Зарница – I Wanna Pet Your Dog (Корги)

A bastard cross between The Stooges’ I Wanna Be Your Dog (1969) and Anton Chekhov’s The Lady with the Dog (1899). A bit of rock ‘n’ roll and a bit of civilized. “Хочу погладить твою корги”: I want to pet your corgi.

“Корги” also features a reference to The Cure. Or at least, a record (пластинка) of theirs.

Zarnitsa

A зарница (zarnitsa) is heat lightning, but the term also has (Soviet) historical significance; see Wikipedia in English or Russian.

It is also a band from Moscow, with their latest (2020) album На самый главный вопрос ответ (Answer to the Most Important Question). The title track can be found here, and the cover featuring a dog is shown in this article.

Корги is from the EP Нюанс (2018). Listen on Bandcamp, Soundcloud, or Spotify. Lyrics are available on the Bandcamp track page.

Gav gav?

If you think you hear a few “woof woof” or “arf arf” sounds, you’re mistaken. A Russian dog doesn’t say “woof” or “arf” but “gav” (гав). More at Learn the Top 10 Animal Sounds in Russian (RussianPod101, 2017, 7 mins), and How do animals sound in Russian? (Real Russian Club, 2017, 6 mins).

More Зарница

• Эмо-ревайвал (Emo-revival, 2020)
• Амбициозная (Ambitious, 2020)
• Похмелья (Hangover, 2018)
• Сотни дорог (Hundreds of roads, 2016)

“Корги” live performance (men in dresses) here and here (2019).
Find more Zarnitsa on Instagram and VK.

Encore and final chord: Зарница “НА СПОТЕ” (2021, 40 mins)

Most of the music here is also available in an R1 playlist on YouTube (in order of posting).
Check out Best Russian Music and Russian Song Lyrics.

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More Russian and Russians at Rad Russia
More music on Music in Russian

Last updated March 30, 2026