Leonid Utesov. Music: F. Kelman; Lyrics: B. Timofeev
Description: The Odessa-born singer and actor Utesov first sang this song in the 1928 play ‘Republic on Wheels,’ about a gang of railway thiefs. It is filled with the jargon of the criminal world, to which it owed its origins. Many variants by many singers have been sung; but the song continued its life underground during the Stalin years.