Dark Is the Night (Soviet song)

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"Dark Is the Night" (Russian: Тёмная ночь, romanized: Tyomnaya noch, IPA: [ˈtʲɵmnəjə ˈnotɕ], lit. 'Dark Night') is a Soviet song associated with the Great Patriotic War (the Eastern Front of World War II). Written by composer Nikita Bogoslovsky and poet Vladimir Agatov, it was initially produced for the 1943 war film Two Soldiers, where it was performed by Mark Bernes. Leonid Utyosov, without the permission of the film crew, had also recorded the song, thus becoming the first to do so. However, it was Bernes' performance in the film that popularised it: in it, Bernes plays a soldier who recalls his wife and baby while singing at night. The Soviet authorities disapproved of the song, stating that it propagated philistinism. However, despite it being ostracized, the song became a symbol of the war years for millions of Soviet people. Due to its popularity, the song was recorded for the RCA Victor label (#26-5037) by the vocalist Sidor Belarsky in collaboration with the orchestral accordionist...

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