"SONG OF THE VOLGA BOATMEN" BY GLENN MILLER

[DoctorPencilK]

Volga runs through the cool side of town.

[youpon1000]

this should have been the theme of perry mason

[SnowBlind853]

Alright, this definitely isn't the version I know from Glenn Miller. I'd urge anyone to look up a different version of this song. The ACTUAL Glenn Miller version. watch?v=gfigZBtAIjs

[SnowBlind853]

Weird, this sounds nothing like the version I have on my computer from Glenn Miller. This isn't quite as good, you sure this is Glenn Miller?

[someonespadre]

@vitalyspacewalk29 Anyone who invented Vodka can't be all bad.

[grovidas]

gramatik swing of justice

[GuysWithHats]

This is a good song. I don't care what the under lying meaning is because it's not why I listen to this song. The only criticism I have is that the t. Sax solo is to square

[Lamashtar]

Agh, too bouncy! Mel Brooks could make a musical about the Dancing Volga Boatmen with this version.

[KlezmerGolem]

Ochen horrorshow! My father-in-laws favorite song, and he lived through Iwo.

[trct633]

Does this count as the first *remix*? This was one of the first tunes I learnt to play on the piano, I did not sound anything like this, LOL.

[MrMervyn]

He butchered it.

[maxman1602]

The most upbeat Russian song ever.

[Astaroth639718]

Excelente!!!!!!

[MonttVaras]

El arreglo de GM es una lección de cómo quitar el dramatismo ruso y dejar el gozo de la música.

[tabananje]

yep, vulgar

[whowantsabighug]

Come sing vith me!

[merl0c]

The song has lost its meaning here... a song about suffering and struggle turned into something like this? Oh well... they should've used another song as template.

[badpeq]

@merl0c really, it's just the first half minute. The rest feels like "dancing in the volga"

[Wierdoinc]

@merl0c Yeah, I kinda agree. I like jazz and swing but for some reason I feel like playing The Song of the Volga Boatmen like this is a little, I don't know, disrespectful.

[DawnOfTheDead991]

This version is trite compared to an authentic Russian version, like the Red Army Choir version, no soul to it at all.

[robmoney]

This is like making a big band version of Strange Fruit, fucking tasteless. 

[dyshilton]

@robmoney i don't see how you can say that a song is tasteless i mean the glenn miller orchestra was the best in it's time and just because you don't have a taste for a particular kind of music doesn't make it any less good i mean i'm not a real big fan of that screamo stuff but if you are that's okay cuz you're open to your opinion and let all the people who like this be open to theirs too no reason to call a great band's music tasteless

[robmoney]

@dyshilton

Do you know what this song is about? that's why I equated it to Strange Fruit.

[dyshilton]

@robmoney it's not an issue about what's it's about it's about you calling it tasteless

[robmoney]

@dyshilton

I called it tasteless because of what the song is about. fucking moron.

[dyshilton]

@robmoney there is no need to be calling names now 

[dyshilton]

@robmoney i'd hate to see an argument between you and and an adult since you have to result to calling a 16 year a fucking moron, i mean, that is really kinda sad don't you think

[dyshilton]

@robmoney i'd hate to see an argument between you and and an adult since you have to result to calling a 16 year a fucking moron, i mean, that is really kinda sad don't you think

[WAMEDJO]

10 persons went sailing on the Volga river when it's frozen

[MaxCruise73]

@WAMEDJO Sadly, there are 11 people sailing the frozen Volga.

[lolita19711]

weary gud song

[Shumaev]

i'm Russian...and this guy is awesome, i love american songs from 30's and 40's...fuck politician....lets play music:)

[Strawberry7Lynn]

I remember seeing (and hearing) this being performed in an old film. It was neither a Glenn Miller nor a big band performance. Anyone know the name of the film?

[historygenius]

@Strawberry7Lynn The Glenn Miller Story?

[Telamon8]

the original is way better than this.

[P1anoYC]

Way better than the original

[scids225]

this song is dedicated to the 10,000 heroes who crossed the volga in the battle of stalin grad. and he made a mockery of it.

[TowersJens]

@scids225 Mockery in which way?

[DBEnterprises]

The song predates the Battle of Stalingrad by about a hundred years, at least.

And given that Mr. Glenn Miller recorded this rendition a year before the actual battle took place, I hardly think that its fair to say that "a mockery" is being made.

[boshlonavish]

@scids225

Except for the fact that this song has nothing to do with the Battle of Stalingrad. It's a song sung by burlaks hauling barges on the volga river.

[lokaiz]

@boshlonavish it was also about the suffering of the russian people and the misery of tsarist russia

[gabrieow]

@lokaiz as if after the end of tzarism Russia became heaven on earth! You read this on Wikipedia, and "tzarist" is tottaly random in that context! Tzarism is often put as the source of all eavil in Russia, to justify the revolution and all the death and destruction it brought along! I don't say that the Tzars were good governors, not at all, but Russian people was miserable, and kept miserable after the revolution, and marxists love to put all the blame on tzarism to cover their own incompetence

[DawnOfTheDead991]

@gabrieow One can say, no matter who ruled them, Russians were born to suffer.

[MorganPolander]

This was my late father-in-law's, a retired WO4 from the USMC, survivor of Iwo JIma, favorite Glenn Miller song. He always refered to it as "The Vulgar Boatman".

[1988acid]

I know where Jamaica got there Ska from

[robmoney]

@1988acid The Blues. They heard it over the radio and tried to do it while mixing local shit with it. Ska has nothing to do with Big Band.

[hexionn]

Thank you very much :)

[92elrtv2]

Glenn Miller will always be one of the greatest artists of all time- the way he can take tunes (of any style or country) and turn them into something that swings is really spectacular.

[MegaBillyboy12345]

how old is this

[SonsOfGod]

Always wondered why we always sing Russian communist songs and never ever, never ever any song of Russians who believed communism was a dictatorship and faught against it. Why? Is it maybe that our governments are actually a form of communism?

[yutzwagon2]

What is this I don't even.

*Clicks like*

[aldrickbarber35]

Gosh, I grew up listening to his music (not during time period, but when I was growing up) Great song. I always loved his style his music. It's been a while I've heared any of his songs.

[MegaBillyboy12345]

@aldrickbarber35 how old r u

[aldrickbarber35]

@MegaBillyboy12345 14. When I was 9, my dad played the CDs in the car...

[melodistman]

Surprised no one mentioned the arranger of this, Bill Finegan. The arrangers are the true un-sung heroes of this music. Note the fugue at 1:54. . . .brilliant.

[Alexus7373]

Whap-pa-pow-pa...LOVE this song!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[supperbowl43]

I WAS SOME FUN.SURF MUSIC /MAN OR ASTROMAN

[Kinemacolour]

Glenn Miller was an artist -- screw Artie Shaw!

[ilikezappa]

it needs a banjo medley

[Taterzoid]

Such a sad song. It's cool how they made it happy!

[CrownRadio]

Hope this didn't label Glenn Miller as a "pinko" during the Red Scare.

[kountk]

He died in late 1944 over the English channel. They never found his plane.

[PetjePetjePaard]

He got a bronze star right?

[timsvengali]

The US, UK and USSR had a common enemy at this time. Musicians, film-makers etc were encouraged by the government to emphasise how much we had in common with all the allies - so this might be part of that. I think that taking a slave song from one culture, and orchestrating it so that for a general US audience it would evoke the sound of American traditional slave music, is a wonderful achievement.

[CrownRadio]

@timsvengali

good point, but I meant in later years, even though he had died, I wondered if this song was blacklisted in certain areas.

[blondiebabs]

niceeeee one xbabsie hugs

[ArizonaKnightWolf]

I have always thought of thi song like a Russian Version of Ole Man River!

[Csp499]

Nice tribute, but I like the original more. Miller's version seems a bit too uppity for a song about laboring slaves.

[TashkentFox]

Miller did a good job of writing a jazz version of this Russian patriotic song.

[eksadiss]

This butchers the very soul of the Volga boatman song.

[Csp499]

It's just a tribute, Eksadiss.

But I'm sure there would be plenty of Americans complaining similarly if a Russian musician made a tribute to- for example- Star Spangled Banner (though I'm aware the Red Army Choir once preformed "Battle Hymn to the Republic"- you can imagine the looks on the faces from either country. ;) )

[eksadiss]

On my page theres a video of the Red Army Choir singing our canadian anthem.

[cartoonsfut]

way too happy sounding for my taste lol

[whenimsixty4]

I listened to a posting of the original version, it was a strong, lovely piece of music. Glenn Miller's version has great rhythm. See? They both have their appeal. Personally, I prefer GM's version, b/c I'm a fan of big band- but that doesn't mean one is better than the other. It's all a matter of opinion!

[qaziomo91]

I bet Now that an american who redid it gets the royalties for it.... aaaah sweeet capitalism. And how dare u rate down my comment. My god its my opinion, u dont see me doing that.Damn it thats an insult. And the english thing is because im too lazy to scroll down and i see u like to pick up on every detail, hav u alot of spare time? Here: Slava bogu chto takih idiotov kak ti netu v Rossie ato tebya uje davno mordu izbili i otbidarasili na polnoi programme. good luck translating.

[cartoonsfut]

well... a thumbs up/down is also an opinion is it not? just sayin

[qaziomo91]

SHAAAAAAAAAAAAZZZZOOOO!!!

[qaziomo91]

This is shit. "barges on river volga" is a song about when russian labour was still cheap enough to use while the technology already existed(tug boats) it supposed to represent the strength of russian spirit in times harshness and unforgiven misery. This "interpretation" completely misses the point. Trust it to americans to fuck it up.lol

[2Fathom]

Oh, give it a break qaziomo.

You don't know who created "Volga Boatmen" or how it was originally performed by it's author! No one living does.

EVERY composer will give it (or any art) his own spin and interpretation, JUST AS YOU HAVE.... but Glenn Miller took the song to #1 in the US charts and entertained millions with it during hard times in the US.

[2Fathom]

What have you done for the people qaziomo, but whine and bitch, and put-down a culture and hundreds of millions of people with your spite.

[qaziomo91]

Efimovich Repin (1844-1930) - Volga Boatmen. is the artist. And just for the record this is one of the national songs in my country so i should know hw its performed. And the interpretation is wrong because you cannot recreate this song in the spirit this guy did because it has no soul like the original does.... so in my opinion he fucked it up.... royally. See the original thats hw it should be done. this is just a cheap knock off with no singing and no meaning.

[2Fathom]

For the record:

The artist here is Glenn Miller

The song was collected and published by composer and musical ethnographer Mily Balakirev in his 1866 book "Collection of Russian Folksongs" compiled between 1861 and 1865.

The painting "Burlaks on the Volga" by Ilia Efimovich Repin has been said to have inspired the "Song of the Volga Boatmen" but painted 1870-1873 (after 1866).

As far as I know, the "original" composer remains unknown. First issued in sheet music in Moscow about 1886.

[4205lr]

@2Fathom This is not the original version by Glenn Miller and his orchestra.

[2Fathom]

Efimovich Repin is one of my favorite painter/sculpters but he was no musician/composer. Repin did paint music composers including Modest Mussorgsky.

"Song of the Volga Boatmen" may have inspired Repin to paint the "burlaks" but it is unlikely.

[2Fathom]

"this is one of the national songs in my country"

Strange, I notice that you claim in your YouTube profile that "United Kingdom" is your country!

Since Glenn Miller's composition was #1 on the charts here, it could be said to be "one of the national songs in my country".

[qaziomo91]

this is a Russian FOLK song. it is one of Russian famous creations and its original style only belongs to Russia. It is art and history of my nation. and like with art you cannot recreate it and warp it into something that makes no relevance to iits origin, especially in this case where the "style" destroyes the deep meaning.

[Freyja1133]

@qaziomo91 So glenn Miller wrote a different arrangangement of the song of the volga boatmen... give him a break& LET HIM REST IN PEACE!

[ossy3154]

Please people this was in the 2nd world war . He was arranging music for people to dance to and to forget the war for a time. Most of them would'nt have known what the music was about , they just wanted to listen to good music and have a good time.- they might be dead tomorrow. His arrangements for that time were way before the average band for that time.

[Djrome1]

Comparez au coeur de l'armée rouge, c'est de la daube...

[shinseichieien]

I love Glenn Miller, but I honestly have to say it's no comparison to the original. Now, he does make it sound very good, but again, I feel that the original held more of the pain in it. As the song refers to the suffering lives of the boatmen. Great copy though~!

[13131313Paulo]

I agree with you. Original is better.

In original you can feel Great Russian soul.

[monoceros1222]

Very cool!! I never new Glenn Miller interpreted stuff like this!

[theunbearableman]

american version with stile

[tenorismo]

The cadalac of the big bands

[snuffy39]

This is the Miller Air Corps band playing this song that was a big hit for his civilian band. The stunning arrangement was by Bill Finegan, one of his civilian band arrangers

[eethove]

Fascinating! The way he takes this extremely slow yet powerful Russian bass folk song and turns it into outright Swing is amazing!

[c14h20o4]

If you're looking more stuff like this try looking up Kenny Ball and his Jazzmen...midnight in moscow, dark eyes etc.

[c14h20o4]

Forgot to mention another great, Artie Shaw... look for his song nightmare.. surreal!

[4205lr]

Good copy of the original!

[mrcoolgenius]

Gotta love this.

[SteilAmSeil]

just fucking awesome

5* for this one

R.I.P. glenn

long live the soviet union

[molanlabexm15]

The Soviet Union no longer exists my friend.

[Mahanfan]

Thank you *very* much indeed for putting this up! One of my all-time favorite Glenn Miller tunes...and I'm no child of the Swing Era (except in mind!).

[danhaw18]

@Mahanfan SEARCH " JELLYBASS - VULGAR " FOR AN ALTERNATIVE INTEPRETATION

[StarvinArtistSue]

I love that slow crescendo starting at around 1:55...awesome! Definitely a fave! 5 stars :)

[vanityfair713]

oh, me too!

[cris1234567890tilghm]

this was a 4.5 star video!!!! How is that? Who is the piece(s) of crap who rated this less than a 5?

[cylaisawesome]

By chance are you willing to e-mail me the MP3 of this song? I cannot find it ANYWHERE on the internet. D=

[nelle69]

look for youtube converter ;-)

[cylaisawesome]

Ahh, thank you!

[HYAAALP]

According to US Copyright Law, songs are not public domain until 70 years until after the artist's death.

I wonder if t'll be okay for this, though, seing as the expiration date for this of 2014's just around the corner...

[stuckinaboxhere]

The song is public domain, it's been around for longer than Glenn miller has, but this arrangement is still under copyright

[UltrasonicMailman]

I was just introduced to swing music today, and I love it already. This song is incredibly catchy yet somewhat elegant.

[cylaisawesome]

Jazz/swing is a great genera of music that is overlooked in today's music world. I know I particularly like Dixieland jazz - one of my favorite subgenera's. =D

[PhillipsVanguard]

Great!