Dorogoy Dlinnoyu

This Russian folk song had its tune swiped for the pop song "Those Were the Days".  I encountered the original when I was a Russian major at San Diego State.  This is my translation, with some liberties taken so that it can be sung to its tune in English.
In a sleigh with sleighbells we were riding;
Far off we could see the lights of town.
Dear, I know that if I could be with you,
I'd no longer find myself so sad.

(Chorus: sing twice)
The road ahead is long,
The moon is shining bright,
The song we sang in darkness disappears.
The score is ended now,
And with it broken now
Those sad guitars that tortured me at night.

Yes, it seems that we sang to no purpose;
Aimlessly we lived from night to night.
But if we had thought to do the right thing,
I know I would those sweet nights not recall.

(Chorus: two more times)

—San Diego
12/15/71
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