A maysele fun okh un vey Pasirt in land fun KGB Dort in mitn Ukraine Rut zikh sheyn nit mer di Shkhine Zogn zog ikh aykh dem pshat Az in Chernobyl baym Pripat Darf di Shkhine mer nit rien Fun zikh aleyn tut alts sheyn glien
Energye, oy, s'iz a prakht! Nor a toyesl hot men gemakht Dort in land fun Rus dem shtoltsn Hot me di velt shier nit farshmoltsn Alts in ordnung, karasho! Hot gesagt Politbyuro Nor baym rekhtn un baym linkn Hot men moyre milskh tsu trinkn
Zint der tsimes fun Pripyat Di gantse velt hot faynt salat Fun Kamtshatke biz Kanade Trinken darf men limonade To vos hob ikh tsu yenem ort? S'iz yidn flegn voynen dort Itstert, af di keyver oves Es tantst a nayer malkhamoves
Meynt nit, az dos ken gesheyn In yenem vaytn land aleyn Tsi in Kiev, tsi Detroit Khapn vest dem zelbn toyt.
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A tale of grief and woe Came to pass in the land of the KGB There, in the middle of the Ukraine The Divine Spirit no longer rests I'll give you the lowdown In Chernobyl by the Pripyat River The Divine Spirit need no longer glow Everything is already glowing by itself
Energy, oh, it's great But someone made a little mistake There, in the proud land of the Russ They almost melted down the world Everything's fine, under control Said the Politburo But on both right and left Everyone's afraid to drink the milk
And since the mess on the Pripyat The whole world's hate salad From Kamchatka to Canada Everybody has to drink soda So what does that place have to do with me? It's Jews who used to live there Today, on our ancestor's graves A new Angel of Death is dancing
Don't think it can only happen In that far-off land Be it Kiev or Detroit Death will catch up with you all the same