Vladimir Vysotsky



Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky (1938 to 1980) was a Soviet singer, poet, and actor, or "bard." He started out acting in Hamlet and Life of Galileo, but soon fell out of official favor due to the material in his songs. While the Soviet government encouraged positivism in music, Vysotsky preferred to sing about the harsh realities of life, always strumming his seven-string guitar. Several of his songs appeared in movies, and throughout the late 1960s and the 1970s he was popular underground. He died in 1980 of heart failure brought on by drug abuse, and over a million people lined the streets of Moscow at his funeral. He has been compared to Alexander Pushkin, Bob Dylan, and Jacques Brel.

Discography

 * Алиса в стране чудес / Alice in Wonderland (1977) [2 vinyls] -- Musical play, an adaptation of Alice in Wonderland, with Klara Rumyanova, Vladimir Vysotsky, Vsevolod Abdulov. Lyrics and music: Vladimir Vysotsky
 * Le Monument (1995) [CD]
 * Le Vol Arrêté (2000) [CD]
 * Wir drehen die Erde (1993) [CD]
 * Lieder vom Krieg (1995) [CD]
 * Песни/Songs (1980) [LP] Melodiya. Collection of songs published shortly after his death.
 * Sons Are Leaving For Battle (1987) [double LP] Melodiya. War songs. Archive recordings from between 1960-1980.
 * На концертах Владимира Высоцкого / At Vladimir Vysotsky's concerts.
 * Marina Vlady / Vladimir Vysotsky (1996) [CD] [Melodiya]
 * MP 3 Kollektsiya: Vladimir Vysotsky [So Lyd Records]
 * Platinovaya Kollektsiya: Vladimir Vysotsky (2003) [2 CDs]

Roles

 * The Living And The Dead (1963)
 * Vertical (1967)
 * Two Comrades Were Serving (1968)
 * The Intervention (1969)
 * A Bad Good Man (a.k.a. The Duel) (1973)
 * How Tzar Peter the Great Married Off His Moor (1978)
 * The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed (1979)
 * Little Tragedies (1979)

Tropes

 * Crapsack World
 * Growing the Beard: Somewhere in the early 70th his songs become much more serious and philosophical (and funny songs become much more funny).
 * Kavorka Man: Was a huge sex symbol despite (thanks to?) his brutal looks and trademark raspy voice.
 * Protest Song
 * Rated M for Manly: Many characters in his songs, and the man himself. In the 70s, he was considered an iconic image of Russian masculinity.
 * Rule of Sean Connery
 * Vodka Drunkenski: Was battling with alcoholism for many years.
 * and failed

His songs features examples of:
"Giraffe is big, and he knows best.
 * Ace Pilot
 * Animate Inanimate Object: Vysotsky has songs from the point of view of a wrecked ship, a fighter plane, a statue, a singer's microphone...
 * Badass: Sharpshooter, "Five Hundred"
 * Badass Crew: Black Jackets, "Horizont shines as daggers blade..."
 * Badass Creed: "Black Gold", "Penal Battalions"
 * Ballad of X
 * Card-Carrying Villain: "Space Scum March"
 * The Everyman
 * Grief Song: He didn’t come back from the battle
 * The Gulag
 * Memetic Mutation: A lot, since his songs (and movie roles) are quite quotable:

The one thing that is better than heights, is the height that I haven’t yet reached!

Not a friend, not a foe, - just so

"If you don't reply, we'll write to Sports-Lotto"

"We have few real psychotics, so there's no one to lead us."

"A thief must be jailed!""


 * Morality Ballad: too many to list
 * Murder Ballad: "Private Borisov", "Spades not Hearts".
 * Ripped from the Headlines: "Mao Zedong" and other songs denouncing Communist China
 * Signature Song: "Song About a Friend"
 * Tear Jerker: "He hasn’t returned from the battle", "Wooden Suits", "The Ballad of Departing for Heaven"
 * Very Loosely Based on a True Story: "Agent 007" song is very loosely based on Sean Connery's visit to Soviet Union in 1969.
 * Villain Song: "Army Group Centre", written from the POV of Those Wacky Nazis