The Death Of The Bear Songtext

The Death Of The BearThe balalaika rings silent from Minsk to Red SquareThe cortege assembles to bury the bearNadia Rostropovich looks on in despairWith Irina, Catharina and OlgaAnd quietly remembering her brother IvanShot in the back in AfghanistanThe Stalinist purges, the snowy white graveThat claimed Boris, Dimitri and IgorShe remembered how proud, she cheered with the crowdWhen Youri Gagarin sailed over the cloudsNadia and Ivan shouted aloudWe put the first man in spaceBut that was before the feared KGBPut a question mark over her own loyaltyTo keep an eye on her comrades one two and threeIrina, Catharina and OlgaAnd poor uncle Vlad' whom the Doc' declared madFor refusing to leave his beloved LeningradShe stood in the doorway tearful and sadWhen they frog-marched him of to the GoolagHe took a last look at his own native hillsWhere grew the red dogwoods and wild daffodilsThe look on his face was haunting her stillComrade Naja RastropovicSometimes alone she'd think of the WestLadies with opals adorning their breastPark Avenue poseurs who behave like the TzarWith silver coke spoons for their caviarShe'd reflect back to when she'd just turned tenAnd faithfully subscribed to fair play for all menBut seventy odd years of Bolsjevic dreamsHad worn out her pride and left her no meansTo cope with her own disillusionsIf Trotski and Engels saw the Dachas and ZilsThe Politburo boys with their hands in the tillThe bear was long dead before he got illWas it the cure or was it the feverNo more reds under beds to freakout the FedsA defunct Superpower in tatters and shredsThe marks left by Karl leave them queuing for breadIn the Caucasus Baltic and Urals