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 with lyrics by Andrei Voznesensky.

Alla Pugacheva cover

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 flowers the square of the hotel where his love interest, a French actress was residing.^[2][3] The song is also the opening and title track of Pugacheva's album of the same name released in Japan in 1983.^[4]

Other covers

Recordings

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

• 1984: Finnish singer Vera Telenius (with Finnish lyrics by Telenius as "Miljoona ruusua")
• 1984: Finnish singer Katri Helena ("Miljoona ruusua")
• 1986: Hungarian singer Kata Csongrádi ("Millió rózsaszál")
• 1987: Finnish/Swedish singer Arja Saijonmaa (with Swedish lyrics by Lars Huldén as "Miljoner rosor")^[5]
• 1997: Russian singer Sergei Dikiy ("Million alykh roz")^[6]
• 2003: Russian/Swedish singer Elena Ermanova ("Million alykh roz")^[7]
• 2006: Finnish singer Eero Aven ("Miljoona ruusua")^[8]
• 2006: Vietnamese singer Gia Huy ("Triệu Đoá Hoa Hồng")
• 2014: Vietnamese singer Hong Nhung ("Triệu Đoá Hoa Hồng")
• Japanese singer Tokiko Kato ("百万本のバラ" (Hyaku-man-bon no bara))
• Ukrainian singer Ani Lorak ("Million alykh roz")
• Latvian a cappella band Cosmos ("Million alykh roz")
• Korean singer Shim Soobong ("백만송이 장미", "Baegmansong-i Jangmi")^[9]
• Iranian singer Farzaneh (Gole Roz)

Performances

• 2011: The song was performed live by Ance Krauze at an event celebrating Raimonds Pauls's 75th birthday.
• Korean band Infinity of Sound (Korean: 아이에스) (song title: "백만송이 장미"). lyrics performance

References

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