Million Roses

"Dāvāja Māriņa meitenei mūžiņu" (English: Dear Māra gave the girl life) is a Latvian song composed by Raimonds Pauls with lyrics by Leons Briedis. It was performed at the 1981 Mikrofona aptauja by Aija Kukule and Līga Kreicberga.

The song is one of Pauls's most popular ones. It has been covered by several artists, most notably by Russian Alla Pugacheva in 1982 with lyrics by Andrei Voznesensky as "Million Scarlet Roses" (Russian: Миллион алых роз, Million alykh roz).

Alla Pugacheva version

"Million roz"
Single by Alla Pugacheva
from the album Akh, kak khochetsya zhit
B-side	"Vozvrashcheniye"
Released	December 1982 (1982-12)
Genre	Pop
Length	5:30
Label	Melodiya
Composer(s)	Raimonds Pauls
Lyricist(s)	Andrei Voznesensky
Alla Pugacheva singles chronology
"Ya bolshe ne revnuyu" (1981) "Million roz" (1982) "Kanatokhodka" (1983)

Pugacheva's cover was written by Andrei Voznesensky as "Million Scarlet Roses" (Миллион алых роз, Million alykh roz),^[1] and Voznesensky drew inspiration for the Russian lyrics from the life of Georgian painter Niko Pirosmani who allegedly^{[clarification needed]} once filled with flowers a square of a hotel where Marguerite de Sèvres, a French actress^[who?] whom he had affection over was staying.^[2][3] The song is also the opening and title track of Pugacheva's album of the same name released in Japan in 1983.^[4]

Pugacheva herself did not like this song, even at the recording stage she argued with Voznesensky about the lyrics of the song. She later admitted that the more she hated the song, the more popular it became.^[5]

In 1983, Alla Pugacheva with this song became the winner of the All-Union TV festival Song of the Year.^[6]

Charts

Chart (1984)	Peak position
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)^[7]	14

Other covers

Recordings

Numerous further covers are lyrically based on Andrei Voznesensky lyrics (the cover by Alla Pugacheva):

• 1984: Finnish singer Vera Telenius (with Finnish lyrics by Telenius as "Miljoona ruusua")^[8]
• 1984: Finnish singer Katri Helena ("Miljoona ruusua")^[9]
• 1984: Finnish singer Pirjo Suojanen ("Miljoona ruusua")^[10]
• 1984: Hungarian singer Kata Csongrádi ("Millió rózsaszál")^[11]
• 1985: Swedish dansband Vikingarna as ("Millioner Röda Rosor" with Swedish lyrics by the Russian speaking Swedish journalist Jacob Dahlin)^[12]
• 1987: Japanese singer Tokiko Kato ("百万本のバラ", "Hyaku-man-bon no bara")^[13]
• 1987: Finnish/Swedish singer Arja Saijonmaa (with Swedish lyrics by Lars Huldén as "Miljoner rosor")^[14]
• 1988: Finnish band Santa Lucia ("Miljoona ruusua")^[15]
• 1991 North Korean Pochonbo Electronic Ensemble singer Kim Kwang Suk ("백만송이 장미") ^[16]
• 1997: South Korean singer Shim Soobong ("백만송이 장미", "Baegmansong-i Jangmi")^[17][18][19]
• 1997: Russian singer Sergei Dikiy ("Million alykh roz")^[20]
• 2001: Latvian/German singer Larisa Mondrusa ("Dāvāja Māriņa meitenei mūžiņu")^[21]
• 2003: Russian/Swedish singer Elena Ermanova ("Million alykh roz")^[22]
• 2006: Finnish singer Eero Aven ("Miljoona ruusua")^[23][24]
• 2006: Vietnamese singer Gia Huy ("Triệu Đoá Hoa Hồng")^[25]
• 2006: Latvian a cappella band Cosmos ("Million alykh roz")^[26]
• 2008: Iranian singer Farzaneh ("Gole Roz")^[27]
• 2009: Polish singer Magda Niewińska ("Milion Białych Róż")^[28][29]
• 2011: South Korean singer Kim Jong-hyun ("백만송이 장미")^[30]
• 2013: Ukrainian singer Ani Lorak ("Million alykh roz")^[31]
• 2014: Vietnamese singer Hong Nhung ("Triệu Đoá Hoa Hồng")^[32]
• 2019: Japanese enka singer Kiyoshi Hikawa ("百万本のバラ", "Hyaku-man-bon no bara") (both 2007 television performance as broadcast and 2019 CD Shin - Enka Meikyoku Collection 9: Daijôbu/Mogami no Sendô)
• 2019: Cinemagic Studio from Ulaanbaatar,^[33] Mongolia created performance of this song in Mongolian^[34]
• Matti ja Teppo ("Miljoona ruusua")
• 2018: Egor Kreed (Million alykh roz", with samples of this song, lyrics of was changed expect chorus)
• 2020: Melo-M feat. Dināra Rudāne ("Dāvāja Māriņa")
• 2021: Assyrian singer Madlen Ishoeva ("Million Warde Smooqe")

Performances

• 2011: The song was performed live by Ance Krauze at an event celebrating Raimonds Pauls's 75th birthday.
• Korean band Infinity of Sound (Korean: 아이에스) (song title: "백만송이 장미"). lyrics performance^[when?]

References

1. Алла Пугачева (1982). "Миллион Роз" at Discogs (list of releases)
2. Паустовский К. Г.: Книга о жизни. Бросок на юг. Простая клеенка (rus)
3. Williamson, Marcus (May 5, 2010). "Andrei Voznesensky: Poet who fought against artistic censorship in the Soviet Union". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-05-14. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
4. Алла Пугачева (Alla Pugacheva) (1983). Миллион Роз at Discogs (list of releases)
5. Razzakov, Fyodor (2003). Алла Пугачёва: По ступеням славы [Alla Pugacheva: On the steps of glory] (in Russian). Moscow: Eksmo. p. 152. ISBN 5-8153-0059-4.
6. Razzakov, Fyodor (2009). Алла Пугачёва: Рождённая в СССР [Alla Pugacheva: Born in the USSR] (in Russian). Moscow: Eksmo. ISBN 978-5-699-33902-0.
7. Pennanen, Timo (2021). "Alla Pugatshova". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF) (in Finnish). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 206.
8. "Vera Telenius - Miljoona Ruusua". Discogs. 1984. Retrieved 2018-10-27.
9. "Katri Helena - Kirje Sulle". Discogs. 1984. Retrieved 2018-10-27.
10. "Original versions of Miljoona ruusua by Pirjo Suojanen | SecondHandSongs". secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved 2018-10-27.
11. "Csongrádi Kata - Ez A Föld A Miénk / Millió Rózsaszál". Discogs. 1984. Retrieved 2018-10-27.
12. "Vikingarna - Kramgoa Låtar 13". Discogs. 1985. Retrieved 2020-07-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
13. 百万本のバラ　加藤登紀子 Youtube.
14. "Högt över havet, eurovisionsschlagern 1987: Sverige: uttagningen /2:a plats/ / Saijonmaa, Arja, Svensk mediedatabas. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
15. "Original versions of Miljoona ruusua by Santa Lucia | SecondHandSongs". secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved 2018-10-27.
16. https://sun9-24.userapi.com/c629216/v629216620/cc72/T5yDH4SjWQA.jpg^{[bare URL image file]}
17. "Raimonds Pauls", culture.lv. Retrieved 3 April 2011. at the Internet Archive. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
18. "백만송이 장미 - 심수봉". 멜론 (in Korean). Retrieved 2022-10-09.
19. "백만송이 장미 - 나무위키". namu.wiki. Retrieved 2022-10-09.
20. "Sergei Dikiy- Biography". Sergei Dikiy Official site (in Russian). Retrieved 2 September 2013.
21. "Original versions of Dāvāja Māriņa meitenei mūžiņu by Larisa Mondrusa | SecondHandSongs". secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved 2018-10-27.
22. "Milljon alyh roz = Miljoner rosor / Elena Ermanova", Svensk mediedatabas. Retrieved 3 April 2011.
23. 'Miljoona ruusua juhlalevy - 40 laulua, article about music album on the Finnish Wikipedia. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
24. "Eero Aven - Miljoona Ruusua". Discogs. Retrieved 2018-10-27.
25. "Triệu Đóa Hoa Hồng by Gia Huy on WhoSampled". WhoSampled. Retrieved 2018-10-27.
26. Million alix roz Youtube.
27. "Gole Rose by Farzaneh on WhoSampled". WhoSampled. Retrieved 2018-10-27.
28. "Milion Białych Róż". Discogs. Retrieved 2018-10-27.
29. "Milion Białych Róż by Magda Niewińska on WhoSampled". WhoSampled. Retrieved 2018-10-27.
30. 종현-백만송이 장미 불후의명곡 Youtube
31. Ани Лорак - Миллион алых роз. Youtube.
32. Triệu Đóa Hồng, Hồng Nhung Youtube.
33. Cinemagic Studio Facebook
34. Миллион алых роз Монгольская версия Youtube.