Alex Kaplunovich about Grazhdanskaya Oborona.

Newsgroups: soc.culture.soviet
Subject: Re: Russian/Soviet rock lyrics
From: kaplunov@umbc.edu (Mr. Alex Kaplunovich)
Date: 11 Mar 1994 14:46:09 -0500

Sistema

Otrignuv somneniya, zakatav rukav
Nelegko soldatu sredi buynih trav
Esli b Bog bil zryachim ya bi bil slepoy,
Esli b ya bil mertvim on bi bil zhivoy

Tak obishi zhe moe telo uzlovatoy rukoy
Zaklyuchi menya v svoy paralichniy pokoy
Menya ne zastremaet peremena mest
Stukach ne vidast sviniya ne s'est

Po bol'nomu mestu da kolenim shvom
Po otkritoy rane da siroy zemley
Iz rodnoy krovati da v posledniy raund
Iz kirzovoy blagodati da v underground

Namechennioy zhertvi rasprostertiy vzglyad
Utrachennih illuziy zapozdaliy gn'et
Ochered' za solncem na holodnom uglu
Ya syadu na kolesa, ti syadesh na iglu...

Egor Letov

Newsgroups: soc.culture.soviet
Subject: Re: Russian Rock lyrics - Letov
From: kaplunov@umbc.edu (Alex Kaplunovich)
Date: 16 Mar 1994 17:58:57 -0500


   Hi, folks!

   Recently, someone promised to post an interview with Egor Letov from Vest'. 
Unfortunately, I did not see it yet. However, I have another interview with him
published in Komsomolskaya Pravda (it still exists!?) this January. Let me
quote some parts of it, attracted my attention:"

Kor:   Kak chasto GO daet koncerti?
EL:    Posledniy proshel v Talline v aprele 1990.
Kor:   S chem svyazan etot trehletniy pereriv?
EL:    Obstanovka vokrug koncertov GO stala nosit' istericheski-maniakalniy
harakter. V Voronezhe mi vistupali na stadione - posle pervoy zhe pesni
nachaslas' massovaya draka. Lyudi stanovyatsya pohozhimi na ... zombi, ibo
oni ne umeyut, libo ne sposobni ispolzovat' energiyu, kotoruyu oni poluchayut
v positivnom tvorcheskom klyuche. 
Pust' lyudi s pomoschyu toy energii pochuvstvuyut sebya vechno zhivimi,
ognenno-zhivimi ... i postarayutsya transformirovat' etu energiyu v 
tvorchestvo.
Kor:   Segodnya vi soglasilis' vistupat' na vechere gazeti "Den'", tebe blizki
patrioticheskie idei ili eto podtverzhdaet slova tvoey pesni "pri lyubom
gosstroe ya - partizan, pri lyubom rezhime  ya - anarhist"? (VI-TI ??? - A.K.)
EL:    Ran'she ya nazival svoy ideal anarhiey, seychas dumayu chto ego
luchshe vsego nazvat kommunizmom. ... Demokratami mi ne bili nikogda.
Kor:   Ti ochen' horosho znal Yanku (Dyagilevu). Gaseti pisali o ee nelepoy
smerti, a chto s ney proizoshlo na samom dele?
EL:    Nasha nebol'shaya kompaniya predstavlyaet soboy kak bi malen'kuyu
kommunnu... V poslednee vremya mnogie pogibli po razlichnim prichinam. Rock -
tramplin, samaya nastoyashaya voyna i te kto vstupil na etot put' uzhe ne
mogut vernutsya nazad. Obratnoy dorogi u nas net - kazhdiy sleduyushiy shag
mozhet bit' tol'ko vpered. Esli ne hvataet energii i sil sdelat' shag vpered,
nuzhno umirat'. ... Kogda konchayutsya patroni, posledniy nuzhno ostavlyat'
sebe...
Kor:   Skol'ko tebe let?
EL:    V sleduyushem godu budet tridcat'.
"
   That's the interview. By the way, I would like to cite one Letov's song.
It's the first song of his album called "Istoriya Posev", 1985. It sounds
pretty meaningless, actually, as meaningless, as those jokes about "Lenin and
muzhiki" posted under "Kakaya chush v golovu lezet..." Odnako chem-to ona 
mila:

Lya lya lya lya lya (5 times)

Babochki na vetke, voplyami zashllisya
Kozliki krichaschie me-me
Strannie kartinki, sinie podoshvi
Na moih botinkah otkrove

(Lya lya lya lya lya (5 times)) (2 times)

Eto porsto chudo - sinie poloski
Na moey ozyabshey golove
Ot sobach'ey chumki cheburashki dohnut
Eta pesnya prosto otkrove...

(Lya lya lya lya lya (5 times)) (2 times)
Lya lya lya lya lya (5 times) <--- yavno fal'shivya i kricha

P.S. About (n times). I just remembered a funny anecdote about Alla Borisovna:
Pesennik
            ...
      ... nado zhe ostanovitsya
      No ne mogu pyat' raz
      I ne hochu


   Best regards.

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