Bard (Soviet Union)

The term bards (?????) came to use in the Soviet Union in the early 1960s (and continues to be used in Russia today) for popular poets and singers who wrote songs outside the Soviet establishment. Bard poetry differs from other poetry mainly in the fact that it is sung along with a simple guitar melody as opposed to being spoken. Another difference is that this form of poetry focuses less on style and more on meaning. This means that fewer stylistic devices are used, and the poetry often takes the form of narrative. What separates bard poetry from other songs is the fact that the music is far less important than the lyrics; chord progressions are often very simple and tend to repeat from one bard song to another. A far more obvious difference was the commerce-free nature of the genre: songs were written to be sung and not to be sold.

Related Topics:
Bard - Soviet Union - 1960 - Russia - Establishment - Chord progression

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Bard poetry may be roughly classified into two main streams: tourist song and political song, although some other subgenres may be recognized, such as criminal song (blatnaya pesnya) and pirate song.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Initially the term "bard" was in use among the fans of the tourist song, and outside the circle was often perceived in an ironical sense. However there was a need for a term to distinguish this style of song from the traditional kind of concert song, and the term eventually stuck.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~