Alexander Vertinsky, “What I have to say. “What I have to say”: Vertinsky’s famous romance And some woman with a distorted face

I don't know why and who needs this,
Who sent them to death with an unshaking hand,
Only so merciless, so evil and unnecessary
They were lowered into Eternal Peace!

Cautious spectators silently wrapped themselves in fur coats,
And some woman with a distorted face
Kissed a dead man on his blue lips
And she threw her wedding ring at the priest.

They showered them with fir trees and kneaded them with mud.
And they went home to talk quietly,
That it’s time to put an end to the disgrace,
That already soon, they say, we will begin to starve.

And no one thought to just kneel
And tell these boys that in a mediocre country
Even bright feats are only steps
Into endless abysses - towards inaccessible Spring!

At first there was no consensus about who this romance was dedicated to. Thus, Konstantin Paustovsky, who attended Vertinsky’s concert in Kyiv in 1918, suggested in his memoirs: “He sang about the cadets killed shortly in the village of Borshchagovka, about the young men sent to certain death against a dangerous gang.”

In fact, the song was dedicated to the cadets who died in Moscow during the October armed uprising of 1917 and were buried in the Moscow Fraternal Cemetery. Vertinsky himself wrote about this in his memoirs: “Soon after the October events, I wrote the song “What I Must Say.” It was written under the impression of the death of the Moscow cadets, whose funeral I attended.”

Junkers defending the entrances to the Kremlin. 1917 Photo: oldmos.ru

Regarding this song, full of sympathy for the enemies of the Bolsheviks, Alexander Vertinsky was summoned to the Cheka for an explanation. According to legend, Vertinsky then said: “It’s just a song, and then, you can’t forbid me to feel sorry for them!” To this they answered him: “We will have to, and we will forbid you to breathe!”

Soon Vertinsky went on tour to the southern cities of Russia. In Odessa, the White Guard general Yakov Slashchev met with him. He told Vertinsky how popular his song had become: “But with your song... my boys went to die! And it is still unknown whether this was necessary...”

Despite the fact that the song was written at the beginning of the 20th century, it remains relevant to this day. Thus, during the years of perestroika, the romance was performed by Boris Grebenshchikov. Then the song was associated with the Afghan war. In 2005, at the rock festival in Chechnya, the romance “What I Must Say” was performed by Diana Arbenina. This song is also present in the repertoire of Valery Obodzinsky, Zhanna Bichevskaya, Tatiana Dolgopolova and Pavel Kashin, Nadezhda Gritskevich. On February 20, 2014, Boris Grebenshchikov performed the romance at the Spring Concert in Smolensk, dedicating it to those killed at Euromaidan: “Today is a strange concert. All the time the thought does not leave me that at this very moment, when we are singing here, in Kyiv, very close to us, some people are killing others.”

Alexander Vertinsky wrote the romance “What I Must Say” shortly after the October Revolution. At the end of 1917, text and sheet music versions of the song were published by the Moscow publishing house Progressive News. The lyrics stated that the song was dedicated to “Their blessed memory.”
At first there was no consensus about who this romance was dedicated to. Thus, Konstantin Paustovsky, who attended Vertinsky’s concert in Kyiv in 1918, suggested in his memoirs: “He sang about the cadets killed shortly in the village of Borshchagovka, about the young men sent to certain death against a dangerous gang.”
Regarding this song, full of sympathy for the enemies of the Bolsheviks, Alexander Vertinsky was summoned to the Cheka for an explanation. According to legend, Vertinsky then said: “It’s just a song, and then, you can’t forbid me to feel sorry for them!” To this they answered him: “We will have to, and we will forbid you to breathe!”
Soon Vertinsky went on tour to the southern cities of Russia. In Odessa, the White Guard general Yakov Slashchev met with him. He told Vertinsky how popular his song had become: “But with your song... my boys went to die! And it is still unknown whether this was necessary...”

I don’t know why and who needs this,
who sent them to death with an unshaking hand,
just so useless, so evil and unnecessary
lowered them into Eternal Peace.

Indifferent spectators silently wrapped themselves in fur coats
and some woman with a distorted face
kissed the dead man on his blue lips
and threw her wedding ring at the priest.

They threw Christmas trees at them, threw mud at them
and went home to talk quietly,
that it's time to put an end to the disgrace,
that soon we will all begin to starve.

And no one thought to just kneel
and tell these boys that in a mediocre country,
even bright feats are only steps
into endless abysses towards inaccessible Spring.

Is history repeating itself?

Material taken from the Internet.

Reviews

Unfortunately, the scenarios are repeated.
Here are the predictions of Nostradamus: twin brothers.
Which? Hiroshima and Nagasaki? And you can still find pairs.
===
I remember I really wanted my grandmother to come to school
and told how she made the revolution :))))) She
lived in St. Petersburg.
It took her a long time to persuade her to tell me about it!
In the end, she said that she worked at a kiosk at the station
- sold newspapers and magazines. And they and the girls are there
they hid the cadets - poor frightened boys.
And their rifles were hidden under their skirts.
--
And so my hope was lost!

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Vertinsky's song “What I have to say (In Memory of the Junkers)” , was written under the impression of the death of three hundred Moscow cadets who opposed the Red Army.

Regarding this song, full of sympathy for the enemies of the Bolsheviks, Alexander Vertinsky was summoned to the Cheka for an explanation.

According to legend, Vertinsky then said: “It’s just a song, and then, you can’t stop me from feeling sorry for them!”.

To this they answered: “If we have to, we’ll stop breathing!”

Soon Vertinsky went on tour to the southern cities of Russia. In Odessa, the White Guard general Yakov Slashchev met with him. He told Vertinsky how popular his song had become: “But with your song... my boys went to die! And it remains to be seen whether this was necessary...»

Junkers defending the entrances to the Kremlin. 1917

WHAT I HAVE TO SAY

Alexander Vertinsky

to their blessed memory...

They were sent to eternal rest.

Cautious spectators silently wrapped themselves in fur coats,
And some woman with a distorted face
Kissed a dead man on his blue lips
And she threw her wedding ring at the priest.

But no one thought to just kneel
And tell these boys that in a mediocre country
Even bright feats are only steps
Into the endless abysses towards the inaccessible spring!

I don't know why and who needs this,
Who sent them to death with an unshaking hand,
Only so merciless, so evil and unnecessary
They were sent to eternal rest.

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What a sin to hide, frankly speaking, to tell the truth, to admit, in good conscience, I admit, there is no sin to hide, to be honest, I repent, to be honest, to confess, I must admit, to tell the truth Dictionary of Russian synonyms.... ... Synonym dictionary

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Words: A. Vertinsky
Music: A. Vertinsky

I don't know why and who needs this,
Who sent them to death with an unshaking hand,
Only so merciless, so evil and unnecessary
They were lowered into Eternal Peace!

Cautious spectators silently wrapped themselves in fur coats,
And some woman with a distorted face
Kissed a dead man on his blue lips
And she threw her wedding ring at the priest.

They showered them with fir trees and kneaded them with mud.
And they went home to talk quietly,
That it’s time to put an end to the disgrace,
That already soon, they say, we will begin to starve.

And no one thought to just kneel
And tell these boys that in a mediocre country
Even bright feats are only steps
Into the endless abysses - towards the inaccessible Spring!

October 1917
Moscow

There was much that was unclear about the events described in the song, and there were several versions of them. Thus, K. Paustovsky, who heard Alexander Nikolaevich’s concert in Kyiv in the winter of 1918, gives his own interpretation in his memoirs: “He sang about the cadets killed shortly in the village of Borshchagovka, about the young men sent to certain death against a dangerous gang.”
According to more common rumors, the song was created in Moscow in 1917 during the October days of the Bolshevik revolution, and it talks about Muscovite cadets who became victims of this event.

This version was also adhered to by the very famous playwright and theater critic of those years, I. Schneider. He wrote: “In the large Church of the Ascension on Nikitskaya, where Pushkin married Natalya Goncharova, there were 300 coffins and a funeral service was going on for the cadets who opposed the people and were killed on the streets of Moscow. They were buried in one of the Moscow cemeteries. Trams started running, shops and theaters opened. At the Petrovsky Theater of Miniatures, Vertinsky sang his new song every evening about these three hundred cadets and coffins.”

* * * * * * *

On the day the October Revolution began, October 25, 1917, a
benefit performance of Vertinsky. His attitude to the ongoing revolutionary events,
expressed in the romance “What I Must Say,” written under the impression
the death of three hundred Moscow cadets.
The romance aroused the interest of the Extraordinary Commission, where the author was summoned
for explanations. According to legend, when Vertinsky remarked to representatives of the Cheka:
“It’s just a song, and then, you can’t stop me from feeling sorry for them!”
he received the answer: “We will have to, and we will forbid you to breathe!” . .

Reviews

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