Crude Sunset
A sunset I saw in Moscow. Very crude, as you can see.
UPDATE: Pyotr Mamonov died from COVID on July 15th. I will try to post a little tribute to him with more of his hilarious songs, and links to some of his films.
Here’s one of many gems from Pyotr Mamonov’s band Звуки му (Moo Sounds). It’s somewhat cryptic, but it seems to be a series of phonecalls between girlfriends doing a post-mortem on yesterday’s “crude sunset.” Suffice it to say, their lips hurt. Not sure what else to say about it.
The word грубый is a bit hard to translate here, given the ambiguous context. In any case, it can mean “rough” or “coarse,” but in Russian it is often used to characterize behavior, in which case “crude” works well. Related words include грубость (the quality of being crude, or something crude you do to someone) and грубиян (a crude person).
The video for this song is a classic. Many attempts have been made to psychoanalyze it, but it seems to me that the band, the crazy song, the antics are all a product of the air-guitar-playing boy’s soon-to-be-quashed capacity for creativity, fantasy, etc. Lord knows there are days when I’d like to act like Pyotr Mamonov, but I try to keep it all inside.
Somehow the American band The National — no slouches themselves (I saw them play the Ryman in Nashville ten years ago or so) — saw this video and did one of their own in tribute to it. I’ll post it below as well.
Crude Sunset
Hello! Who’s this? Is this Lyuba-ba?
We should really have some coffee
That sunset yesterday was really crude.
My lips hurt.
Hello! Who’s this? Is this Katya-ya?
Well how did you like my dress yesterday?
Whoah-whoah-whoah-whoah is really crude, huh?
My lips hurt.
Hello! Who’s that? Is this Lyuda-da?
From the pe-pe-pedagogical institute, yeah?
That sunset yesterday was really crude.
Katya? Where’s Lyuba?
Crude sunset
December eighth
But what we love to do
We’ll do boldly
What we love to do
Is as beautiful as the body, whoah-whoah-whoah
Грубый закат
- Алло! Кто там? Это Люба-ба?
Сейчас бы нам кофейку бы бы
Закат вчера очень грубый был.
Болят, болят мои губы
- Алло! Кто там? это Катя-я?
Ну как вчера мое платье там?
Что-уо-уо-уо очень грубый, a?
Болят мои губы
- Алло! Кто там? Это Люда-да?
Из пе-пе-пединститута? Да?
Закат вчера очень грубый был.
Катя? Где Люба?
Грубый закат
Восьмое декабря
Но любимое дело
Мы сделаем смело
Любимое дело
Прекрасно как тело, уо-уо-уо
By the way, abandoning a band member at the end of a music video was not without precedent… Although I suppose they left him where they found him.
