Katyusha

“Katyusha,“ also transliterated “Katusha“, “Katiusha“ or “Katjusha“, (Russian: Катюша - Little Catherine) is a Russian wartime song composed in 1938 by Matvei Blanter with lyrics from Mikhail Isakovsky. It gained fame during World War II as an inspiration to defend one’s land from the enemy. The song combines elements of the heroic, upbeat battle song and of a peasant song depicting a girl longing for her absent love. Standing on a high riverbank, a young woman, Katyusha, sings of her beloved (compared to “a gray eagle of the steppes“), who is a soldier serving on the border far away. The theme of the song is that the soldier will protect the Motherland and its people while his girl will preserve their love. While the song is joyful and filled with the imagery of a fertile, blooming land, it also conveys the sense that the motherland is under threat. “Katyusha“ was first sung by female students from a Russian industrial school in Moscow to bid farewell to Russian soldiers going on the battle front against N