The meaning of the lyrics of the song "At which gate" (U kakih vorot) the performer of the song "Mikhail Krug"

At what gates will the locks be opened, and which hinges' ungreased screech

Will return freedom to me with an effortless hand. I'll remember this moment forever.

The night will fall on the table like a black tablecloth, foliage will wave at me with a soft breeze,

And the birch - a five-year-old daughter - I didn't notice how she had grown!

I'll watch as my mother opens the window. How many times only dreams brought me to her.

And at the sky, where it's wider, I'll look from the other side now.

Fresh wind will arrive from the fields, I was friends with it there, behind this wall.

From the long, gray, prison nights, it would take me for a walk.

It would take me, calling me to freedom, through the shadows cast by the watchtowers,

Time served, acquitted under the article, it would take me and bring me back.

It would say goodbye, wishing for a swift reunion, but as they often say, unfortunately -

The one who is awaited returned to those who weren't waiting, but just to spite it, I'm still waiting.

At what gates will the locks be opened, and which hinges' ungreased screech...

У каких ворот откроют замки и каких петель несмазанный скрип

Мне вернут свободу с легкой руки. Я запомню навсегда этот миг.

Черной скатертью на стол ляжет ночь, мягким веером махнет мне листва,

И березка - пятилетняя дочь - не заметил, как она подросла!

Посмотрю, как мать откроет окно. Сколько раз к ней приводили лишь сны.

И на небо, там пошире оно, посмотрю уже с другой стороны.

Свежий ветер прилетит из полей, я с ним там, за этой стенкой дружил.

Из тюремных долгих серых ночей он гулять меня с собой уводил.

Уводил меня, на волю все звал, через тени, что на вышках стоят,

Срок скостил и по статье оправдал, уводил да возвращался назад.

Он прощался, скорой встречи желал, но, как часто говорят, на беду -

Кого ждут вернулся к тем, кто не ждал, да только я ему назло все же жду.

У каких ворот откроют замки, и каких петель несмазанный скрип...

In Mikhail Krug's song "At What Gates," the lyrical hero anticipates his long-awaited freedom after imprisonment. The text is filled with images conveying the emotional state of a man on the threshold of a new life.

"At what gates will the locks open, and what hinges' unoiled creak…" – these lines, repeated at the beginning and end of the song, are like a rhetorical question addressed to fate. The hero, as it were, tries to guess where exactly his imprisonment will end, and every sound of approaching liberation is filled with special meaning for him.

The images of nature – "the black tablecloth of the night," "the soft fan of foliage," "the birch – five-year-old daughter" – symbolize the world waiting for the hero beyond the prison walls. He craves the simple joys of life that have become inaccessible to him: to look at the night sky, see how his daughter has grown, feel the fresh wind from the fields.

The wind is the key image of the song, personifying freedom and the relentless passage of time. The wind was the hero's faithful friend in prison, "led…to freedom", albeit illusory, into the world of dreams and memories.

The final lines are imbued with both bitterness and hope. The hero knows that not everyone is happy about his return. "He whom they wait for returned to those who did not wait" – this phrase reflects the tragedy of a person torn from his usual life. But despite everything, he keeps in his heart faith in the best, "waits" for a meeting with his wind of freedom.