Vladimir Vysotsky

Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky (????????? ????????? ?????????) (January 25 1938 – July 25 1980) was a Russian singer, poet, theatre and movie actor, and writer. Though his achievements weren't, for the most part, officially recognized, he was the most famous Soviet bard.

The Music

The poet accompanied himself on the guitar, with an intense voice singing ballads of love, peace, war, and every-day Soviet life. He had the ring of honesty and truth, with an ironic and sometimes sarcastic touch, which made him a target for surveillance by the government. In France, he has been compared with French singer Georges Brassens, however in Russia he was usually compared with Joe Dassin, especially since they died in the same year and of the same age. However their similarities are not only superficial. Also, his poetry and performing style greatly influenced Jacek Kaczmarski, a Polish songwriter and singer that touched similar themes.

Related Topics:
France - Georges Brassens - Joe Dassin - Jacek Kaczmarski - Polish

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The multifaceted talent of Vladimir Vysotsky is often described by a short word bard that acquired a special meaning in the Soviet Union, although he himself spoke of this term with irony. He thought of himself mainly as an actor and writer, and once remarked, "I do not belong to what people call bards or minstrels or whatever."

Related Topics:
Bard - Soviet Union

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The songs—over 600 of them—were written about almost any imaginable theme. The earliest were Street songs. These songs were based either on the city romance of Moscow (criminal life, prostitution and extreme drinking) or on life in the Gulags. Vysotsky slowly grew out of this phase and started singing more serious, though often satirical, songs. Many of these songs were about war. These war songs were not written to glorify war but to expose the listener to the emotions of those in extreme, life threatening situations. Most Soviet veterans would say that Vysotsky's war songs described the truth of war far more accurately than more official "patriotic" songs, such as Katyusha.

Related Topics:
Street songs - Gulag - War songs - Katyusha

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Nearly all of Vysotsky's songs are in the first person, but almost never as himself. When singing his criminal songs, he would borrow the voice of a Moscow thief and when singing war songs he would sing from the point of view of a soldier. This created some confusion about Vysotsky's background, especially during the early years when information could not be passed around very easily. Using his acting talent, the poet performed his role play so well that until told otherwise, many of his fans believed that he was indeed a criminal or war veteran. Vysotsky's father said that "War participants thought the author of the songs to be one of them, as if he had participated in the war together with them."

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Many of Vysotsky's songs were used as soundtracks for films, especially those he appeared in, a well known example being Vertikal.

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Not being officially recognized as a poet and singer, Vysotsky performed where and whenever he could - in the theatre, in the university, in village clubs and under open air. It was not unusual for him to have several concerts per day. He used to sleep little, using the night hours to write. In his last years, he managed to perform outside the USSR and held concerts in Paris, Toronto and New York City.

Related Topics:
Paris - Toronto - New York City

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With some exceptions, he had no chance to publish his recordings with "Melodiya", the monopolist of the recording industry in the Soviet Union. His songs were passed on through amateur recordings on magnetic tapes, resulting in an immense popularity; cosmonauts took his music on tape cassette into orbit. — His writings were all published posthumously.

Related Topics:
Melodiya - Soviet Union - Cosmonaut

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