It must be noted, however, that this song, composed by Lev Knipper and Viktor Gusev in 1934, has nothing to do with politics or political ideology as those who are not familiar with it often assume. On the contrary, it talks about how war tears loved ones apart and how the women, though overcome with sadness, have to be brave along with their men in the army who are departing and may never return.
[The lyrics in Russian, both in Cyrillic and Roman scripts can be found here along with an (awkward) English translation.]
In order to understand how this song is often arranged for live performances, one must take into consideration the intended Sitz im Leben. At the very beginning, the singing is very, very soft -- so soft that most people think there's something wrong with their speaker. Within a few seconds, the singing becomes gradually louder and louder. Sometimes, horse's hoof beats can be heard in the background. Then the singing and the hoof beats grow soft again, going from barely audible to completely silent.
Imagine standing in an open field with a horse-borne army coming from afar, approaching you, then departing into the horizon.
Like this.
Or this.
