Moy Bluzhdayuschiy Ogon

ⓘ This lostwave is classified as solved.
Мой Блуждающий Огонь
The woman in the music video of the song, appearing as the artist
Alternative name(s)	My Wandering Fire, Moy Bluzhdayuschiy Ogon, My Will-o'-the-Wisp; МБО, MBO, MWF, MWW
Language	Russian
Artist(s)	Natalya Verich (née Yablonskaya)
Genre	Russian pop, Estrada
Length	0:35 (snippet)
Year	1995
Status	Solved; Snippet available
Original poster	Dmitry Sokolov (reference), Alexander Alexandrov (snippet)
Search duration	December 29th, 1999 - November 3rd, 2024
File:MyWanderingFire.mp3

Мoй Блуждающий Огoнь (transliterated as Moy Bluzhdayuschiy Ogon, also known as My Wandering Fire in English) is a Russian pop song. It was recorded in 1995 and was performed by a singer named Natalya Verich (born Yablonskaya). The music video was aired by Saint-Petersburg's Channel 22 — NBN.

On July 16th, 2024, a YouTube user named EugeneRFR discovered the artist's name after contacting an employee at the Russian Authors' Society, who identified her as Natalya Yablonskaya. This was confirmed on July 31st, 2024, when First Music Publishing Ltd, a Russian music publishing company, also claimed her as the artist.

Origins (1999-2020)

On December 29th, 1999, user Dmitry Sokolov posted the song's chorus lyrics to the FidoNet forum, asking for the singer's name as well as the full lyrics. He did not receive a response, and the search was not continued back then. The user was contacted and stated that he had no information about the song other than the fact that it aired about once a week.

On May 24th, 2017, the song was posted by VK user Alexander Alexandrov, joining the group "Good Old St. Petersburg NBN, NBN+TVC, Rambler" and asking if anyone knew the singer's name or had the full music video. Alexander was contacted to see if he still had the tape, but he confirmed that his tape recording no longer exists.

From 1996 to 2007, NBN was a Russian television channel that broadcast in the Saint Petersburg area. The video's white "22" logo indicates that the snippet was likely recorded in the first quarter of 1996, as it was originally known as Channel 22 in January-March 1996.

According to the Russian Authors' Society registry, the song was written by composer Viktor Sigal (Viktor Chaika) and poet Viktor Ionov (Viktor Ionov-Dolgusha). Ionov-Dolgusha published the full lyrics on his personal website in 2010, confirming that he wrote the song, but it is impossible to contact him as he died on May 25th, 2011. According to the YouTube upload's description, Viktor Chaika was contacted by an unknown person in 2018 and stated that he did not know the woman in the video.

On August 31st, 2020, VK user Alexey Garyavin posted a complete list of songs by composer Viktor Chaika, and the song appears at number 29 under the title "29. Wandering Fire (v. Viktor Ionov) sung by ?", prompting searchers to examine the list for a possible singer.

On December 17th, 2020, danceforum.ru user Konan posted Alexandrov's snippet in a thread dedicated to song identification.

Search (April 2023 - July 2024)

On April 14th, 2023, YouTube user Anon0122 first uploaded the video on YouTube, causing a gradual increase in interest in the search and offering a 50 euro prize to anyone who could find the full song. The search is mostly conducted in Russian on Anon0122's Telegram channel and Discord server.

On June 5th, 2024, searchers discovered an article from 2001 where Viktor Chaika states that he destroyed his solo album "Lonely Woman" after it had already been recorded, implying that this song may have been similarly destroyed and unreleased.

On July 23rd, 2024, the OP Alexander Alexandrov was contacted again and claimed that he might still have the VHS tape containing the full recording, and that the recording of the music video that is available was shot in the 2000s with a Samsung Vita phone.

Discovery (July 2024 - November 2024)

On July 16th, 2024, YouTube user EugeneRFR claimed that he contacted a representative from the Russian Authors' Society, who claimed that the singer was named Natalya Yablonskaya. On July 31st, 2024, this claim was confirmed after the Russian music publishing company First Music Publishing Ltd was contacted.

On August 2nd, 2024, it was discovered that the music video was recorded on a film set provided by the Russian film production company Lenfilm, and that they helped provide decorations for the set; however, they do not know who ordered the video or decorations.

On September 17th, 2024, user White Floppa contacted the Russian Authors' Society and discovered that Natalya Yablonskaya has another song called "That's the End of Love" (Boт и кoнчилacь любoвь), composed by Alexander Fedorkov and lyricist Valeria Gorbacheva. Fedorkov was contacted and confirmed working with Yablonskaya for a "Song of the Year" event, but couldn't confirm if she sang the lost song as he could not remember her face or voice.

On October 9th, 2024, an anonymous user on Anon0122's telegram channel identified the woman in the music video as "Natalya" from Moscow. The OP proved his claim by providing her profile picture on WhatsApp which is a behind the scenes photo from the music video set.

On October 13th, 2024, during correspondence with Natalya, she discovered a Betacam videocassette tape containing the music video for My Wandering Fire labeled "Yablonskaya's sources".

On October 21st, 2024, Natalya called Igor Cherkasov, a member of a private chat group, to verify the status of two distinct recordings: one is a DAT (Digital Audio Tape) containing only the song's audio, while the other is a 30-minute Betacam tape featuring the complete music video along with the song.

Between November 1st and November 3rd, many images from the music video set were released to the Telegram groupchat, after they were digitized by Igor Cherkasov when he met Natalya, whose real name is Natalya Verich, in person to digitize the music video.

After digitizing the song, it was discovered that the DAT audio recording contained another song by Natalya called Passerby from 2000, and another lost song by an unknown man in the style of the Russian boy band, Лaскового мaя (Tender May). The Betacam tape containing the music video was unedited, containing the full behind-the-scenes recording, and the song was only able to be heard in the background.

Natalya confirmed that director Sergey Kalvarsky and cameraman Sergey Dubrovsky filmed the music video at Lenfilm in September 1995, while producer Vladimir Matetsky recorded the song at his studio. She also promised to rerecord the song if the master tapes could not be located, revealed that she did not believe the song was officially released, and stated that she intends to personally contact those involved in the song and video.

Leads

Possible

• Alexander Maistrenko: St. Petersburg clarinet player alleged to be the one seen in the music video.

Debunked

• Natalia Shturm: Russian singer and actress, did not create the song, as she never collaborated with Sigal or Ionov.
• Tatiana Bulanova: Popular Russian ballad singer, did not make the song.
• Olga Favorskaya: Russian singer who has a cancelled album that was worked on by Viktor Sigal, confirmed to have not made the song.
• Anna Leontyeva: Actress and model investigated due to perceived similarities to the singer in the video, did not make the song.
• Evgeny Lykov: A producer who worked at NBN during the time when the song would have aired, did not know the song and stated that all archives from the station were gone.
• Irina Kudryavina: A YouTube user who claimed to be the singer in the music video, saying she worked for NBN in 1997. She claimed the video was created by the channel's crew to fill gaps in broadcasts. Despite being asked to contact investigators, she declined and deleted her account, making her story a probable hoax. Additionally, their profile picture was likely AI-generated, and no information about the singer can be found online.
• WatZatSong "Extended Snippet": Remix created by OP in FL Studio, claimed to have recorded it from a cassette in 1996.
• Alexander Igudin: Film director who has collaborated with Viktor Chaika on several music videos.

Lyrics (Russian and English)

Presumed Lyrics Оконное стекло (The windowpane)

мне холодит ладонь (chills the palm of my hand)

Из мрака я гляжу в ночную тьму (I look out of the gloom into the night)

В моём дому никак (In my house)

не хочет жить огонь (The fire doesn't want to live)

И не могу понять я: почему? (I can't understand why)

Удерживать его (If I hold it back)

он злостью опалит (It will scorch with anger)

Испепелит презреньем как врага (And scorch it with contempt like an enemy)

И не простит вовек (And will never forgive)

нечаянных обид (for wrongs done to him)

Ему свобода слишком дорога (Freedom is too dear to him)

Мой блуждающий огонь (My wandering fire)

Затерялся без следа (Lost without a trace)

В чужедальней стороне. (In a foreign land)

Ветер-сплетник иногда (The gossiping wind sometimes)

Горький дым приносит мне. (Bitter smoke brings me)

Мой блуждающий огонь (My wandering fire)

Ярко светит, да не там (Shines brightly in the wrong place)

Жарко греет, да не тех (It warms the wrong people)

Не за ним ли по пятам (Doesn't it follow him)

Ходит мой замёрзший смех (My frozen laughter)

Я спички извожу, (I'm using up matches)

даю ему сигнал; (I'm signaling him)

Хочу быть маяком в его пути (I want to be a beacon in his path)

Быть может, он остыл, (Maybe he's cold)

быть может, он устал (Maybe he's tired)

И вспять дорогу не сумел найти (And he can't find his way back)

Конечно, я сама (Of course I'm wrong)

во многом не права (I'm wrong about a lot of things)

Ведь глупую игру вела с огнём (I've played a foolish game with fire)

В камин я заложу (I'll put some dried wood)

подсошие дрова (I'll put some dried wood in the fireplace)

Мне ночь гореть-горюниться о нём (I'll burn for a night to grieve for him)

Gallery

• 

  The music video snippet

Links

• Lead Document
• Мoй Блуждающий Огoнь Wiki