med_cat: (Hourglass)
Nechama Chaya ([personal profile] med_cat) wrote2016-11-14 01:26 pm
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Владимир Высоцкий - Я не люблю / "I do not like" by Vladimir Vysotsky


([livejournal.com profile] duathir and [livejournal.com profile] thnidu--another one for you; one of his best, IMHO)

Я не люблю фатального исхода,
От жизни никогда не устаю.
Я не люблю любое время года,
В которое я песен не пою.
Я не люблю холодного цинизма,
В восторженность не верю, и еще -
Когда чужой мои читает письма,
Заглядывая мне через плечо.

Я не люблю, когда наполовину
Или когда прервали разговор.
Я не люблю, когда стреляют в спину,
Я также против выстрелов в упор.
Я ненавижу сплетни в виде версий,
Червей сомненья, почестей иглу
Или, - когда все время против шерсти,
Или, - когда железом по стеклу.

Я не люблю уверенности сытой,
Уж лучше пусть откажут тормоза.
Досадно мне, что слово "честь" забыто
И что в чести наветы за глаза.
Когда я вижу сломанные крылья,
Нет жалости во мне, и неспроста:
Я не люблю насилья и бессилья,
Вот только жаль распятого Христа.

Я не люблю себя, когда я трушу,
Я не терплю, когда невинных бьют.
Я не люблю, когда мне лезут в душу,
Тем более, когда в нее плюют.
Я не люблю манежи и арены,
На них мильон меняют по рублю, -
Пусть впереди большие перемены,
Я это никогда не полюблю.
Пусть впереди большие перемены,
Я это никогда не полюблю.
Translation of lyrics:

I do not like lethal outcomes,
I never tire of life,
I do not like any time of year
During which I don't sing cheerful songs.
I don't like cold cynicism,
I don't believe puppy-eyed delight, either, and also--
I don't like when a stranger reads my letters,
Looking over my shoulder.

I don't like when it's halfway
Or when a conversation is suddenly broken off.
I don't like being shot in the back,
I am also against being shot point-blank.
I hate gossip presented as plausible versions of events,
The worms of doubt, the needle of honor and recognition,
Or--when all the time it's rubbing in the wrong direction,
Or--when it's iron scraped on glass.

I don't like well-fed complacence,
Even if the brakes fail completely, that is better.
It annoys me that the word "honor" has been forgotten
And that denigrating others, behind their backs, is what's honored.
When I see broken wings,
There's no pity in me, and there's a reason for that:
I don't like violence and helplessness,
The only one I do feel sorry for is the crucified Christ.

I don't like myself when I'm being a coward,
I cannot tolerate the innocent being abused,
I do not like when people pry into my inmost soul,
And especially if they spit into it.
I do not like stages and arenas--
On them, a million is exchanged into single rubles, one by one,
Even if there are major changes ahead,
I will never like such things.

[identity profile] elenbarathi.livejournal.com 2016-11-14 10:26 pm (UTC)(link)
Haha, this is great!

"I don't like being shot in the back,
I am also against being shot point-blank."


... totally agree! And also that we could use some cheerful songs right about now. Here's one:

[identity profile] elenbarathi.livejournal.com 2016-11-14 11:03 pm (UTC)(link)
*checks Google Translate* Nope, they're Czech. There are several videos of that song; I picked the one with the best pictures. ^^

Kír won't be online till this evening - it's Super Full Moon y'know; we'll all be out at Gibson Spit watching it rise over the sea. I watched it set this morning: what a sight! it was YUUUGE! ^^

[identity profile] elenbarathi.livejournal.com 2016-11-15 12:42 am (UTC)(link)
It seems like it would be a fairly easy language to learn. One of my boys that I used to look after (all grown up now) went as an exchange student to Prague, and speaks fluent Czech - it's a pretty language, though not as pretty as Romanian.

Thanks; you enjoy it too - the Moon must be up already on your coast. Our moonrise will be in about half an hour; gotta go get me boots on and head out. Woohoo, sky rocks!

[identity profile] duathir.livejournal.com 2016-11-15 02:40 pm (UTC)(link)
This one may be more cheerful:

'After The Revolution'

[identity profile] duathir.livejournal.com 2016-11-16 12:20 am (UTC)(link)
I would be glad to know your thoughts about it.

[identity profile] duathir.livejournal.com 2016-11-16 01:00 am (UTC)(link)
He is an idealist certainly, but what he is promoting is a non-violent cultural revolution of political action and civil disobedience. It is the same sort of revolution as we had here in the 60's and 70's, and will probably have similar results. John Lennon's 'Imagine' is a good example of that.

The Left in America does not go in much for armed rebellion. It is the Right that stockpiles firearms to use against the government.

Here is Locksley Hall, 60 Years After (http://theotherpages.org/poems/tenny41.html), but I do not know, for many of its passages might fit this topic. Which was it?

[identity profile] duathir.livejournal.com 2016-11-16 02:49 am (UTC)(link)
I once did not believe in revolutionary ideals. I believed the world was a battlefield upon which we fight until we die, for no reason we will ever know.

Now I am less sure. Cultures can change. I shall not see those days, but maybe they will come.

Here is Bernie Sanders on revolution:


And here is what I think the best of Rovics' songs:

'We Are Everywhere'

More cheerfuller songs

[identity profile] elenbarathi.livejournal.com 2016-11-16 09:18 pm (UTC)(link)
Haha, how about this one -I bet Vysotsky would have liked it.



Anarchists like that are the very reason I don't attend or support street protests any more. I think they're ineffective, divisive, and only give jerks like the Black Bloc an excuse to take over peaceful demonstrations, commit and incite violence, and thus discredit the whole protest in the eyes of the mainstream viewing public.

I do believe in revolutionary ideals; I do, I do. I think they're the only hope for the world. But I also believe in rational behavior, which includes the Rule of Law, not fixing what ain't broke, and - especially - not breaking what we can't fix. I don't think there's anything wrong with the US model of government, except that it's been gamed by the GOP, and the Dems have let them do it - we don't have to overthrow the government in order to correct that; our system has ways to correct it already built in.
Edited 2016-11-16 21:45 (UTC)

[identity profile] duathir.livejournal.com 2016-11-15 02:19 pm (UTC)(link)
An excellent song; thank you. My Cyrillic is improving; I can almost follow his lyrics now. Is the translation your own?