Actually, there is no change in perspective. It seems as if there might be because all of a sudden Al Stewart speaks of a push towards Berlin, but this is still the voice of a Soviet soldier. "The flames of the tiger..." conjures the turnaround in the favor of Russian army as they pushed back the Germans at Stalingrad and kept pushing, all the way to Berlin.
Another line that takes on a new meaning if you assume no perspective change is, "The old men and children they send out to face us, they can't slow us down..." These are not the Russian villagers fighting for Stalingrad - these are the German and Austrian people fighting off the Soviet troops.
The mention of capture and being sent to Siberia was not, actually, from a German's perspective. A Soviet soldier that had been captured by Germans and managed to escape was seen as a potential traitor, and treated as such - including a sort of forced exile. The unfortunate soul who says "I'm coming home, I'm coming home..." is quite mistaken - as he admits later, he will likely never see his home again.
This is a very vivid and beautiful song, as so many of Stewart's songs are. It is truly able to capture the spirit of the years of fighting in WWII in the Russian winter.
Actually, there is no change in perspective. It seems as if there might be because all of a sudden Al Stewart speaks of a push towards Berlin, but this is still the voice of a Soviet soldier. "The flames of the tiger..." conjures the turnaround in the favor of Russian army as they pushed back the Germans at Stalingrad and kept pushing, all the way to Berlin.
Another line that takes on a new meaning if you assume no perspective change is, "The old men and children they send out to face us, they can't slow us down..." These are not the Russian villagers fighting for Stalingrad - these are the German and Austrian people fighting off the Soviet troops.
The mention of capture and being sent to Siberia was not, actually, from a German's perspective. A Soviet soldier that had been captured by Germans and managed to escape was seen as a potential traitor, and treated as such - including a sort of forced exile. The unfortunate soul who says "I'm coming home, I'm coming home..." is quite mistaken - as he admits later, he will likely never see his home again.
This is a very vivid and beautiful song, as so many of Stewart's songs are. It is truly able to capture the spirit of the years of fighting in WWII in the Russian winter.