Song about the Towel

The Song about the Rushnyk (embroidered towel-cloth) (Пісня про рушник), a song also known as Rushnychok, Ballad to Mother, or "My dear mother" (Ridna maty moya), is a popular Ukrainian song based on a poem by Andriy Malyshko. The poem and song recount a lyrical hero whose mother gives him a rushnyk, an embroidered cloth serving as a sort of familial talisman through one's life cycle, draped over religious icons and ritual foods, and also used for handfasting or as a prosperity blessing at weddings.

It was set to music by composer Platon Maiboroda (a native of the Poltava Region) for the soundtrack of the 1958 Soviet film Young Years (Літа молодії) where it was performed by Oleksandr Taranets. The song was later popularized by Dmytro Hnatyuk, who is most often associated with this song. It has since been sung by such singers and groups as Kvitka Cisyk, Yaroslav Evdokimov, Aleksandr Malinin, Alla Pugacheva, Igor Krutoy, Syabry, Renata Babak, and Rushnychok.

The song has been translated into a number of languages and is popular within Ukraine as well as the Ukrainian diaspora, as demonstrated by the Ukrainian-Canadian group Rushnychok taking its name from the song. It is dedicated to motherly love and alternately titled "Ballad to Mother."

English lyrics
by Stepan Pasicznyk (United Kingdom)