A music launched Dec. 20 by the anti-war Russian singer Maksim Pokrovsky (who now lives within the U.S.); the 2 actors are distinguished Russian actors who’ve additionally fled Russia after signing an announcement opposing the conflict. The video struck me as far more efficient, as a result of it’s a lot subtler, than the video of his “Ukraine,” and the lyrics are additionally subtler than a few of his earlier, extra immediately satirical (although typically very humorous) work.
The music might at first come throughout as emotionally out of step with the subject—the loss of life of a younger Russian soldier within the conflict—however I anticipate that was a deliberate selection, and I feel a really efficient one. Extra broadly, within the phrases of the group itself, “sure, it would not sound significantly elevated, however that is crucial.”
You may learn a translation of the lyrics by clicking the “Present extra” hyperlink right here, however there are additionally English subtitles within the video itself. The video has 2.5M YouTube views during the last month, so I feel it struck a chord.
This is Pokrovsky’s clarification of the music, although, as he notes, it would not want a lot clarification:
This 12 months [2022] we launched many anti-war songs. Nearly all had been addressed to Russian residents. The one exception was “Ukraine”—and that was solely a partial exception, as a result of Ukrainian blood flows by many Russians, as a result of lots of them have shut kinfolk in Ukraine. The music “Joyful New 12 months, My Son!” is completely meant to attraction to the sentiments of Russians. As in most of the songs [from our group, “Nogu Svelo!”] it contains sarcasm, nevertheless it has a removed from central position.
I hate questions on what message I am making an attempt to ship with one among my songs, however right here all is obvious: “See what awaits you.” And this future cannot give individuals pleasure, deliver smiles or laughter, as a result of this future is an immense tragedy for everybody on each side of this terrible conflict. It is simply that not everybody has but realized this, however loss of life as an alternative of Grandfather Frost [the Russian Santa Claus] is already knocking on each house’s door.
Pokrovsky additionally provides a twist that I missed (as a result of I did not find out about this explicit New 12 months’s Eve midnight custom), concerning the father’s turning on the tv set on the finish of the clip:
… The mother and father, pushed insane by grief, are making ready to greet the brand new 12 months, the primary new 12 months with out their son. However nonetheless they do not neglect to activate the TV set at midnight, to see Putin’s speech.
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