The Mordvins, also Mordva, Mordvinians, Mordovians (Erzya: эрзят/Erzyat, Moksha: мокшет/Mokshet, Tatar: мухшилар/Muhshilar, Russian: мордва/Mordva; for Qaratai: Russian: каратаи/Karatayi), are the members of a people speaking a Mordvinic language of the Uralic language family and living mainly in republic of Mordovia and other parts of the middle Volga River region of Russia
The Mordvins are one of the larger indigenous peoples of Russia. They identify themselves as separate ethnic groups: the Erzya and Moksha, besides the smaller subgroups of the Qaratay, Teryukhan and Tengushev (or Shoksha) Mordvins who have become fully Russified or Turkified during the 19th to 20th centuries. Less than one third of Mordvins live in the autonomous republic of Mordovia; the rest are scattered over the Russian oblasts of Samara, Penza, Orenburg and Nizhny Novgorod, as well as Tatarstan, Chuvashia, Bashkortostan, Central Asia, Siberia, Far East, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia and the United States.
(Words by Marty Falle and John Holmberg/ Music by Marty Falle)
Do you believe in miracles?,
Do you believe in Love?
How ‘bout things that last forever,
Do you think that could be us?
And as we are joined together on this very special day
In front of friends and family, who gives this bride away?
Girl forever…is a long, long time
I can’t see it any other way in my heart and in my mind
Will our love light burn strong and bright, surviving every rain?
Will our love stand tall, just like a wall, against our fears and pain?
Will you be there to catch me, if I should ever fall?
Will you swear your love to God above because he’s behind it all?
Girl forever,.. is a long, long time
I can’t see it any other way in my heart and in my mind.
As the river flows, safely to the sea…
That’s the way a love can be, with you and me….
Here comes the bride, all dressed in white
With her man by her side. For the rest of their lives…
Yes we believe in miracles and we believe in love
And if one thing lasts forever, I am sure it will be us…
And whenever I hear church bells, it will take me to this day
When I pledged my love forever, and you gave away your name
Here comes the bride…… all dressed in white
With her man by her side, for the rest of their lives……