Elektricheskie Partizany - The Last Request Of An Old Lyre Bard
Walk me across the maidan* Through my beloved marketplace of people To where the bees fly among the peace of brank fields Walk me across the maidan...
Walk me across the maidan It breathes in battles, tears and laughter Sometimes it doesn't hear me, nor itself Walk me across the maidan
Walk me across the maidan Where all my songs were played and sung I'll enter the silence and grow quiet - I was, but am no more Walk me across the maidan
Please walk me across the maidan Where a woman cries - I'd once been with her Now I'll pass her by and won't even recognize her Walk me across the maidan
Walk me across the maidan With my love, with the pain of betrayal Here were the days of my vanity and glory Walk me across the maidan
Walk me across me the maidan Where the drunken clouds gather at the drunken poplar Today, my son is singing on the maidan Walk me across the maidan...
Walk me across... the maidan's ocean Wavered, took him,embraced him, and led him through the fog When at last he fell dead on the maidan But there was no field where the maidan ends...
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*Maidan - a town square in Ukraine. In today's context, often used to refer to the recent protests and violence which took place on the Maidan of Independence of the Ukraine.
Elektricheskie Partizany ("Electric Partisans") are a hard rock/punk band founded as an extension of the solo career of Vadim Kurylev, who found his fame as the bassist and guitarist of Russia's top rock band DDT, which was his main gig from 1987 to 2002. Following his departure from DDT, Kurylev has continued with a variety of bands and projects, but the Electric Partisans are his primary outlet.
Kurylev is the writer and lyricist of the Partisans' songs, which are an extension of his personal philosophy that he dubbed "Zen Anarchy". In the spirit of the genre of music he plays, Kurylev is fiercely anti-establishment - however rather than attacking sociopolitical order with sheer anger, he goes at it with philosophically-inclined, intelligent lyrics, while simultaneously promoting peace, personal freedom and social harmony. Kurylev has supported various social causes, organizing charity festivals in support of helping recovering drug addicts, the homeless, or children's charities - and also led the way in organizing a campaign by musicians in support of the jailed members of Pussy Riot.
This song, however, is not written by Kurylev - but is a cover of a Ukrainian song written in 1971 by V. Korotich, later translated to Russian by Yunna Moritz. The song and video are startlingly relevant to the recent situation in the Ukraine - and Kurylev effectively uses it to once again speak out on the subject of social protest, a recurring theme in his work. (archive)