On recycled air We’ve been for so long. Our ship can stay there For over a year, And if we are cornered The sirens will warn us: That heat is now on! S. O. S., Save our souls! We’re here, suffocating For the rescue we’re waiting Please save our lives! Somebody, hear our calls! But they are quickly fading And terror’s mutilating Us like a knife! The oxygen’s low. We’re scraping for breath. We can’t rise, we know. We’re cruising below. Above us, it’s gaping, Preventing escape, is The pronged silent death! S. O. S., Save our souls! We’re here, suffocating For the rescue we’re waiting Please save our lives! Somebody, hear our calls! But they are quickly fading And terror’s mutilating Us like a knife! She cannot be captured We all understand. How crazy we must feel Rise into the minefield We all die tomorrow, “Crash into the shore!” was The captain’s command. S. O. S., Save our souls! We’re here, suffocating. For the rescue we’re waiting Please save our lives! Somebody, hear our calls! But they are quickly fading And terror’s penetrating Us like a knife! At dawn we will surface. There’ll be no more games. To die in our life’s prime Is better in day time. Our path is not mapped. We’re trapped! We’re trapped! But remember our names! S. O. S., Save our souls! We’re here, suffocating. For the rescue we’re waiting Please save our lives! Somebody, hear our calls! But they are quickly fading And terror’s penetrating Us like a knife! We finally surfaced But no escape still! The ships are in docks The target is locked All hopes can now flee us Despair will lead us As human torpedoes We rush for the kill! S. O. S., Save our souls! We’re here, suffocating For the rescue we’re waiting Please save our lives! Somebody, hear our calls! But they are quickly fading And terror’s mutilating Us like a knife!
© Vadim Astrakhan. Translation, 2007
© Vadim Astrakhan. Performance, 2007