The song is about a Russian woman named Katyusha. Standing on a steep riverbank, she sings a song to her beloved, a soldier serving far away. The theme of the song is that the soldier will protect the Motherland and its people while his grateful woman will keep and protect their love. Its lyrics became relevant during the Second World War, when many Soviet men left their wives and girlfriends to serve in the Soviet Army during World War II, known in Russia as The Great Patriotic War.
In 1943, the Kingdom of Italy, until then one of the Axis powers, joined the Allies. During the next two years, Italian partisans fought against German forces in Italy and Italian Fascists. Felice Cascione [it] wrote Italian lyrics for "Katyusha". His adaptation, Fischia il vento (The Wind Blows), became one of the most famous partisan anthems, along with La Brigata Garibaldi.
During the last battles on the Eastern Front, the Blue Division used the melody of "Katyusha" for an adaptation called Primavera (Spring), a chant extolling the value of Spanish fascist fighters.[5]
It has also been performed by the Syrian Communist Party in Arabic.
The song was translated into Hebrew and performed by 1945, and has been popular ever since in Israel.[8]
Katyusha is also a popular song sung in the People's Republic of China due to influence from the Soviet Union in the second half of the 20th century and is still widely popular. During the 2015 Moscow Victory Day Parade, the Chinese honor guard contingent led by Li Bentao surprised hundreds of locals when they sang Katyusha during their march back to their living quarters during a nighttime rehearsal.[9] That same parade saw the song being performed by the Massed Bands of the Moscow Garrison during the march of foreign contingents (specifically that of India, Mongolia, Serbia and China).[10]
It is a popular song in Iceland (particularly among schoolchildren) where it is known as "Vertu til er vorið kallar á þig" ("Be Ready When Spring Calls"), the lyrics by Tryggvi Þorsteinsson encourage hard work in the hayfields in spring.[12]
In Finland the best known version (in Finnish) of the song is called "Sörkan sällit", which is also quite popular as a student party song.