Towards the end of my undergrad, after I’d studied abroad and achieved a reasonable level of linguistic skill, I started collecting Russian pop songs that seemed to reflect political and cultural attitudes. Songs about AIDS, or Saddam Hussein, or army service. For today I want to share a clip from a Russian movie — a musical of sorts, which follows a group of musicians on a campaign cruise with a candidate, putting on concerts and getting out the vote in various ways. One of the first songs is sung by Shnur, the irreverent and generally foul-mouthed lead singer of the ska band Leningrad, and in the end it’s a farce – they get the guy elected, only to realize they’ve been in the wrong district the whole time. (If you want an overview of Russian music styles, search youtube for “день выборов” (election day) or “день радио” (radio day), both musical films by the same group lampoon a wide variety of Russian music genres.)

As it happens, the Russian word for elections, выборы [vybory] (lit. “choices”), rhymes with a vulgar word deriving from the Latin pederast. Whatever happens in the US election, I’m sure there are voters out there who will strongly identify with the sentiment of this song.

Выборы-выборы…
[Vybory-vybory]
Elections-elections*

Сижу, не пью уже с утра,
[Sizhu, ne p’iu uzhe s utra]
I’m sitting, not drinking all day, (lit. since morning)
На завтра будут выбора.
[Na zavtra budut bybora]
Tomorrow’s the election.
Я должен быть предельно трезв,
[Ya dolzhen byt’ predel’no trezv]
I have to be completely sober,
Чтобы в графу поставить крест.
[Chtoby v grafu postavit’ krest]
To cast my vote. (lit. to mark an x in the box)

Э-э-э-хей… пойдёт голосование
[E-e-e-khei… poydyot golosovanie]
Hey, voting will be going on

Дружок принёс в кармане грамм,
[Druzhok prinyos v karmane gramm]
A friend brought a gram in his pocket,
А я готовлюсь к выборам,
[A ya gotovolius’ k vyboram]
But I’m getting ready for the election,
Не буду нюхать не хира,
[Ne budu niukhat’ ne khira]
I won’t sniff a drop
Чтоб не сорвались выбора.
[Chtob ne sorvalis’ vybora]
So the election isn’t disrupted.

Э-э-э-хей… растёт правосознание
[E-e-e-khei… rastyot pravosoznanie]
Hey, a growing sense of justice/law

(On the album there is an additional verse here, to the effect of ‘I’m not going to sniff glue today, and go to bed sober so I’ll be lively tomorrow.)

И вот настал великий день,
[I vot nastal velikii den’]
And now it’s the big day,
Мне дали в руки бюллетень,
[Mne dali v ruki biulleten’]
They handed me a ballot,
Беру и ставлю крестик – э-э-х,
[Beru i stavliu krestik, e-e-kh]
I take it and mark an X
Я голосую против всех!
[Ya golosuiu protiv vsekh]
I’m voting against them all!

Э-э-э-хей, С козлами не играю.
[E-e-e-khei, s kozlami ne igraiu]
Hey, I’m not going to play with these assholes. [lit. goats]
Э-э-э-хей, Я вас не выбираю.
[E-e-e-khei, ya vas ne vybiraiu]
Hey, I’m not voting for you.
Э-э-э-хей, Идёт голосование.

[E-e-e-khei, idyot golosovanie]
Hey, voting is going on.

Выборы, выборы,
[Vybory, vybory]
Elections, elections
Кандидаты – пидоры!
[Kandidaty – pidori]
The candidates are fuckers. (lit. fags)

My taller half doesn’t appreciate Shnur much, and for good reason (did I mention he’s foul-mouthed? and homophobic?) but his lyrics are generally at a level I can understand, I’ve learned quite a bit of rude slang from them, and there’s a black humor to many of the songs that entertains me. One of my favorites is about a drunk telling a taxi driver his address – his web address. I feel like if Dorothy Parker had written poetry on politics, it might not have come out much different than this song.

Voting against everyone was an option in the Russian electoral system, until 2006. Since that method of showing displeasure with the political parties has been removed, voters have deliberately spoiled their ballots instead during the 2007 and 2011 elections.  I still have a reasonable amount of faith in the integrity of the American voting system, or at least that my ballot will be counted, so I encourage you all to take Shnur’s advice – sober up and vote. 😉

*The translation, and any mistakes, are my own.