![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Sep. 7th, 2017 at 9:24 AM
Since my childhood years, I have believed
That the Tincture of the Danish King
Is the best remedy for any illness,
And ever since then, a small flame of that faith burns in me still--
Caballeros, you must always drink the Tincture of the Danish King!
The Tincture of the Danish King--or the Queen--
Is stronger than wine, sweeter than candy,
And more powerful than slander, fear, or cholera--
Caballeros, you must always drink the Tincture of the Danish King!
The roar of cannons, bullets whizzing through the air, the ringing of bayonets and sabers--
This tincture dissolves in the ringing quite easily;
The shining Sun, the month of May, the Arbat Street, Love--there's no higher career!
Caballeros, you must always drink the Tincture of the Danish King!
Fame makes one's head spin, and power tickles hearts--
The person who wants to be superior to another is not worth much--
Strengthen your constitution, take measures!
Caballeros, you must always drink the Tincture of the Danish King!
If a cough interferes with your shouting out the truth--
Don't forget to take a swig of this marvelous tincture!
Let the examples of the past stand before your eyes!
Caballeros, you must always drink the Tincture of the Danish King!
I've traveled round the whole wide world,
But nowhere in this world, imagine that!--
I haven't come across this tincture--
But if you get so fortunate as to come across it,
Then--you should liberally drink--
Caballeros, you must always drink the Tincture of the Danish King!
"Your Excellency, Mistress Luck":
Your Excellency, Mistress Absence,
I feel chilly in your company, that's the thing,
Wait, don't tear up the note inside the envelope,
If I'm unlucky in death, I'll be lucky in love.
Your Excellency, Mistress Luck,
To some, you are kind, and to some, you are otherwise.
Wait, don't ask for nine grams of lead strike the heart,
If I'm unlucky in death, I'll be lucky in love.
Your Excellency, Mistress Foreign Lands,
You embraced me tightly, but you did not love me at all.
Wait, don't catch me in your tender caressing nets,
If I'm unlucky in death, I'll be lucky in love.
Your Excellency, Mistress Victory,
That means that my song isn't quite finished yet;
You there, devils! Stop swearing on blood,
If I'm unlucky in death, I'll be lucky in love.
Comments
Tincture of the Danish King does not exist, it's a joke, you can see the singer grinning all along, and that is why the lyrics mention not being able to find this miraculous medicine anywhere!
The song is from the 1960s or 1970s, I'd say, tinctures were still a popular medicine form back then, in the Soviet Union--tincture of valerian, tincture of lily of the valley, etc.
Tinctures are still a popular medicine form even now - my daughter makes her own lavender-valerian.
True, they're still around, but not the way they were then and there, IMHO. That's nice re: lavender-valerian tincture; does she grow her own lavender and valerian, then?
We grow the lavender at my house - Sequim is the Lavender Capital of the world - but she buys the valerian root and other ingredients from Tenzing Momo (http://www.tenzingmomo.com/) in Seattle. I used to compound my own herbal medicines, but in recent decades I mostly buy from Mountain Spirit Herbals (https://www.mountainspiritherbals.com/), AKA Denise, whom my daughter (who doesn't like her) calls 'Lobelia Sackville-Baggins'. (Regrettably, the nickname is not unjustified, but she is a really good herbalist.)
Cannabis tinctures are wildly popular in my state, now that they're legal - they have a slower, longer effect than smoking or vapeing, and don't irritate the respiratory system, and also they're so much more discreet and 'respectable' than firing up a doobie.
Edited 2017-09-11 12:25 am (UTC)
:)