My Virtual Reading Room

Especially for goldvermilion87 (who first pointed this song out to me) and sherlockiangirl :)
Below is the interview from 2010 about the backstory to this song; I have translated it below the video.
Enjoy!
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Female with mike: In the West, Edward Khil has won the hearts of all listeners by singing the song over the Internet called "I'm very glad that I'm finally returning home"--I think that is the name of it?

Edward Khil: "I'm very glad, because I am finally returning home"

Female: Or otherwise, it's actually called "Vocaliz". This song has become an Internet sensation of year 2010. I must tell you that Oscar winners, world-famous comedians, celebrities, rock musicians, and average citizens too, of course, have become admirers of Edward E. Khil. But first of all, what I would like to find out is this: why is this song called "Vocaliz"? Why doesn't it have any lyrics?

I would like to introduce to you the son of Arkady Ostrovsky, who was the author of this song, this is Mikhail Ostrovsky, and I also want to introduce our well-known musical critic, Artyom Troitsky. Good evening!

Mikhail, well, you probably would be able to tell us how come that song hasn't any lyrics to the present day?!

Mikhail: Our entire family, for many years, were good friends with Lev Ashanin and his family. Lev Ashanin was a wonderful poet, he and my father were good friends, close friends, but they did quarrel often. And so, during one of those quarrels or fights, my father, in a fit of temper, cried, "You know, I don't need your lyrics for my songs at all! I shall write a song without words." And so, quickly,  and really out of mischief, he wrote this song. And he knew this song would be for Edward Khil to sing.

Female: You know, I've heard a different version of this story. That there were lyrics, that they were about an American cowboy...

Khil: Yes, there were lyrics.

Female: ...and that they were forbidden.

Mikhail: That part of the story unfolded like this: everyone went to the recording studio. Silantyev, you know, he was an absolutely wonderful director, he was a serious, thorough kind of person--he said, "How can you have a song without lyrics?! What kind of nonsense is this? We need lyrics." So they called in the poet Vadim Semernin. And Semernin, then, wrote a lengthy song about an American cowboy John, who is returning home to his Mary, who is sitting at home knitting a stocking.

Khil: We came back to Silantyev and started rehearsing and he says, "Stop! What John, what Mary? What country are you living in?!" I said, "Well, what are we supposed to do?! Change the lyrics and have them be about a tractor driver?!" He says, "Well, something about something of _ours_, something current!" We started trying to change it, and it just didn't work. Then Ostrovsky says, "That's it! No songs, no lyrics. It's just going to be a song called just that, 'I'm very glad because I am finally returning home.' I say, "What about the lyrics?" He says, "You just make something up--like 'A-a-ah' , 'O-oh-oh', 'Ha-ha-ha'."

Troitsky: I think that this entire story with Mr. Trololo is, first of all, a restoration of historical and artistic justice. Because a song by Ostrovsky sung by Khil's voice is, of course, not only a national treasure but a global one. I would like to say one more thing: in the 1960s and 70s, I was a hippy, a rebel, and my friends and I did not listen to Soviet popular songs at all. But we did make some exceptions. Edward Khil was one of those very few Soviet singers, for whom we felt affection and respect. Now why was that? First of all, he had a great singing voice, but it was an open voice and not overly emotional. Second, because his hairstyle was always a bit wild--his cowlick like that, hair brushed over his ears, and so on--so he looked almost like one of us. So, Edward Anatolyevich, thank you for our happy childhood, teen years, and youth.

Female: I think now is the perfect time to hear this wonderful song, which, for now, is called "Vocaliz"