generaloberst Heinz Willhelm Guderian
Sophos999 1 year ago
this is 1 of my all time favourute tracks, superb musical vision 10/10
Mcvity 1 year ago
There is a reason no one has disliked this yet.
NVDKz 1 year ago 38
@NVDKz I agree with you 100% but will you look at that three dislikes!!!!!
Ms2blackcats 5 months ago
You can download the audio-mp3 of this tune at grabtubesnow doht cohm.
ThainParenteau12157 1 year ago
The old men and children they send out to face us, they can't slow us down
gives me chills every time.
greenapplepuppyranch 1 year ago
I was like wow this must be gay shit look at the picture so i disliked it then i listened to it and liked it because it fucking owns
NVDKz 1 year ago
Knew a guy who rewrote the song about being a disco bouncer.....
"And now they ask me of the time that I smoked pot and did white lines and beat up Hare Krishna`s"
Kharkovkid 1 year ago 2
Panzer refers to Tank ... Tiger refers to model of tank.
For example Car =automobile and Mustang=model of car
Kharkovkid 1 year ago
Comment removed
Kharkovkid 1 year ago
Gosh- tis been twenty years since i heard this song...
unclearthur68 1 year ago
Great song off a great album !
tonto4848 1 year ago
I heard this song for the first time recently on sat. radio.
Great song. . .
BladeRunner25463c 1 year ago
WOW!!! I'm never disappointed when I listen to this....close my eyes and I see the movie in my mind that Stewart conjures up with this haunting vocals.
unclenk 1 year ago
Such a powerful and beautiful song !
Al Stewart is great singer songwriter !
tonto4848 1 year ago
"Two broken tigers on fire in the night"...
Great lyrics!
Keithss1000 1 year ago
@Keithss1000 Tigers refer to German tanks of that era.
ThePBerry 1 year ago
@ThePBerry I was aware of that, thank you. The tiger were legendary for their size and weight.
Keithss1000 1 year ago
@Keithss1000 Tigers refer to German tanks of that era. Panzer = tiger
ThePBerry 1 year ago
Nobody learns or knows history !! This is one of the most important times of history !! Learn People !! The Russians wanted to over run Europe in 1945. Learn!! Read !!
jwkjr1 1 year ago
@jwkjr1 song is about German's march on Moscow. Learn People!
cabriolovers 1 year ago
@jwkjr1 Yes, and in '45, in order to protect one half, the other half was sacrificed for 44 years. As Al says in the sleeve notes of PPand F ~ "The German Invasion Of Russia on the 22nd June 1941 was the greatest single event in the history of the World" 4.5 million axis troops invaded. 7 million soviet and 5 million axis troops died and upwards of 20 million soviet citizens died. Many Brits/Americans died in the artic convoys supplying Russia.
SuperNevile 1 year ago 3
brilliant album brilliant artist nuff said
unstabledavid 1 year ago
General Gudurian stands on the crest of a hill
jinkedful 1 year ago
Such a great song !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Al Stewart is still going strong 2010 !!!
jj00llzz 1 year ago
I'm quite amazed that Roger Taylor sang on it...wow...and it's a song I've listened to as long as I can remember as my father had it on tape...but I never knew that...wow!
ariellevonglitz 1 year ago
The great thing about this track, apart from the brilliant lyrics, is the restrained orchestral backing which comes in at just the right moments with just the right mood to create just the right atmosphere ~ the steely russian skies go on forever ~ hairs on the back of the neck stuff!
SuperNevile 1 year ago
AL STEWART SOUNDS LIKE TONY BANKS AND VICEY-VERSA!!! LISTEN TO TONY'S :THE FUGITIVE" LP AND THE SIMILARITY IS UNCANNY!!!
ksjoyjespeace 1 year ago
The very first Al Stewart song I ever heard; made me an instant fan for life. Still one of my ATF Stewart tracks.
Songbird1226 nails it: it is just as fresh / perfect the 100th play as the 1st - for us listeners.
Maybe not for him, tho; I've read in a few places that he now hates being asked to play it at shows. I'd completely understand & sympathize if it's true -- but I really hope it isn't.
smartalek1 1 year ago
His finest hour. Breathtaking lyrics and music.
maninhutonthehill 1 year ago
What can one say when this speaks for itself.....
3shacks1house 1 year ago
Please take a look at mine - I have added some footage to the soundtrack, which I thought did it justice.
Taffnp 1 year ago
they only held me for a day
a lucky break I say
they turn and listen closer
the pale October sun
disalitervisum 1 year ago
A work of extraordinary impact.
elagabulus69 1 year ago
@elagabulus69
elagabulus69 1 year ago
One of my favorite songs, ever. It's as fresh the 1,000th time as the first!
Songbird1226 1 year ago
@Songbird1226 That's the amzing thing about most Al Stewart songs. They are great, and remain fresh sounding decades later! And, his new compositions sound every bit as good as the old.
rac717 1 year ago
A masterpiece. Pure and clear and ringing like a bell; a self-contained world; a flawlessly told tale.
Elidoransgar 1 year ago 4
Really beautiful.
auroralights100 1 year ago
what a time in world music
TheGap1967 1 year ago 2
brilliant song.
Kennymurraycampbell 1 year ago
BIG AL!
itzcorruptionz 1 year ago
Saga's cover of Screwdriver's "The Snow Fell" is another fine song about death on the Eastern Front and ultimately the death of Wester civilization.
whodareswings 1 year ago
Great song, great story. The pain the Russian people endured from the Germans and their own
beckmansgrandpa 1 year ago
awesome story telling, great artist, true history...jm
budrik 1 year ago
That this was written in the early nineteen seventies and survived, is nothing short of astonishing. One of his best. Rock and Russian history for 8 minutes who does that? Its time to bring this AS back to younger audiences.
Kainnable 1 year ago
Comment removed
Kainnable 1 year ago
Al Stewart is grossly under-rated generally !
This is a masterpiece.
MakinMagicFractals 1 year ago 3
What a great story teller (& singer obviously) Al Stewart is!
marcostar57 1 year ago
Al Stewart out did himself on this song...
Truly an amazing bit of singing and writing.
Every time I hear it I'm stunned...!
jasong1212 1 year ago
The first Al Stewartt song I ever heard and still my favourite from all his great songs
ceolwulf 1 year ago
I picked this song up on a T.V. skip from a station in Harrisburg Ill back in the 70's. It may have been a concert on PBS I dont know. Have been hooked on his music since then.
supressorgrid 1 year ago
FREE GAZA!!!
panmaxon 1 year ago
I've always thought this was one of the most underrated ballads ever authored.
godlesscapitalist 1 year ago
@godlesscapitalist To my ears it is the BEST ballad ever written. After hearing this song hundreds of times, I still get goosebumps every time.
rac717 1 year ago 2
This is An Amazing Song :D
prettyhalo2girl 1 year ago
dear 667; rod and al arent related, but they both admire martha.
hydedied 1 year ago
@hydedied as well as jimmy n tony
fuckoffndie1 1 year ago
this boy is moregooder than his brother rod
667onestepahead 1 year ago