Igor Vladimirovich Talkov (Russian: И́горь Влади́мирович Талько́в; 4 November 1956, Gretsovka, Tula Oblast, Soviet Union – 6 October 1991, Saint Petersburg, Soviet Union) was a Russian rock singer-songwriter.
He is often compared to another Russian singer and songwriter of that time, Viktor Tsoi, whom, according to his diaries, Talkov highly appreciated and even dedicated a song on his death. Talkov's songs also have much in common - particularly from a lyrical perspective - with Russian bard music.
While Igor Talkov is mostly remembered for his beautiful songs about love and fate, most of his work held a clearly political message against the Soviet regime, desperately calling for a change. This is one of the reasons why Talkov was never popular with the Soviet government; even as a performer renowned and loved throughout the whole Soviet Union, he lived in a small two-room apartment with his wife and son, even composing his masterful lyrics and music "on top of the washing machine in the bathroom", according to the rumours. Curiously enough, he was not satisfied with Perestroika, claiming it to be nothing but the same regime under a different guise. In his post-Perestroika songs, he openly mocked the changes, calling them a ruse. Talkov was an avid reader of pre-revolutionary Russian history, which served as the inspiration for many of his songs. He even guaranteed at his last concert that he was willing to "back up" his lyrics with historical facts.
Talkov also made a brief presence in post-Soviet cinema, acting in the films Za posledney chertoy (Beyond the last boundary) and Knyaz Serebryanniy (The Silver Prince). The latter film he disliked, apologizing to a preview audience for participating in the film. Since Talkov refused to complete post-production sound on the film, Talkov's character was voiced by another actor.
He was fatally shot backstage at the Yubileiny concert hall in Leningrad; the next day was declared a national tragedy throughout the whole former Soviet Union. His funeral was a televised, nationwide event, where his casket was carried by some of the most prominent members of Russian stage to its burial. It is not uncommon to meet people in former Soviet countries who still dedicate October 6th to the honour of Igor Talkov.
While Valeriy Schlyafman, Talkov's one time manager, was found guilty of the murder by a Russian court, he fled through Ukraine to Israel before he could be arrested. He remains in Israel to this day, insisting he is not guilty of the crime while Israel refuses to extradite him. Schlyafman and his supporters have claimed that the KGB orchestrated the murder.
Talkov is interred in the Vagankovskoye Cemetery in Moscow.
In 1999 he was honoured with his image portrayed on a Russian postage stamp. There is an Igor Talkov Museum in Moscow.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igor_Talkov
Audio (5.3 Mb) Video (44 Mb)
Gentlemen-democrats
Gentlemen-democrats of the nineteenth century
We would very much like to have all you revived
So that you see our present successes
And we would be able to give you rewards.
Each of us all would express his own gratitude:
The farmer - by sickle, the worker - by pick,
The imprisoned - by shackles, by prosthesis- ex-soldier
But as to myself - oh, I would have used brick.
High class! High class! The USA and Europe prosper
High class! High class! And we are left with bare…
Gentlemen-democrats of the nineteenth century
Why were you striving and threatening the Crown,
The nature's not stupid and God isn't a venture
And you have ignored them and didn't account
Perhaps you have been planning arrangement of borders,
Restructuring everything - fool's haste is no speed
But the nature can't follow your stupid orders
And God never reads leaflets with any decrees
High class! High class! The USA and Europe prosper
High class! High class! And we are left with bare…
Gentlemen-democrats, you know the example
When your own good colleagues had inspired the bloodshed
Killed the aristocrats - the enlightment was ample,
Paris won't wash from this, though it's so well-bred.
The truth-seeker Radischev having learned of this carnage
Had almost chewed up his rebellious novel
He took leave of his senses and he stared at garbage
And cursing freemasons sat blankly in hovel.
High class! High class! The USA and Europe prosper
High class! High class! And we are left with bare…
Gentlemen-democrats, hurry up to arise, flirts,
Take a seat at the court, and be judged by fooled mass:
Time to answer for words, Chernyshevskiy and Hertson,
And the dreamer Belinsky, and the wizard Karl Max;
You will answer as well, those who came after them
To deprive our people of land and of justice.
You have turned free-born Russians into bondmen
Into prison you turned the very Great Russia!
High class! High class! The USA and Europe prosper
High class! High class! And we are left with bare…
Ad astra per aspera!
Господа-демократы
Господа-демократы минувшего века,
Нам бы очень хотелось вас всех воскресить,
Чтобы вы поглядели на наши успехи,
Ну а мы вас сумели отблагодарить.
Мы бы каждый, кто чем, выражал благодарность:
Молотилкой - колхозник, рабочий - ключом,
Враг народа - киркою, протезом - афганец,
Ну а я б кой-кому засветил кирпичом.
Вот так! Вот так! Живут Америка с Европой.
Вот так! Вот так! Ну а у нас всё через ж...
Господа-демократы минувшего века,
И чего вы бесились, престолу грозя,
Ведь природа - не дура и Бог - не калека,
Ну а вы его в шею - ну так же нельзя!
Может, вам и хотелось наладить всё сразу,
Только спешка нужна при охоте на блох,
А природа не может творить по приказу
и, совсем уж понятно, не может и Бог.
Вот так! Вот так! Живут Америка с Европой.
Вот так! Вот так! Ну а у нас всё через ж...
Господа-демократы, вы знали примеры,
Когда ваши коллеги учинили террор:
Истребили цвет нации мечом Робеспьера
И Париж по сей день отмывает позор.
Правдолюбец Радищев, после той мясорубки,
"Путешествие из Петербурга в Москву"
Чуть не слопал с досады, повредился рассудком
И, ругая масонов, погрузился в тоску.
Вот так! Вот так! Живут Америка с Европой.
Вот так! Вот так! Ну а у нас всё через ж...
Господа-демократы, поспешите воскреснуть,
Выходите на суд одураченных масс:
Пусть ответят за всё Чернышевский и Герцен,
И мечтатель Белинский, и мудрец Карла Маркс;
Пусть ответят и те, что пришли вслед за вами
Вышибать из народа и радость и грусть,
И свободных славян обратили рабами,
И в тюрьму превратили Великую Русь!
Вот так! Вот так! Живут Америка с Европой.
Вот так! Вот так! Ну а у нас всё через ж...
Через тернии к звёздам!
Translated by Viktor P.S. (the author's site)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYwFzMFm4-k&feature=related#
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