TequilaJazzz

TequilaJazzz is a fantastic band that has been putting out solid music for a good twenty years. They’re great live — I used to go to their concerts quite often. Their frontman, Yevgeny Fyodorov (pictured above), also has another band called Zorge. He hurriedly left Russia following the start of the war in Ukraine after receiving a creepy phone call, as I heard him tell it in a recent interview. He reports that he’s now living in Estonia.

I randomly remember how at a concert, between songs, someone shouted out a request for their song “Маленькая ложь” — “ДАВАЙ МАЛЕНЬКУЮ ЛОЖЬ!” — and he fired back: “У тебя маленькая ложь в трусах.”

It’s somewhat hard to pick isolated stand-out songs from their catalogue, but I’ll try posting a few from various albums, beginning with a recent one, called Камни (stones). If you like their sound, I’d highly suggest listening to some albums in their entirety — for example, their classic Целлулоид.

Based on the interview, this recent album was made with a sense of a coming apocalypse. In this light, the song below reads rather clearly as an anti-war song. The curious shift of tone in the final lines recalls Lermontov.

The construction in the title (“Не до…”) means that someone doesn’t care for something, isn’t interested in it, doesn’t want to hear about it, etc.

Не до мечей

Не до мечей
Я не игрок и не герой
Был бы ничей —
Встал и пошёл бы за тобой
Только знаю:
Ты заберёшь и не вернёшь
Злое знамя
Сабля без ножен —
Острый нож

Но — «нет» ответ

Не до мечей
Мне бы и лодку, и весло
И парус на ней
Чтобы и с ветром повезло

После бури не остаётся ничего
Кроме моря и побережья одного

Вода — всегда
Вода — всегда

Не до мечей
Я не игрок и не герой
Был бы ничей —
Встал и пошёл бы за тобой

Не до мечей
Мне бы и лодку, и весло
И парус на ней
Чтобы и с ветром повезло

Nevermind Swords

Nevermind swords
I’m not a gambler, and not a hero
If I belonged to no one,
I’d get up and follow you
But I know:
You’ll take, and never give back,
An evil banner,
A sheathless saber,
A sharp knife.

But “no” is the answer.

Nevermind swords.
I’d prefer a boat and an oar
And a sail above it
So I might find fortune even when the wind blows.

After the storm nothing remains,
Nothing but the sea and the shoreline

Water — always
Water — always

Nevermind swords.
I’m not a gambler or a hero.
If I belonged to no one
I’d stand up and follow after you

Nevermind swords.
I’d prefer a boat and an oar
And a sail above it
So I might find fortune even when the wind blows.