Since the 1960s, Soviet romantics have loved to sing songs accompanied by a guitar. Learning to play the instrument was considered not so difficult; often, one just had to memorize a few chords. But, at once, one became the soul of the company!
Soviet hikers, 1973
Boris Kavashkin/SputnikStudents, hikers, geologists who studied the vast homeland in expeditions - literally everyone in the Soviet Union sang to the guitar. These songs, composed, as a rule, by amateurs, sang of nature, friendship and, of course, love.
And these songs are still popular today!
One of the pioneers of this phenomenon was the 'author's song' in the USSR. This unofficial music is often referred to as a bardic song. Vizbor frequently sang about mountains in his compositions. The song ‘Dombai Waltz’ is better known by its first line - “Skis stand at the stove” ("Lyzhi u pechki stoyat"). In fact, it's about the end of the alpine ski season at the Dombai ski resort (located in the Caucasus) in late March, which means the skiers are getting ready to go home. Vizbor is sad that he won’t see the mountains anytime soon.
The chord grid for each quatrain is the same and very simple, so many people who learn to play the guitar start with this song.
Am Dm E Am
Am Dm E Am
A7 Dm G C
Am Dm E Am
This song is so popular that it is considered almost folk. Most often, ‘My Darling’ (‘Milaya moya’) is better known as ‘Forest Sun’ - this is how the lyrical Vizbor addresses his beloved in the song.
The chords here are also very simple:
Em
G D G
Am H7 C E
Am H7 Em
Chorus:
Em Am D G
Em Am H7 Em
Okudzhava was a very popular poet and author of many songs, which he performed himself. His compositions are more sublime and lyrical, for which he was beloved by the Soviet intelligentsia. This song, which is one of his most famous compositions, was performed in the cult movie ‘White Sun of the Desert’ (1970). Soviet composer Isaac Shvarts wrote the music to Okudzhava's lyrics.
Am E7 Am
C G C
Dm G C
Dm Am E7 F
Dm G C
Dm Am E7 Am
The couple is best known for their song ‘Alexandra’, the soundtrack to the Oscar-winning movie 'Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears' (1979; Sergei Nikitin was the composer and the lyrics were written by Yuri Vizbor). The Nikitins are singers and songwriters and among their most popular compositions is certainly this song about a mysterious Brich-Mulla (a place in Soviet Uzbekistan). It is also a declaration of love for the mountains and about traveling to sunny Uzbekistan.
By the way, with this song, foreigners can learn the cases in the Russian language, because, in the chorus, the word ‘Brich-Mulla’ appears in five (!) different cases in a row:
“Брич-Мулла, Брич-Муллы,
Брич-Мулле, Брич-Муллу,
Брич-Муллою.”
The chords, however, are not so simple or, rather, there are many of them. But, the important thing is to memorize the chorus:
Cm Fm G7
G7 Cm
Bbm C7
F Bb7 Eb7 Ab
D7 Fm7 G7 Cm
Vladimir Vysotsky, known primarily as a theater and movie actor, was also incredibly important as a poet, singer and songwriter. It seemed that he did not actually “sing”, but rather shouted with his inimitable voice that had a sonorous croak. Vysotsky played the main role in the 1967 movie ‘Vertical’ about alpinists. And he also performed his ‘Song about a Friend’ in it. This composition is about the fact that friends are recognized in difficult circumstances. And if you are not sure of your comrade, you can test his true nature while hiking in the mountains!
Am E
Am
А7 Dm
E
Dm
Am
E
Am
In the late 1970s, the young Oleg Mityaev broke into bard songwriting with this very composition. People call it no other than “The Bend of the Yellow Guitar” (“Izgib gitary zheltoi”) – taken from the first lines. It is a true hymn to friendship and, actually, the tradition of singing accompanied by a guitar.
Am Dm E7 Am
Am Dm G C
Gm A7 Dm G7 C A7
Dm Am E7 F
Gm A7 Dm G7 C A7
Dm Am E7 Am
The lyrics to this song were composed by poet Henri Volokhonsky to music by Vladimir Vavilov. It became so popular among Soviet bards that many people have literally forgotten who the original author was. It is best known as performed by Boris Grebenshchikov (recognized as a foreign agent in the Russian Federation) and the band ‘Aquarium’. And this song can also be heard in the cult perestroika movie ‘Assa’ (1987).
Am
Dm E
Am
Dm E Am
Припев:
A Dm
G C
Dm F E
Dm F E Am
This song, calling to go out into the spring rain, appeared on the debut album of a rock band that had the audacious name ‘DDT’ (an abbreviation of the insect poison ‘Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane’). Before the collapse of the USSR, the band was one of the brightest representatives of underground rock and then went on to become one of the most famous rock bands in the country.
Am Dm
E7 Am Dm E7
Am Dm
E7 Am
Em Dm
Em F
Em Dm
E Am
After the release of the movie ‘Assa’ (1987), the whole country chanted: “Peremen!” (“We need Change!”), repeating the words of the iconic song by Viktor Tsoy, frontman of the band ‘Kino’. And this song is still very popular. And in ‘Pack of Cigarettes’ (“Pachka sigaret”), Tsoy optimistically states that if you have a pack of cigarettes in your pocket, it means that it’s not all that bad!
Em Am C D Em
Am C D Em
Am C D Em
Am C D Em
The song that usually ends all guitar sessions in the early dawn. “We saw the night, we hung out all night till morning,” Tsoi recites in the title song of his fifth album, ‘Night’. American singer Joana Stingray, who spent a lot of time with perestroika rockers, made a video for this song.
Even more popular today than the original is the 2000 cover, performed by Moldovan band Zdob și Zdub together with a gypsy choir.
С
G
Am
F
C G
Am F
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