Mother Russia
A long closing piece on Turn of the Cards, drawn from Solzhenitsyn's novel about a day in a labour camp.
Renaissance, from Turn of the Cards (1974)
- Written by
- Michael Dunford, Betty Thatcher
- Released
- 1974
- Length
- 9:18
- Album
- Turn of the Cards
Mother Russia closes Turn of the Cards. Betty Thatcher wrote the lyrics from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's novel One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, and wrote them before the band had any music for the song, which broke the usual pattern of her writing words to music she had been sent. Jon Camp has cited it as a case where he made major compositional contributions without credit. Louder called it an avowed classic and a filmic nod to the novel.
The band played it on BBC television's Sight and Sound in Concert in January 1977, and it is on Live at Carnegie Hall, where it runs 10 minutes 48 seconds. A 2025 podcast description lists it with Northern Lights among Thatcher's lyrics that still carry the same emotional charge.
More songs by Renaissance
Ocean Gypsy, Northern Lights, Trip to the Fair, Ashes Are Burning, Can You Hear Me?
Sources
- Turn of the Cards, Wikipedia
- Renaissance (band), Wikipedia
- Renaissance: Running Hard, The Albums 1974-1976, Louder
- Annie Haslam and Jim McCarty interview: the story of Renaissance, Now Spinning Magazine