Roads to Moscow

That verse DOES mean something. When Stewart talks of standing in lines, or moving in lines, he's talking about formation. In this case, the narrating Russian soldier is talking about standing in formation with the Red Army, preparing to make the final approach on Berlin. This is done to point out that the narrator had fought for the Red Army for the entirity of the war (the first verse tells us he was there, on the front, when the Germans crossed the border into Russia. This sets up the final injustice that this young man endures...

That verse DOES mean something. When Stewart talks of standing in lines, or moving in lines, he's talking about formation. In this case, the narrating Russian soldier is talking about standing in formation with the Red Army, preparing to make the final approach on Berlin. This is done to point out that the narrator had fought for the Red Army for the entirity of the war (the first verse tells us he was there, on the front, when the Germans crossed the border into Russia. This sets up the final injustice that this young man endures -- lifetime (although probably a brief lifetime) imprisonment by the country that he fought so long for. (When he was "taken from the line" to "journey deep into the heart of holy Russia", it was by the Russians, not by the Germans!

This is based on facts! Stalin, with his massive paranoia, sent millions of his own soldiers to concentration camps after the war, including those that had been taken prisioner by the Germans! One site suggests that several million Russian soldiers were killed by the Comunists, after the war. I've heard this story from other sources than the internet & do believe it to be true. It fits in perfectly with what I know about Stalin!

I think Stewart wrote, not just this verse, but the whole song, as a salute to the Russian soldiers and people who paid such a high price, not just fighting the Germans, but trying to live under the rule of the Communists! I don't have them now, but I've seen figures where, over the course of their leadership, Stalin was responsible for significantly more death than Hitler. Of course, he had many more years to accomplish this. Both were pure evil, in fact, some people like to talk of the political spectrum as a line with liberals on the left & conservatives on the right. At the far right of this line would be facists and at the far left would be communists. I like to think of it as an alomst closed circle instead, where, if you go too far to either the right or left, you come back to the same evil tactics and interpretations as those you claim to be your worst enemy! This CLEARLY describs Hitler and Stalin!

@TDK Stewart read dozens of books to research this song, and while it\'s not up on his site anymore, he used to have about ten pages of notes on this song alone, including this part:\r\n\r\n"And now they ask me of the time I was caught behind their lines and taken prisoner ..."\r\n\r\nThe Germans viewed captured Russians as slave labor, and they were treated very poorly. As German labor became scarce, they were forced to work in armament factories and mines.\r\n\r\nSome 5,750,000 Russians were taken prisoner during the war. Barely 1 million were found alive at the end. Two million died...

@TDK Stewart read dozens of books to research this song, and while it\'s not up on his site anymore, he used to have about ten pages of notes on this song alone, including this part:\r\n\r\n"And now they ask me of the time I was caught behind their lines and taken prisoner ..."\r\n\r\nThe Germans viewed captured Russians as slave labor, and they were treated very poorly. As German labor became scarce, they were forced to work in armament factories and mines.\r\n\r\nSome 5,750,000 Russians were taken prisoner during the war. Barely 1 million were found alive at the end. Two million died in captivity from starvation, exposure and disease. A million were released during the war, some of them to serve in collaborator units set up by the German Army. Another million were never accounted for. According to the Germans 67,000 were executed, although it is believed that the actual number is far higher.\r\n\r\n"They only held me for a day, a lucky break I say ...."\r\n\r\nRussian prisoners of war who managed to escape their captors really did not fare much better. Fearing these men had been co-opted, Stalin ordered that they all be sent into a sort of internal exile in Siberia.\r\n\r\nAlso, Mark Stoler, on his blog Things Have Changed, has a full take on this song, including this:\r\n\r\nIn his epic account of the German-Soviet war, Absolute War, Chris Bellamy writes that "the Red Army was the only one in the world where being taken prisoner counted as desertion and treason". Stalin believed any soldier who allowed himself to be captured was a traitor and counter-revolutionary and that Russians exposed to Westerners for any length of time became a danger to the Soviet state, because they were potentially infected with subversive views. Bellamy adds: "The Soviet government and military command had absolutely no interest in what happened to Soviet people in German captivity. When prisoners of war who survived were released the end of the war, they were usually sent to the Gulag or shot, and the same fate even befell many who had fought and crawled their way out of German encirclements during the war."

Its your Imagination. The Song maintains its "Russian" Perspective... however, I can understand your confusion. The second verse it refers to the German Commander, General Heinz Wilhelm Guderian, who had captured Smolensk in 1941, and was ready to launch the final assault on Moscow. He was ordered to turn south and attack Kiev. The order, issued by Adolph Hitler himself, was seen by Guderian as a mistake, but when he protested the move, he lost all influence with Hitler and was releived of his command in December of that year. The song refers to these events, very briefly... hence your confusion. An...

Its your Imagination. The Song maintains its "Russian" Perspective... however, I can understand your confusion. The second verse it refers to the German Commander, General Heinz Wilhelm Guderian, who had captured Smolensk in 1941, and was ready to launch the final assault on Moscow. He was ordered to turn south and attack Kiev. The order, issued by Adolph Hitler himself, was seen by Guderian as a mistake, but when he protested the move, he lost all influence with Hitler and was releived of his command in December of that year. The song refers to these events, very briefly... hence your confusion. An interesting Idea, though! It shows you are Listening and Trying! Please keep it up! Music needs open minds, or we will all fall victim to the Lady Gaga's of the world!

mackwheaton has hit the nail on the head- this song is probably Stewart's enduring legacy, his masterwork. In a few verses, and with the accompanying very moving music Stewart has created a song that people will probably be listening to for decades into the future. His history is right, his take on the character and tenacity of the Russian soldier is right, his take on the fatalism embodied in the national character of Russians is right. Read some Alexander Solszenitsyn for an expert's take on the above, particularly "August 1914". Stewart has captured the essence of a tragic...

mackwheaton has hit the nail on the head- this song is probably Stewart's enduring legacy, his masterwork. In a few verses, and with the accompanying very moving music Stewart has created a song that people will probably be listening to for decades into the future. His history is right, his take on the character and tenacity of the Russian soldier is right, his take on the fatalism embodied in the national character of Russians is right. Read some Alexander Solszenitsyn for an expert's take on the above, particularly "August 1914". Stewart has captured the essence of a tragic era and transformed it into a combination of verse and music that is unforgettable.

Not one of you dimwits have this right. The song synopsises a Russian soldier's experience in WW2. ALL of WW2. It starts with the early days of the German Blitzkreig of 1941, describing the swift advance of German troops into Western Russia, and the waiting tactic adopted by the ill-prepared Soviet troops. The lyric continues through the battles of Stalingrad and the failure of the Nazis to take Moscow, resulting in the retreat and pursuit of the German forces, culminating with the German collapse and the capture of Berlin in 1945. At some point in the narrators' service, he was captured, but...

Not one of you dimwits have this right. The song synopsises a Russian soldier's experience in WW2. ALL of WW2. It starts with the early days of the German Blitzkreig of 1941, describing the swift advance of German troops into Western Russia, and the waiting tactic adopted by the ill-prepared Soviet troops. The lyric continues through the battles of Stalingrad and the failure of the Nazis to take Moscow, resulting in the retreat and pursuit of the German forces, culminating with the German collapse and the capture of Berlin in 1945. At some point in the narrators' service, he was captured, but had 'a lucky break' and was able to escape after being held for a day. He innocently reveals this on a homebound train, only to be overheard by NKVD operatives. He is singled out as one of thousands of Russian soldiers to be sent to Siberian Gulag work camps. This practice was Stalin's way of dealing with the huge number of returning servicemen. To allow them to return to civilian life would have placed too large a burden on the Soviet economy. Now, go read a book.