Victory Day (Stalin Was't Stallin')

Victory Day never seemed a huge holiday for me as it seems for my parents and teachers. Parades, fireworks, tears of old people have never excited. Young people, we know about the suffering, deaths, tortures, battles, statisctics, but we will never understand it (I hope we'll never do it.). All the documentaries, movies, photos, books make us cry and feel scared of human cruelty, make us remember people's mistakes, but there're always people which never get it seriously. And this is what should make other people scared.
I can't comprehend how Hitler didn't learn by Napoleon's experience? However poor Russia may be, there's always a core of something that makes our country Russia. Power, hearfulness, patriotism, famous Russian soul. This core makes me, my relatives and friends be Russian, this core will characterize us from all people around the world. Even though I and people around me blame our miserable Motherland, at least we can hold for our unbreakable history. Here the words of the outstanding Russian poet are very appropriate:

Comrade, believe: it will arise, 

The star of captivating bliss, 

Russia will rise herself from sleep, 

And on the ruins of despotism 

Our names will be inscribed!

Alexander Pushkin, "To Chaadaev"

What about me, so I'm pretty unlucky today: inspite of the bad weather, we've had a concert, but I must admit the veterans we've been performing to have been full of energy, it's pleasent. 

Just now I've been looking for a song which was written during the World War II, and I've found a nice a cappella American patriotic song written in 1943 called "Stalin Wasn't Stallin'". Later in 1980 Robert Wyatt covered the song, also in the a capella technique. The song praises the efforts of Joseph Stalin and all Soviet Army, and it's so cute and easy, not like most war songs.

Stalin wasn't stallin'

When he to1d the beast of Berlin

That they'd never rest contented

Til they had driven him from the land

So he called the Yanks and English

And proceeded to extinguish

The Fuhrer and his vermin

This is how it all began

Now the Devil he was reading

In the good book one day

How the lord created Adam

To walk the righteous way

And it made the Devil jealous

He turned green up to his horns

And he swore by things unholy

That he'd make one of his own

So he packed two suitcases

Full of grief and misery

And he caught the midnight special

Going down to Germany

Then he mixed his lies and hatred

With fire and brimstone

Then the devil sat upon it

That's how Adolf was born

Now Adolf got the notion

That he was the master race

And he swore he'd bring new order

And put mankind in it,s place!

So he set his scheme in motion

And he was winning everywhere

Until he up and got the notion

For to kick that Russian bear

Yes he kicked that noble Russian

But it wasn't very long

Before Adolf got suspicious

The he had done something wrong

Cause that bear grabbed the Fuhrer

And gave him an awful fright

Seventeen months he scrapped the Fuhrer

Tooth and claw, day and night

Then that bear smacked the Fuhrer

With a mighty armored paw

And Adolf broke all records

Running backward towards Krakaw

The Goebbels sent a message

To the people everywhere

That if they couldn't hit the Fuhrer

Go down hit that Russian bear

And Robert's version

I guess, almost everybody around the world knows and likes Russian war song "Katyusha". But to tell the truth, this song had been written even before the War. The lyrics was changed many times and still people create new variations of it. Our choir sings "Katyusha" at the concerts too, and my friend and I sang it when we were in Japan. 

Well, what can I say? The War may be said to have united people of all the world, but it hurt too much. This shouldn't be repeated.

Be brave, don't spark a war.