songs about naotmaa

[archaeologistwanna-be]

Once upon a December - Deana Carter/Disney Anastasia Movie

Dancing bears Painted wings
Things I almost remember
And a song someone sings
Once upon a December

Someone holds me safe and warm
Horses prance through a silver storm
Figures dancing gracefully
Across my memory

Far away, long ago
Glowing dim as an ember
Things my heart
Used to know
Once upon a December

Someone holds me safe and warm
Horses prance through a silver storm
Figures dancing gracefully
Across my memory

Far away, long ago
Glowing dim an as ember
Things my heart
Used to know
Things it yearns to remember

And a song
Someone sings
Once upon a December

[Imperial_Grounds]

I was listening to Coldplay's Viva La Vida, and the song 42 reminded me a lot about not so much the Romanovs, but their memory. It made me think of the Dowager Empress tacked up in Hvidore in Copenhagen refusing to believe  Nicholas, Alexandra and her grandchildren were really dead. Also this reminds me of their memory and the gilded world they lived in, now lost to us in the modern age:

Those who are dead are not dead
They're just living my head
And since I fell for that spell
I am living there as well
Oh...

Time is so short and I'm sure
There must be something more

Those who are dead are not dead
They're just living my head oh…
And since I fell for that spell
I am living there as well oh…

Time is so short and I'm sure
There must be something more

You thought you might be a ghost
You thought you might be a ghost
You didn't get to heaven but you made it close
You didn't get to heaven but you made it close

You thought you might be a ghost
You thought you might be a ghost
You didn't get to heaven but you made it close
You didn't get to heaven but you oh oh
Oh oh…

Those who are dead are not dead
They're just living my head
Oh...

Listen!!: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnjy-qIleOA

You're so right. It is perfect, and to be honest it would be great to see Marie/Dagmar's life put into a movie, on how she lived as Tsarina, became the Dowager Empress and then had to run because of revolution. About how she saw the world around her crumbling down, and yet she kept believen her loved-ones remained alive somewhere.

[amartin71718]

This song reminds me of N&A:
Ocean Wide by The Afters

Look outside
It's already light and the stars ran away with the night
Things we're said, words that we'll try forget,
it's so hard to admit I know we've made mistakes
I see through all the tears but that's what got us here

[Chorus:]
If love is an ocean wide
We'll swim in the tears we cry
They'll see us through to the other side
We're gonna make it
When love is a raging sea
You can hold on to me
We'll find a way tonight
Love is an ocean wide

I'll stay right here
It's where I'll always belong
Tied with your arms
Days like this, I wish the sun wouldn't set
I don't want to forget
What made us feel this way
You see through all my fears
And that's what got us here

[Chorus]

Love is an ocean wide enough to forget
Even when we think we can't


This song reminds me of NAOTMAA:
"Beautiful Words" by The Afters

Slow down
This is such a blur
Tell me what's the hurry now
Have we been running round in circles
Missing all that we could be
You say it's not too late

[Chorus:]
We are words
On pages that we've left unturned
An ending no one's ever heard
We are a story slowly unfolding
Beautiful words

I could walk across the ocean
With you walking next to me
And you could melt away this winter
Now we're starting over
We will see it's not too late

[Chorus]

That last when everything else has passed
Even when the stars are gone
I know every single beautiful word that we were will live on

[Chorus]

[Imperial_Grounds]

Indeed they fit

[amartin71718]

This song reminds me of the Romanovs while they were in captivity:

P.S.: The phrase 'beauty from pain' I interperet in this setting is that they became saints after their horrific deaths.

"Beauty From Pain" by Superchick

The lights go out all around me
One last candle to keep out the night
And then the darkness surrounds me
I know i'm alive but i feel like i've died
And all that's left is to accept that it's over
My dreams ran like sand through the fists that i made
I try to keep warm but i just grow colder
I feel like i'm slipping away

After all this has passed, i still will remain
After i've cried my last, there'll be beauty from pain
Though it won't be today,
Someday i'll hope again
And there'll be beauty from pain
You will bring beauty from my pain

My whole world is the pain inside me
The best i can do is just get through the day
When life before is only a memory
I'll wonder why God lets me walk through this place
And though i can't understand why this happened
I know that i will when i look back someday
And see how you've brought beauty from ashes
And made me as gold purified through these flames

After all this has passed, i still will remain
After i've cried my last, there'll be beauty from pain
Though it won't be today,
Someday i'll hope again
And there'll be beauty from pain
You will bring beauty from my pain

Here i am, at the end of me
Tryin to hold to what i can't see
I forgot how to hope
This night's been so long
I cling to Your promise
There will be a dawn

After all this has passed, i still will remain
After i've cried my last, there'll be beauty from pain
Though it won't be today,
Someday i'll hope again
And there'll be beauty from pain
You will bring beauty from my pain

[Cambria_Coheed]

I'm not sure if this one has been posted...but its by a Polish group called Łzy.
Its called Anastazja, jestem...or Anastasia, I am.
heres the youtube link to the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hl3S_BFd9u8

and the lyrics.

Leżę tutaj już od piętnastu lat,
Nie mogę nic powiedzieć, ruszyć ręką, ani wstać,
Sprawny umysł mam, jednak martwe ciało,
Wszystko słyszę i czuję, po prostu wegetuję.

Pamiętasz mamo, jak tuliłaś mnie do snu?
A teraz tylko ból i pokój zawsze pełen róż.
Każdego dnia, jednego tylko chcę:
Błagam was, zlitujcie się i zabijcie mnie.

Nikt nie stoi, wszyscy dobrze się bawią,
A może właśnie teraz
Na pewno ktoś, na pewno ktoś umiera
I w czyichś ramionach wylewa łzy,
Czy pomyślałeś, że to mógłbyś być ty?

Nikt nie stoi, wszyscy dobrze się bawią,
A może właśnie teraz, na pewno ktoś, na pewno ktoś umiera
I w czyichś ramionach wylewa łzy,
Może on, a może ona, najważniejsze, że nie ty.

W natłoku myśli wielu chłopców miałam
I w niejedną wielką podróż wyruszyłam.
Wiem, że ty naprawdę to przeżywasz,
A ja po prostu śniłam, ja po prostu śniłam.

Pamiętasz mamo, jak tuliłaś mnie do snu?
A teraz tylko ból i pokój zawsze pełen róż.
Każdego dnia, jednego tylko chcę:
Błagam was, zlitujcie się i zabijcie mnie.

Codziennie pytam, czy kiedyś to się skończy
I nienawidzę słów: "Nic nas nie rozłączy",
Codziennie modlę się, byś zabrał mnie ze sobą,
Ludzie nie mają prawa, ludzie zabić mnie nie mogą!

Nikt nie stoi, wszyscy dobrze się bawią,
A może właśnie teraz, na pewno ktoś, na pewno ktoś umiera
I w czyichś ramionach wylewa łzy,
Czy pomyślałeś, że to mógłbyś być ty?

Nikt nie stoi, wszyscy dobrze się bawią,
A może właśnie teraz, na pewno ktoś, na pewno ktoś umiera
I w czyichś ramionach wylewa łzy,
Może on, a może ona, najważniejsze, że nie ty.



along with the translation

I've been laying here for fifteen years
I can't speak, move my hands or get up
My mind is still alive
Yet, I have dead body
I hear everything, I feel everything
I'm just vegetating here

Do you remember, mom
The way you lulled me to sleep?
And now there's only pain
And room full of roses
Everyday I want only one thing
Please, have mercy and kill me

Ref. Nobody's standing
Everyone's having a good time
And it might be that now someone is dying
And he is pouring tears in somebody's arms
Maybe it's him, maybe it's her
It only matters that's not you

In many thoughts I had many boys
And I went for a big journey
I know that you took it very emotionally
But I was only dreaming
Only dreaming

Do you remember, mom
The way you lulled me to sleep?
And now there's only pain
And room full of roses
Everyday I want only one thing
Please, have mercy and kill me

Everyday I ask:
Will it end someday?
And I hate the words:
Nothing will tear us apart
Everyday I pray
take me with yourself
People has no rights
People cannot kill me

Ref. Nobody's standing
Everyone's having a good time
And it might be that now someone is dying
And he is pouring tears in somebody's arms
Did you ever think that it might have been you?
Nobody's standing
Everyone's having a good time
And it might be that now someone is dying
And he is pouring tears in somebody's arms
Maybe it's him, maybe it's her
What's the most important: it's not you

[Olga Maria]

The lyrics of  Forever and A day by Michael Learns to Rock reminds me of OTMA (either of all of them).

[NAOTMAA Fan]

You're so right. It is perfect, and to be honest it would be great to see Marie/Dagmar's life put into a movie, on how she lived as Tsarina, became the Dowager Empress and then had to run because of revolution. About how she saw the world around her crumbling down, and yet she kept believen her loved-ones remained alive somewhere.

I'm glad you agree! I think it's certainly time for a new Romanov film to come out (no offense to Romanovy!) : D

[Imperial_Grounds]

Correct, but ah well for now we shall have to wait for the release of the movie-version of 'The Kitchenboy',
I have also a new song, which I am using for a video:p

David Cook, Permanent - from Nicholas' POV

Is this the moment where I look you in the eye?
Forgive my broken promise that you'll never see me cry
And everything, it will surely change
Even if I tell you I won't go away today

Will you think that you're all alone
When no one's there to hold your hand?
When all you know seems so far away
And everything is temporary, rest your head
I'm permanent

I know he's living in hell every single day
And so I ask, oh God is there some way for me to take his place?
And when they say it's all touch and go
I wish I could make it go away but still you say

Will you think that you're all alone
When no one's there to hold your hand?
When all you know seems so far away
And everything is temporary, rest your head
I'm permanent, I'm permanent

Is this the moment where I look you in the eye?
Forgive my promise that you'll never see me cry

[phil974]

Hi Rachael89
First, Excuse me for my so bad english .....  I'm french !

You wrote this message on February 24, 2008 :
>  Hi All
> I brought a record called 'The Day Anastasia Romanoff Died' (Paul Ryan, 1976) off ebay for no better reason
> than the title of the song. I tried to find out about it, but I could find nothing, there were only about five
> mentions of it spread over the whole of Google!
> Anyway, I played it today and had it converted to MP3, I'm listeneing to it now and it's very good, very dramatic.
> The lyrics are vaguely nonseical, as most song lyrics are, but I quite like them despite being clueless as to what
> they mean by Anastasia's 'magic'. I transcribed the lyrics, I thought they might be interesting to my fellow
> Romanovs buffs! The second verse is hard to hear, so I am not sure if I've got it done right.
> I'd be very interested to see if anyone else has heard of this song, it seems to be something of an enigma!

PAUL RYAN sang this beautiful song on SCORPIO RISING LP in 1976.
PAUL  was known as BRYAN RYAN 's brother. The duet sang in the 60's a lot .. but as the success arrived, the duet broke and they had their own artistic way : BRYAN did a big international success with ELOISE

and PAUL hasn't real success with his SCORPIO RISING LP.
I personnaly meet this record in 1976-1977 with a firend. I really enjoy this music but i've  never be able to retrieve them anyway. On 2009, PAUL RAYN's youtube online videos appear .. They are now all available ...  except "THE DAY ANASTASIA DIED" :
url ares here :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPBZ9iwhups  - Paul Ryan-Scorpio Rising
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDMiA19PvyA    - Paul Ryan-Angel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRNfGqQtLjY&NR=1   - Paul Ryan-Heaven & Hell
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbRw5mvjzdE - Paul Ryan-Sober Phobia.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AT9k6BLK0K8 - Man In The Crowd (C'est La Vie)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoTpSsxl4BE&NR=1   - Paul Ryan-Take It All

You said...
> I could probably email you the file if you want it, it would be quite big but I'd imagine it would fit in as an
> attatchment. If you would like me to send it to you, PM me with your email.
Can you PM me the MP3 of this song ?

Thank you for all
Merci beacoup par avance !!!!! <--- IN FRENCH !

Best regards
Philippe

[Katya90]

My goodness, I could probably take up an entire page of this topic!!! (And I probably eventually will, unless someone objects!) First off, I agree completely with those who mentioned the various song from Viva La Vida representing the Romanovs... I really think Coldplay should just admit that they wrote the album about them. What else could those songs be about?? (Well, to be fair, a lot of my friends think Viva La Vida is about a Doctor Who character...) Anyway, to add another one to that list, "Death and All His Friends" is another great track from that album. It seems so much like the family reminiscing during those last days in the Ipatiev house... And then the hidden track at the end of the song ("The Escapist"), which repeats "We lie awake, and we dream of making our escape"... it reminds me so much of those stories of the nights they stayed up with full outfits on, hoping to be rescued.

And to the person who mentioned "Nearer My God To Thee" reminding them of the Romanovs... I just played my version from the Titanic soundtrack, and it totally gave me that whole atmosphere of an elegy to them... especially haunting is the fact that the Titanic version ends with the sound of people screaming... it's like a perfect requiem for their deaths.

As for my own observations... when I first learned about NAOTMAA in my high school history class, I wanted to see more pictures of them so i searched youtube to see if there were any slideshows, and I found a video with Tori Amos's "Yes, Anastasia"... I actually got the whole album after that and listened to it while I was studying for my test on Russian History. I don't know if it was the combination of hearing the music while learning about them, or looking at all of their pictures and feeling a sort of mystery surrounding them, but I basically found that almost every song on that CD has at least some lyrics that sound like the Romanovs' story. After that I kind of made it a challenge of sorts to myself to try and relate every Tori Amos song to NAOTMAA. And it's actually amazingly easy!! So many of her songs remind me of them. So that's what I'll end up filling this thread with, haha. But for now I'll start off with the few songs by others that also seem to have a Romanov connection... here's one of the greatest:

Regina Spektor - Après Moi
This song to me is the perfect embodiment of the February/March Revolution. The first verse is Nicholas's point of view in response to those wanting to abdicate... he's telling them that it's not just about him, but about upholding the institution of Tsardom...
I must go on standing
You can't break that which isn't yours
I must go on standing
I'm not my own, it's not my choice

The second verse then reminds me of what I read in Nicholas & Alexandra, about Alix getting paranoid during the revolution and writing to Nicky about all the different people she never trusted or who didn't like her...
Be afraid of the the lame, they'll inherit your legs
Be afraid of the old, they'll inherit your soul
Be afraid of the cold, they'll inherit your blood
"Après Moi, le déluge": after me comes the flood
The end of this verse is interesting because supposedly it was said by Madame du Pompadour to Louis XV, the last king of France before the revolution there. And she was basically right. So it's almost like Alix reminding Nicky of what could happen if he isn't strong.

Those verses then repeat a few times, followed by the most beautiful part of the song: a verse, in Russian, from a poem by Boris Pasternak. Not speaking Russian myself I've tried to find translations, and I've gotten many different versions, but the basic gist of it is something like "February, take up your pen and weep," which is of course fitting for the February Revolution. Here's the Russian text in case anyone wants to translate it: (no idea if the spelling is accurate)

Fevrale dostat chernil i plakat
Pisat O Fevrale navsnryd
Poka grohochushaya slyakot
Vesnoyu charnoyu gorit

And with Cyrillic lettering:
Февраль. Достать чернил и плакать!
Писать о феврале навзрыд,
Пока грохочущая слякоть
Весною черною горит.

Then the end of the song repeats the first two verses a few times, with sounds of bells and other things that seem to foreshadow doom. I wish it was still available on youtube. There is a live version you can listen to however: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUoKVhQ2sz0

[bednayaliza]

A romans based on Vladimir Paley poem, sings Ylia Berezova.


http://www.filehoster.ru/files/ei4784

[Katya90]

And to continue with two other songs... the first one is probably just me, but in listening to Arcade Fire's "In The Backseat" recently, I seemed to hear it through OTMA's perspective, after one of Alexei's health scares... the opening lines of "I like the peace in the backseat, I don't have to drive, I don't have to speak..." reminded me of how the IF's train traveled so slowly back from Spala... I can just imagine the girls looking out the windows and trying to forget all of the tensions going on. It could also be a metaphor for how people focused on Alexei instead of them, and how that could sometimes have been a relief because it took the pressure off them. The lyrics continue with "My family tree is losing all its leaves," which could probably also have been going through their heads at such a time. And to continue the "backseat" metaphor, the next lines are "crashing towards the driver's seat," which seems to foreshadow the revolution ahead and how people wanted to get rid of the person in charge of it all. Then "the lightning bolt made enough heat to melt the street beneath your feet" continues that mood. The rest of the lyrics don't match up as well though... unless, and now I'm reaaally overthinking this, you change the perspective in the song to a young Alix's point of view, since it continues "Alice died in the night" (her mother) and "I've been learning to drive my whole life," i.e., learning to stand out/take over/lead, which is what she did in a way by becoming empress. (Reading back over this, I know officially think I'm crazy!!)

And the second song... I discovered this one sort of accidentally. It was a free download from iLike, and I haven't been able to find any albums or information about the artist other than what came with the song. Anyway, it's called "Missing (Disparu)" and is by Carol Donaghue, and it is the PERFECT song to describe the Anastasia mystery from a scientifically correct perspective, without deluding any of the "charm" of sorts of if she'd survived. Anyway, I couldn't even find any lyrics online, so I've transcribed them the best I could from what I've heard, but my French is still not perfect, so there are some details missing from that part. Anyway...

I lay in this world, look around me
I lay on this ground, cold earth below me
There is not a sound
No heartbeat, no feeling, no breathing

I am all alone, lying on my own
Find me, seek me, I’ll keep on calling
Don’t forget me, I’ll keep on calling
Please remember me
My face, my voice, my being

I’m only missing as you’ve yet to find me
I’m only missing as you’ve yet to find me here

Je suis étendu (this is gramatically incorrect but that's what it sounds like!) dans ce(tte) boîte (Translates as "I'm lying in this box" or "I laid in this box")
Regarde autour de moi ("Look around me")
Je suis étendu par terre ("I'm lying/I laid on the ground")
Sous moi le sol est froid ("Beneath me the earth is cold")
Tout est silencieux et tranquille ("All is silent and calm")
Sans vie, sans souffle, sans sensation ("Without life, without breath, without feeling")

Je suis toute seule (I am all alone)
étendu toute seule (Lying all alone)
Trouvez-moi, cherchez-moi (Find me, seek me)
J'appelle sans cesse (I'm calling without cease/constantly)
Ne m'oubliez pas, j'appelle sans cesse (Don't forget me, I'm calling constantly)
Ne m'oublize pas, s'il vous plaît (Don't forget me, please)
Mon visage, ma voix, mon être (My face, my voice, my being)

Je suis disparu, parce que vous ne me retrouvez pas (I'm missing because you haven't found me)
Je suis disparu, parce que vous ne me retrouvez pas ici (I'm missing because you haven't found me here)

I think that's mostly right. The singer might not be a native french speaker and that would account for some gramatical errors. Anyway, I think it sums up Anastasia's death pretty well, and the conflict over who was missing from the grave. Since it was offered officially by the singer as a free download, then I don't think it would be a problem to share it with you: http://www.sendspace.com/file/k9cdso

[Tasia]

"Sweet Child of Mine by Guns n' Roses" reminds me of OTMAA !! ^^

[Katya90]

Hmm, interesting. I've never made that connection, but it does work.

Well, here I go with my crazy song analyses again... I guess I'll post some of the Tori Amos ones this time, but where do I begin? I have an actual playlist on my iPod of songs that remind me of NAOTMAA, and I just counted and there's about 15 Tori Amos ones on there!!! I've never really realized how wrapped up in this I can get until now! *takes a deep breath*

First off, Ribbons Undone. Another great Anastasia song. This could work really well in a slideshow for her. Really, it could be about any of her sisters as well, but the title reminds me of all those pictures of her with messy hair, like she's been running around and ruining all the ribbons someone tied in. A very sweet and pretty song about childhood innocence. Listen here (someone else's video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJnzFAUiDZI

Next, Winter. This one hit me as a perfect NAOTMAA song the moment I first heard it. So sad and poignant... it starts off innocently, from the point of view of a girl playing in the snow, but then her father starts talking and the tone changes...

He says, When you gonna make up your mind?
When you gonna love you as much as I do?
When you gonna make up your mind?
'Cause things are gonna change so fast
All the white horses are still in bed
I tell you that I'll always want you near
You say that things change, my dear

Those lines are so perfect for describing Nicholas's love for his children. And the "things are gonna change so fast" line is wonderful here: Not just about general growing up, but in NAOTMAA's case, their entire lives being thrown for a loop with the war and the revolution. The way Tori sings it just breaks my heart. Then the next verse has more about growing up, coming into one's own, etc. One of the lines is "Mirror, mirror, where's the Crystal Palace? But I only can see myself," which again reminds me of OTMA. Then the last verse...

Hair is gray and the fires are burning
So many dreams on the shelf
You say I wanted you to be proud of me
I always wanted that myself

Perfect for the revolution- Nicholas's hair graying from stress, and the simple admission to his children that he just wanted them to be proud of their father. *sobs* See what I mean about her songs fitting? I think Tori was more inspired by Anastasia than she thought!!

From that same album is a song called Mother, which struck me first as about the IF leaving the AP for Tobolsk, but now that I know more about Alix's life, it's sort of a hybrid of that and of her feelings as she was facing marriage. The first verse is about someone scared to leave home, and her mother telling her that it's time to go, that she chose this, etc. Of course Alix's mother wasn't alive when she was getting married, but it could easily be Queen Victoria, or just Alix imagining what her mother would say.

The first line of the chorus: "Mother, the car is here. Somebody leave the light on." First made me think of OTMA saying that as they were getting ready to leave, asking for a light to be left on because they had no idea how long they would be imprisoned, or that they'd never come back. The rest of it however is back to Alix: "Green limousine for the redhead, dancing, dancing girl"... an MK reference? The rest is about dancing as well. And then "I can remember where I come from"... Alix's roots versus her new home.

The next verse to me is SO much about Alix's relationship with Rasputin:
I walked into your dream
And now I've forgotten how to dream my own dream
You are the clever one, aren't you?
Brides in veils for you
We told you all of our secrets
All but one
And don't you even try
The phone has been disconnected
Dripping with blood and with time and with your advice
Poison me against the moon ...how Rasputin died (sorta)

And then back to the "Mother, the car is here" and this time: "Black chariot for the redhead," kind of connecting the two scenarios, becoming an Empress and being dethroned. This chorus includes a fearfully whispered "He's gonna change my name"... Alix to Alexandra... and later, "First my left foot, then my right behind the other. Breadcrumbs lost under the snow." Alix coming to see Russia as her new home, and herself as Russian rather than German/English.

I'm not saying that Alix didn't want to marry Nicky, but every woman has anxieties. Especially Alix with her issue about changing her religion.

Well, there's three songs down!!! I don't want these posts to get too long, but I feel like I'm hogging the board because I'm making so many!!