Nina Brodskaya – January Blizzard

Finding or meeting love (с любовью встретиться) is a difficult problem (проблема трудная). The planet spins round and round (планета вертится круглая, круглая) and flies into the distance (летит вдаль) through the clamor of days (сквозь суматоху дней).

Not easy (нелегко), not easy to love on this planet (нелегко полюбить на ней).

Passing Each Other By

January’s blizzard rings (звенит январская вьюга) and the rain lashes down hard (и ливни хлещут упруго). Stars race in circles (звёзды мчатся по кругу) and the cities are noisy (шумят города).

People don’t see each other (не видят люди друг друга), pass by one another (проходят мимо друг друга). They lose each other (теряют люди друг друга) and then they’ll never find it (а потом не найдут никогда).

Song lyrics Звенит январская вьюга

Time Travel

From the movie Иван Васильевич меняет профессию (Ivan Vasilyevich Changes Profession, also known as Ivan Vasilievich: Back to the Future, 1973). In the movie, Natalya Seleznyova (= Наталья Селезнёва, 1945, portrait/bio here and here) acts as if she sings, but the real voice belongs to Nina Brodskaya (= Нина Бродская, 1947, portrait/bio here and here).

The actress on the header image is Natalya Kustinskaya (= Наталья Кустинская, 1938-2012, portrait/bio here and here). Also see Что случилось с “русской Бриджит Бардо” Натальей Кустинской (What happened to “the Russian Brigitte Bardot”) (RG.ru, 2015).

Music by Aleksandr Zatsepin (= Александр Зацепин, 1926).
Lyrics by Leonid Derbenyov (= Леонид Дербенёв, 1931-1995).
More about the movie on IMDb and Russian Film Hub.

Movie and TV

Movie version (FSUE Mosfilm) and Back to the Past with a TV performance from 1977  (Музыка на советском телевидении).

Звенит январская вьюга Cover Versions

Alternate versions and performances by Nina Bogdanov, София Ротару, Longa, Polina Gagarina and Коста Лакоста. The following ones are recommended. Either for the music, the clip, or for the sake of variety,

Приключения Электроников (2006)

Vanilla Sky (2014)

Zvenit Yanvarskaya Vyuga: Italians singing in Russian with Vanilla Sky. The проходят turned into something halfway between Italian and Russian.

TikTok Remix (2022)

Anna Astia (2022)

The Hatters & Валерия (2023)

English and Instrumental

In the last two, there’s no Russian (language) left. An English version by Even Blurry Videos (2020), and an instrumental метал кавер (metal cover) by Vladimir Zelentsov (2021).

Discover more Russian music, playlists and song lyrics at Music in Russian
Discover more about Russia and Russians at Rad Russia
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Last updated December 11, 2025