Русское зазеркалье (двуязычная версия)

A large number of Soviet animation films for children had a ‘catchy tune,’ a song that, once featured in the film, could do perfectly well on its own. The famous animated mini-series about Cheburashka, a fictitious animal character created by Eduard Uspensky, had two such songs, namely ‘The Blue Coach’ and ‘Let Pedestrians Run Clumsily Across the Puddles,’ both of which are now a part of Russian everyday culture: the second of them could, and still occasionally can be sung in a kindergarten group when someone’s birthday was (is) celebrated. My first intention was to talk at length about ‘The Blue Coach,’ especially as it is translated into English. Simplistic as it is, it still encapsulates a certain philosophy, seeing an ordinary train journey as a metaphor of our life and poignantly reminding us that ‘this too shall pass,’ a Persian aphorism that emerges somewhere in the Old Testament. On second thought, I decided that you can analyse it without my assistance (please see it as one of the tasks for the second part of our lesson). I then recalled another song that, too, may be definitely worth looking into. It is called ‘Wind of Changes’ and features in Mary Poppins, Goodbye, a 1984 two-part musical mini-series based on Mary Poppins stories by Australian-British writer Pamela Lyndon Travers. The music was composed by Maxim Dunayevsky; the lyrics were written by Nikolai Olev.

I have to note that the Soviet adaptation in question has everything that a good film for children must have. It never tries to provoke cheap emotions that are so easily provoked in both children and adults or to sensationally strain the nerves of the audience, it has clear moral messages to deliver rather than simply entertain its spectators, it elaborates its characters as credible and complex personalities, it never simplifies reality to the extent that it begins to look like an ugly caricature of itself, it is still interesting for an adult person. In other words, it is unpardonably ‘boring’ and unashamedly ‘old-fashioned’ for kids in 2019. (What makes me say that? Why do the entertainers of today never treat our children in the same dignified, responsible, and respectful manner in which Soviet films used to treat them? What is to be done about it—that is, if anything can be done at all? Please note these questions for our discussion.)

Here comes the song—or maybe a video-sequence from the film in the case the equipment doesn’t let me down. Would you ever recognize it as a song for children, judging from its melody only? Truth be told, the song balances between the two ages, as it also balances between secular and religious philosophy or, rather, worldview, if ‘philosophy’ seems to be too heavily loaded a term.

The first verse of the song begins with the description of Earth where ‘winds of our personal losses’ blow for ages. Those evil winds are said to be numberless. They creep into our hearts, they tear off the doors of our homes, they crush our hopes and inspire fear. They always return; all this happens for hundreds and hundreds of years; it is how it has always been; it is as inevitable as the Earth that goes round and round.