Matrang – Meduza

Thanks for coming to check out the newest entry of Media Language Learning! This week, we are back to pop music and, according to the chart I usually follow on TopHit.ru, there is a new number one song for the week of April 16-22, 2018! That song is Медуза (Medusa) by Matrang!

From this song and the imagery in it, maybe a better translation of the title would be “Jellyfish”. This also is a new Russian vocabulary word for me.

Anyway, Matrang is very new artist in Russia. So new that, at the time I wrote this, there was not a Wikipedia page about him yet. He is a 22-year-old from Vladikavkaz like MiyGi and Endshpiel, who I wrote about back in October.

The song Медуза was originally self-released in November last year but has since been re-released under the label Gazgolder, which Matrang joined around the beginning of this year. Gazgolder also has T-Fest, who I wrote about a few months ago as well, on its label. Just for fun, at the end of the blog, I will also post the original video. You can decide for yourself which one you like more!

New Words from the Song

There were quite a few new words for me from this song. I found the lyrics to be challenging but I feel like I get the overall idea and meaning of the song. Here is a link to a lyrics page I used.

Звездопад – shooting star

This word is in the first line of the song: “Мы с тобою звездопад” which I translate as “We are like falling stars together”. I feel like knowing the words “star” and “fall” made this fairly easy to understand this word but I looked it up just to be sure.

Неоновый – neon (as an adjective), fluorescent

To be honest, I got confused when I saw this word written down in the lyrics but I included it because I thought it would be useful for others: “Танцевали до утра / Под неоновым дождем” are the lines from the first verse, which I translate as “We danced till dawn / In the fluorescent rain.”

Обстоятельства – developments, circumstances, conditions

This word looked familiar but turned out not to be when I went to make sure I knew it. Here is the line from the song: “Мы меняем города / Обстоятельства на сон / Откровенно я вчера / Ты сегодня мне никто”. I included this whole bit because I don’t think it makes much sense without it and that’s the full phrase from the song, which I translate as “We change cities / And circumstances in our dreams / I was honest yesterday / But you’re nobody to me today.”

This was a bit of a challenge in the lyrics to me, so if anyone has a better way to explain the meaning, I would be all ears!

Нажимать – press, push, mash, force

Курок – firing hammer (of a gun)

This is from the part where he says he’s going to “kill” the person’s “dirt” or “taint” a couple lines later in the second verse. Here is the beginning: “Не по доброму смеясь / Нажимаю на курок” – “Laughing not from kindness / I cock my gun”.

Нутро – guts, insides

Also, from that same bit: “Остается чистота / Твое белое нутро” which I translated as “Cleanliness remains / Your white innards.” I’m not sure why the innards are white…

Бездонный – bottomless, fathomless

Here is the next line after the one above: “И бездонные глаза / Ты актриса моих снов” which I translate as “And your bottomless eyes / You’re the actress from my dreams”

Почитать – to respect, worship, honor, revere

Обжигать – to burn, scorch, bake

The first word here: почитать was a bit confusing for me. I thought it was “to read for a while” or something but nope! Anyway, here’s the line from the song: “Почитай мне до утра / Обжигай меня всю ночь” which I translate as “Worship me until morning / Burn me all night”. Maybe there’s a figurative meaning for the second part.

Унять – to settle down, bring to heel, silence, control

“Не получутся унять / Настоящую любовь” is the last line from the second verse, which I translate as “Real love / Will prevail.”

Review of the song and music video

One thing I have to say about this song is that the vocals are super different from most pop music. They have a Middle-Eastern vibe to me which, because it’s not what I am used to, I really like! Matrang’s voice is relatively low too, which adds to the uniqueness.

The beat is simple and the background music is nothing special. It fits though and there is one point where I found the song does something unexpected. This is after the second verse. One would expect another chorus after the verse but it immediately goes into a musical breakdown. I was all ready to sing more “Медуза!” right then but had to wait a little while. When songs buck the normal structure, it’s refreshing.

One other way that this song’s structure is a little divergent from most pop music is that the verse parts are super long and the chorus is short. The chorus is extremely catchy though and easy to sing along to, which makes it a lot of fun.

I read in this biography that the song is about his girlfriend, which is kind of sweet except for the part with the violent imagery to “kill” the “bad/dirt” in her. It tells a story but I just can’t really relate to that part.

Now personally, while the production value of the Gazgolder video is much better, I kind of like the self-released video you can see below more. I think the new one is just trying too hard to be artsy and the original has way more jellyfish in it. Let me know what you think. Which video is better in your opinion? Leave me a comment! I would be glad to start a conversation!