Not to be confused with My Wandering Star.
Мой Блуждающий Огонь (Moy Bluzhdayuschiy Ogon') (English: My Wandering Fire/My Wandering Light) is a formerly unidentified Russian europop song by Russian musician Наталья Верич (Natal'ya Verich), recorded in 1995. The music video was aired by Saint-Petersburg's Channel 22 — NBN.
Search History
1999 - 2020
The first documented search for this song dates back to December 29th, 1999, when user Dmitry Sokolov posted a fragment of its lyrics on FidoNet's su.music.lyrics forum, seeking information about the singer and complete lyrics. His question went unanswered.[1]
The video snippet was first shared on the Russian social network VKontakte by Aleksandr Aleksandrov (Александр Александров) in a group dedicated to vintage Russian television called Good Old NBN, NBN+TVC, Rambler. Aleksandrov asked the community whether anyone knew the name of the singer or had the full video.[2]
The footage originated from NBN, a Saint Petersburg television channel that operated from 1995 to 2007. Based on the white "NBN" and "22" logos visible in the video, the recording likely dates to September 1995-March 1996. Aleksandrov had recorded this clip after 2008 using a Samsung i-900 WiTu (Omnia) phone, but only rediscovered it in 2017.[3]
The Russian Authors' Society registry attributes the song to composer Viktor Sigal (also known as Viktor Chayka) and lyricist Viktor Ionov (also known as Viktor Ionov-Dolgusha).[4] Ionov-Dolgusha published the complete lyrics on his personal page in 2010.[5]
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.[6]
2023
The search gained momentum after April 14th, 2023, when user Anon0122 uploaded the video to YouTube. The investigation primarily takes place in Russian through Anon0122's Telegram channel and Discord server.[7]
Over time, the song was reuploaded to YouTube by several other users, such as LostwaveTT, Andromeda, Q, Foox, Fleew, Bluestar, and multiple others, amassing over 100k views.
Several Russian singers were ruled out as potential performers, including Natalia Shturm, Olga Favorskaya, Lena Zosimova, Irina Borisova, and Galina Romanova.
June - July 2024
In June of 2024, it was discovered that the search for the song goes back to December 29th, 1999. On FidoNet echo su.music.lyrics, someone named Dmitry Sokolov posted an approximate fragment of the chorus lyrics he recalled, asking for the singer's name and the full text. He received no reply and the search was not continued back then.[8]
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.[9]
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.[10][11]
On July 31st, 2024, this claim was confirmed after the Russian music publishing company First Music Publishing Ltd was contacted.[12]
That same day, 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, the production company could not determine who had commissioned the video or its set decorations.[13]
September 2024
On early September 2024, user Андрей (@martikaynen) has found an article about businessman Yuri Yablonsky in Yandex Archive, but this lead didn't gain searchers' attention:
"Just found out about Yandex Archive. There are news, Chaika's and Kalvarsky's interviews but no new leads. Among famous Yablonskys of those years there is a "Baltika" footballer Victor Victorovich and businessman-head of "Yablonsky and Co", "Grand" Yuri Konstantinovich. I haven't found any women related to them yet".[14]
On September 27th, 2024, user White Floppa called the Russian Authors' Society and uncovered another recording by Yablonskaya titled "Вот и кончилась любовь" ("Love has ended"). This song, composed by Alexander Fedorkov with lyrics by Valeria Gorbachyova, was recorded for the "Song of the Year" festival.
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.[15]
October 2024
On October 8th, 2024, user White Floppa calls the lyricist Valeria Gorbachyova. She said that she didn't quite remember Yablonskaya, but there was a "father" and a "young lady". After that call, someone from Anon0122’s private chat recalls about the article about Yuri Yablonsky.
User Andy found him via telegram OSINT-bot, and there was Natalya Verich in related people. Andy looks for her WhatsApp and sees her profile picture with the gazebo from the MV.[16] Igor Cherkasov wrote to her. After few minutes, Natalya answered positive and asked: "Where did you get it from?"
On October 13th, 2024, it was confirmed that Natalya has the full music video on a BETACAM tape, and the following statement would be made:
"Fellows, good afternoon. We too, like you, are terribly impatient.
Unfortunately, Natalia is an extremely busy person, judging by her current alleged occupation. She responds very rarely, one-syllable and sometimes after more than 24 hours.
However, we are making progress in the negotiations. We know for sure that Natalya has a BETACAM tape with a master clip! We have already found a person with the necessary equipment ready to digitize it. We just have to wait for the moment when she will be able to give it to us for digitization."[17]
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.[18]
On October 30th, Igor Cherkasov met Natalya in person. He told her about the Lostwave community and the MWF search. The backstage photos of MWF were scanned by Sasha A.K. Natalya provided her another song, "Passerby", from a Minidisc, also this song was ripped from a DAT by mrcattmann.
November 2024
On November 1st, 2024, Cherkasov posted a backstage photograph in the telegram chat. It depicts cameraman Sergey Dubrovsky to the left, filmmaker and clarinet player Sergey Kalvarskiy in the middle, and singer Natalya Yablonskaya to the right. The photograph also showcases matching floor patterns visible in both this image and the second shot of the clarinet player in the original music video.[19]
On November 2nd, 2024, a third photograph of the backstage was published. It showcases the spiral scene and Nataliya. [20]On the same day, a fourth photograph was published, it shows a low quality photograph of the cellist. [21]
The fifth to eighth photos of the music video would be posted onto the subreddit on the same day. It shows photos of the clarinet player and the cellist. [22]
On November 3rd 2024, the song would be considered identified. It was confirmed that the song was made in September 1995. However, the full song is still lost due to the cassette containing the song being probably re-recorded with another unknown song, nicknamed School Ball (MBO Killer).
December 2024 - Late 2025
On December 27th, 2024 new footage from the BETACAM cassette has been found[23]. The reason why the footage was not released is unknown.
On September 24th, 2025, a longer, two minute clip of the song and music video was found after VHS digitizer Anticyclone bought a bunch of VHS tapes in a Russian second hand store. He gave the tapes to Kirill A (s1tv), who later found longer, almost full snippet of MWF on a BASF tape. An ending of the MV was cut by NBN intro. Anon0122 and Mr.Detective later paid the bounty to Anticyclone and s1tv. Year of the BASF recording — 1997. Later, a person named "ПОЗИТИВ" found the whole video, but without audio. He does not want to reveal further details.
Lyrics
NOTE: although the full lyrics are only available, the full song still remains lost.
- For the lyrics, it is transliterated into Latin from Cyrillic and its English translation. English translation done by Google Translate, and corrected by user Timpbskid.
- Do not get confused by the two Cyrillic letters for "ye (E) " and "e (Э )"!
| Russian lyrics | Romanization | English translation |
|---|---|---|
Оконное стекло |
Okonnoye steklo |
The window's glass cools my hand. |
Gallery
![A backstage photo of Natalya.[16]](/wiki/File:NatalyaBackstage1.jpg "NatalyaBackstage1.jpg (154 KB)")
External Links
References
- ↑ https://groups.google.com/g/fido7.su.music.lyrics/c/Fm0W-HQUDU0/m/NaEQPrcF_aMJ
- ↑ Original post by Aleksandr Aleksandrov (in Russian)
- ↑ NBN in Telepedia Wiki (in Russian)
- ↑ Search results for "Блуждающий огонь" in the RAO registry (in Russian).
- ↑ Блуждающий огонь. RealMusic. December 29th, 2010. (In Russian.)
- ↑ https://vk.com/wall1519981_30658
- ↑ Неизвестный Исполнитель - Мой Блуждающий Огонь (1995-1996). Anon0122. YouTube. April 14 2023.
- ↑ Кто поет. fido7.su.music.lyrics. Google Groups. December 29, 1999.
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/MojBluzhayuschijOgon/comments/1e4qhcq/someone_says_that_natalia_yablonskaya_could_be_a/
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/MojBluzhayuschijOgon/comments/1eagpsf/op_aleksandr_aleksandrov_speaks/
- ↑ https://mbo.fandom.com/ru/wiki/%D0%9C%D0%BE%D0%B9_%D0%B1%D0%BB%D1%83%D0%B6%D0%B4%D0%B0%D1%8E%D1%89%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D0%BE%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%BD%D1%8C_(%D0%BF%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BD%D1%8F)#23_%D0%B8%D1%8E%D0%BB%D1%8F_2024_%D0%B3%D0%BE%D0%B4
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/MojBluzhayuschijOgon/comments/1ei9aci/natalya_yablonskaya_confirmed/
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/MojBluzhayuschijOgon/comments/1eibqpv/lenfilm/
- ↑ https://yandex.ru/archive/catalog/3d501686-da53-41ee-a1be-094b38319c05/4
- ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/MojBluzhayuschijOgon/comments/1frw147/natalia_yablonskaya_and_alexander_fedorkov/
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 The Reddit post, with the newly found information about Nataliya, and the first photograph of the backstage.
- ↑ Reddit post about Nataliya having the full music video on a BETACAM tape.
- ↑
- ↑ A Reddit post about the second backstage photograph.
- ↑ A Reddit post about the third backstage photograph.
- ↑ A Reddit post about the fourth backstage photograph.
- ↑ Reddit post about the fifth and eighth photos.
- ↑ New footage from the clip.
