Million Roses

"Dāvāja Māriņa meitenei mūžiņu" (English: Māriņa gave the girl life) is a Latvian song composed by Raimonds Pauls with lyrics by Leons Briedis. It was performed at the 1981 Mikrofona aptauja by Aija Kukule and Līga Kreicberga.

The song is one of Pauls's most popular. It has been covered by several artists, most notably by Russian Alla Pugacheva in 1982. Pugacheva's cover was written by Andrei Voznesensky as "Миллион алых роз" (Million alykh roz, "Million Scarlet Roses"),[1] and Voznesensky drew inspiration for the Russian lyrics from the life of Georgian painter Niko Pirosmani: allegedly, Pirosmani once filled with roses the square of the hotel where his love interest, a French actress was residing.[2] The song is also the opening and title track of Pugacheva's album of the same name released in Japan in 1983.[3]

Numerous further covers are lyrically based on Andrei Voznesensky lyrics (the cover by Alla Pugacheva):

References

  1. Алла Пугачева (1982). "Миллион Роз" at Discogs (list of releases)
  2. Williamson, Marcus (May 5, 2010). "Andrei Voznesensky: Poet who fought against artistic censorship in the Soviet Union". The Independent. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
  3. Алла Пугачева (Alla Pugacheva) (1983). Миллион Роз at Discogs (list of releases)
  4. "Högt över havet, eurovisionsschlagern 1987: Sverige: uttagningen /2:a plats/ / Saijonmaa, Arja, Svensk mediedatabas. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
  5. "Sergei Dikiy- Biography". Sergei Dikiy Official site (in Russian). Retrieved 2 September 2013.
  6. "Milljon alyh roz = Miljoner rosor / Elena Ermanova", Svensk mediedatabas. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
  7. 'Miljoona ruusua juhlalevy - 40 laulua, article about music album on the Finnish Wikipedia. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  8. "Raimonds Pauls", culture.lv. Retrieved 3 April 2011. Archived copy at the Internet Archive. Retrieved 31 August 2013.