Vladimir Vysotsky: Selected Works

By Vladimir Vysotsky

Legendary singer, songwriter and poet Vladimir Vysotsky (1938-1980) is loved and admired like no other. A recent survey placed him as the most important cultural figure of twentieth century, and some say he is the greatest Russian poet since Pushkin; others talk of him as the Russian Bob Dylan, or Jacques Brel.

His songs championed the underdog, and even today, forty years after his death at a tragically young age, people in countries as far apart as Bulgaria and Kazakhstan weep at the mere mention of his name. Yet remarkably this is the first landmark collection of his lyrics and poetry in English.

The translators set themselves the hard task of translating Vysotsky’s songs as first of all songs, not poetry, enabling readers to perform them in English. This collection of lyrics also includes sample sheet music for six Vysotsky’s songs.

Vysotsky himself used the seven string guitar; the songs are adapted here to the western six string classical guitar by John Farndon and West-End singer Anthony Cable.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Glagoslav Publications B.V. (N)
• Release date: May 16, 2022
• ISBN: 9781914337659

Vladimir Vysotsky

Vladimir Vysotsky (25 January 1938 - 25 July 1980) was a prominent Soviet and Russian singer-songwriter, poet, and actor whose career had an immense and enduring effect on Russian culture. He became widely known for his unique singing style and for his lyrics, which featured social and political commentary in often humorous street jargon. He was also a serious stage actor, becoming a member of the prestigious Taganka Theatre in Moscow.Vysotsky was born in Moscow, where his father was an army colonel and his mother, a German, was a translator. Despite his parents' divorce, he was able to receive a good education, attending an elite school before studying at the Moscow Art Theatre School.Vysotsky's career in entertainment began in the 1960s when he started writing songs and performing them in his distinctive raspy voice. His music, which combined elements of folk, blues, and rock, was not officially recognized by the Soviet authorities due to its subversive nature. However, his songs were widely distributed in unofficial recordings known as magnitizdat, and he became immensely popular, especially among the urban youth and intellectuals.In addition to his music, Vysotsky was a respected actor. He joined the Taganka Theatre in 1964 and played a variety of roles, including Hamlet. His performances were highly acclaimed, and he was considered one of the leading actors of his generation.Despite his success, Vysotsky struggled with alcoholism and health problems, which were exacerbated by his intense work schedule and lifestyle. He died in 1980 at the age of 42 from heart failure. His death was widely mourned in the Soviet Union, and his funeral attracted thousands of fans.Vysotsky's legacy continues to be influential in Russian culture. His songs are still widely listened to, and his influence can be seen in many aspects of Russian music, literature, and popular culture. His life and work have been the subject of numerous books, films, and scholarly studies.

Book preview

Vladimir Vysotsky: Selected Works

Vladimir Vysotsky: Selected Works

(English Edition)

Vladimir Vysotsky

Translated by

John Farndon

Translated by

Olga Nakston

Glagoslav Publications

Vladimir Vysotsky:

Selected Works

Translated from the Russian by John Farndon with Olga Nakston

Proofreading by Richard Coombes

Published with the support of the Institute for Literary Translation, Russia

Publishers Maxim Hodak & Max Mendor

Original songs © 2022, Heirs of Vladimir Vysotsky

Translator’s note @ 2022, John Farndon

Cover art, book cover, and book layout by Max Mendor

English translation © 2022, Glagoslav Publications B.V. and John Farndon

www.glagoslav.com

ISBN: 978-1-914337-65-9 (Ebook)

---

First published in English by Glagoslav Publications B.V. in May 2022

---

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

---

This book is in copyright. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

Contents

About This Book

Translating Vladimir Vysotsky

Selected Works

Stubborn Horses

A City Romance

A Ballad about Guns

The Wolf Hunt

The End to the Wolf Hunt, or Hunting from Helicopters

He Has Not Come Back from the Fight

The Crown Is Smashed to Smithereens

Ice below and Ice above

In This Moment, I Love You

A Parable about Truth and Lie

A Song about a Friend

A Song about New Times

Brodsky’s Song

She’s Been to Paris

The Height

Masks

Morning Gymnastics

A Ballad about the Bath-House

My Tastes and Habits Are Unusual

Mass Graves

A Song about Nothing, or What Happened in Africa?

Katerina, Katya, Katerina

About our Meeting

All the Sons Leave for War

A Song about Reincarnation

What’s the Point in me Talking to You?

Ships Will Stay for a While

White Silence

A Ballad about Love

I Don’t Like

About Love in the Middle Ages

Cholera

A Song about Rumours

From Moscow to Odessa

The Fir Fronds Tremble

The Mountain Lyric

Again It Seems I’m Struck Down with the Chills

A Song about Stars

The Crystal House

Farewell to the Mountains

Ice

A Song about the Earth

Every Night, Candles Are Lit for Me

In the Beginning Was the Word, of Sadness and of Pain

Summit

The Parrot’s Song

In Spite of All the Things I Do on Land

To the Cold

To the Top

Save our Souls

Lads, Send Me a Letter

Rock Climber

So Many, Many Years

They Keep Telling Us Sincerely

A Song about Time

My Hamlet

About the Translators

Appendix. Sheet music

Notes

About This Book

Amongst Russians and people of the former USSR, legendary singer, songwriter and poet Vladimir Vysotsky is loved and admired like no other. His songs championed the underdog, and even today, forty years after his death at a tragically young age, people in countries as far apart as Bulgaria and Kazakhstan weep at the mere mention of his name. Yet remarkably this is the first landmark collection of his lyrics and poetry (Ice below and Ice above, My Hamlet) in English.

The translators set themselves the hard task of translating Vysotsky’s songs as first of all songs, not poetry, enabling readers to perform them in English. This collection of lyrics also includes sample sheet music for six Vysotsky’s songs. Vysotsky himself used the seven string guitar; the songs are adapted here to the western six string classical guitar by John Farndon and West-End singer Anthony Cable.

Translating Vladimir Vysotsky

Singer-songwriter and poet Vladimir Vysotsky (1938-1980) is one of the most extraordinary artists of the twentieth century. Some talk of him as the Russian Bob Dylan, or Jacques Brel, but that doesn’t really convey how much he was loved and revered across the Soviet Union.

Remarkably, very few of his hundreds of songs were officially recorded, or even bought on record. Instead, countless people heard his songs on scratchy reel-to-reel tape recordings passed on from friend to friend. In Soviet cities of the time, summer evenings were often filled with the latest crackly sound of a new Vysotsky song filtering through an open window.

When Vysotsky died, tragically young at just 42 in 1980, he was mourned by tens of millions. It was the time of the Moscow Olympics, and the KGB were anxious to keep this uncomfortable voice out of the news. Even so, over 30,000 gathered in Moscow to pay tribute, despite a KGB ban. Volodya was, for them, the voice of truth. You understood what our lives are like – work, work, hellish work and nothing else, wrote one mourner, while another said: We’re here because he spoke the truth, not the half-truths we hear all the time – he wrote about our life.

His impact spilled into the next generation, and his language was absorbed into Russian culture. I have a cleaner from Bulgaria, Zhivka Hristova, who must have been very young when Vysotsky died. When she saw a book of Vysotsky’s songs on my table, she at once burst into tears. Her sister Lydia wrote this note to explain why: They say Jesus spoke parables to his contemporaries. For the people of my generation, Vysotsky was like him – he taught us his songs. Whatever happened, we said: on this occasion, in one of his songs, Vysotsky says the following… He was our banner in those times!

A recent opinion poll in Russia put Vysotsky as the second most important Russian popular figure of the twentieth century after only the cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, while some consider