Sunday, February 05, 2012

Russian protest song

It is hard to gauge how popular the anti-Putin sentiment is inside Russia.  But there's certainly quite a bit of coverage of it on this side of the natural gas pipeline curtain.

This song was written just a few days ago by a group of former paratroopers and is quickly becoming the protesters' anthem.  It already has over a million hits on YouTube.  The translation is at the bottom of the post.  It references white balloons, which protesters have attached to their cars as a symbol of solidarity.  Putin derided and referred to them as condoms.  The second video is very heartwarming and shows the "white" protesters on the streets of Moscow.



Lyrics:

If you're a good citizen, if you're the President
there's the Law and there are some restrictions that apply to you:
You may not steal nation's money, and you should not ever lie to your people
Be open to the public, be accountable for what you say

Had 8 years as a President, but now you're a candidate again!
Now look into our eyes, and drop your nomination now!
We trusted you, but you lied to us for so many years, using your old KGB tactics

[CHORUS]

You are just like me - a man, not a God
I am just like you - a man, not some low-life
We won't allow any more lying to us
We won't allow any more stealing from us
We are Freedom's Airborne troops, Motherland is behind us

You are just a typical state official - not a Czar, not a God!
This country's Good Citizens are evil "bandar-logs" in your own eyes
White colour of pro-freedom ribbons is everyone's pride here
But to you it only reminds of some 'condoms' **

I look around and see your portraits everywhere
You keep lying to us, and your henchmen also do
We are tired of witnessing our nation's shame:
Next to poor countryside there are your princely castles

You've weakened our national defence, ruined the Army
Forgotten about the soldiers, dismissed the officers
We won't forget everything that you've done
We demand peacefully: Down with the Tyrant!

[CHORUS]


Remember our grandfathers, who battled the 'SS', remember our brave Airborne Guardsmen
Battles of Berlin and Afghanistan are still in our hearts
But for the ruling Party officials there are no other values, except money

In them honour is so scarce, as there is not much human dignity in them, it's only bullion's splendour that appeals to them
Their luxury cars, fancy clothes, obsession with consumptionism
Such is your corrupt System's cynicism!

Nation's culture is in decline, so is education, and there's even trading of college diplomas
Bribery permeats everything, an old man here can't get his medical care
Now your corrupt System has arrived to it's dead end

[CHORUS]



Update 1: Hello NPR listeners!  Thanks for checking in.  The translation is not mine.  I got it from this YouTube user.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi! Thanks for posting! :)

robert said...

Я не могу слушать его; оригинальный текст не найден, но вот несколько изменений.
If you're a good citizen, let's say, President
the Law is real and puts some limits on you, too:
You may not steal the nation's wealth, nor ever lie to us, the people.
Be honest with us and accountable for what you say.

You've had 8 years as President; you're a candidate again!
Look into our eyes -- drop the nomination now!
We trusted you, but you've lied to us so many years, using your old KGB tactics

[CHORUS только эта часть?]

You are just like me - a man, not a God.
I am just like you - a man, not some low-life.
We won't allow any more lying to us.
We won't allow any more stealing from us.
We are Freedom's Airborne troops; the Motherland is behind us.

You are just another state official - not a Czar, not a God!
This country's Good Citizens are evil "bandar-logs"(Что это по-русски?) in your eyes
The white color of pro-freedom ribbons is everyone's pride here.
But it only reminds you of 'condoms' **

I look around and see your portraits everywhere.
You and your henchmen keep lying to us.
We're tired of living down our nation's shame:
We see our poor countryside beside your princely castles

You've weakened our national defense, ruined the Army,
Forgotten about the soldiers, dismissed the officers.
We won't forget all you've done.
We demand peacefully: Down with this Tyrant!

[CHORUS]

Remember our grandfathers, who battled the 'SS', remember our brave Airborne Guardsmen.
The battles of Berlin and Afghanistan are still in our hearts.
The ruling Party officials have no values other than money.

They have so little honor and hardly any human dignity; all that draws them in is the splendor of bullion, their luxury cars, fancy clothes, obsession with consumerism.
That's how we see your corrupt and cynical system!

Our nation's culture is in decline, along with education, and the trading of college diplomas.
Bribery permeates everything, an old man here can't get medical care.
Your corrupt System has met its dead end.

[CHORUS]
///////////////// (на фейсбуке найди меня как Robert Ermak)