Transfer to the North

Today’s song can serve as an introduction to an entire genre of Soviet music — the songs of the Gulag — that had a noticeable influence on late Soviet rock, most notably in terms of the the recurring themes of imprisonment and escape, whether understood literally or metaphorically (existentially!). The Museum of the History of the Gulag, pictured above, is a must-see for any student of Russian history in Moscow. I was personally very impressed by it.

In our introduction to Soviet rock, we've mentioned that, in addition to the obvious influence of Western rock music, Russian rock musicians also drew on distinctive Russian musical traditions; Bashlachyov's song yesterday shows clear kinship with the bard tradition and with folk music (namely, all of its line endings were dactylic - that is, one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed ones, a hallmark of Russian folk verse). We've seen invocations of official, "authoritative" Soviet imagery and speech, often quoted in subversive fashion. And we've already seen themes of "imprisonment" and "escape" come up repeatedly — themes that could speak directly to a prison-like social and political system, or be figuratively expanded to speak to the "prison" of a seemingly meaningless existence and the search for some kind of escape. Or, as is most often the cast, these themes act both literally and metaphorically. Because there's another important native Russian source of popular song-writing whose influence is felt in Russian rock: that of the Gulag song. This genre is known as блатная песня in Russia (песняmeans "song"), and today lives on in a popular genre called шансон. The adjective блатной derives from the noun блат; associated with the criminal underworld, the noun today usually implies corruption - getting things through favors, etc. Of course, the majority of Gulag prisoners were not actual criminals, but rather political prisoners. 

The Gulag song is a truly folk genre, in that these songs have no known individual authors; they were produced collectively and passed around the camps, changing slightly in the process — meaning that most standard Gulag songs come in multiple variants. As we've mentioned, most of them can be grouped under one of two categories: songs about heading to prison, and songs about escaping prison. Today, we're going to prison; tomorrow, we'll try to escape it.

In today's song, the singer is at Presnya, a transfer prison where arrestees from Moscow were distributed to the various labor camps, many in the middle of nowhere, including Siberia, the far east, or the far north - in the title, "transfer to the North," the North refers generally to the harsh Northern climate at most labor camps. In the singer's case, this means Vorkuta, a notorious sub-arctic camp far northeast of Moscow (the site, by the way, of a rare prisoner uprising in 1953). He is saying goodbye to what would appear to be his wife (they seem to have children, at least), across a barrier, consoling her, sadly, with the assurance that he will never, ever return, and she should find a new "friend."

Later, when we learn Russian verbs of motion, we'll return to the theme of two very different kidns of motion and how they relate to official and unofficial Soviet music. Russian grammar distinguishes very clearly between determinate motion (motion "underway" toward some goal), and indeterminate motion (aimless, circular, wandering motion). In a word, official Soviet songs were typically "marches" of one kind or another, sung by a collective мы that was underway toward a clear goal (Communism). This march could be summed up in a single word: вперёд! (onward! ahead!). The Communist party was leading the people along a clear path, and the people were progressing toward their goal. It's no suprise, perhaps, that unofficial music, whether songs of the Gulag or songs of the underground rock scene, questioned this march toward utopia, which trampled on everyone and everything that stood in its way. Indeed, the very idea of purposeful motion is called into doubt. We've already seen how Yanka wanted to stroll aimlessly and pointlessly around the streetcar tracks, and we'll see this motif of aimless motion over and over again in Viktor Tsoi's songs. In today's song, the singer is indeed "marching" - but to prison, toward living death. And he understands that the nature of this suffering is cyclical: his children will one day set out to look for him, and meet the same fate. Even the song's structure is cyclical, as the surviving friends take up the singer's refrain after his death, and the vicious circle continues.

The "ukaz" mentioned in the song was issued in 1947 and allowed for longer sentences of up to 20 years (of course, these could be renewed as needed). Under Stalin's reign, this was a good as a death sentence.

Transfer to the north

Transfer to the North. Long prison terms.
Whoever you ask, everyone got the "Ukaz."
Look, look into my stern eyes;
Look, perhaps, for the last time.

You stand distraught beyond the barriers,
With a cambric kerchief you wipe a tear. 
Don't cry, don't cry; for us, all is lost.
You'll find yourself another friend.

And the little children, bewept by fate,
Will set out one day to look for me.
Wanderings and long prison terms await them;
Sufferings and prison camps await them.

Tomorrow morning I'll leave the Presnya prison,
And go far away, transferred to Vorkuta.
And under armed guard, in my grueling labor,
Perhaps I'll find my death.

They'll tell you about it, my dear,
Or perhaps my friend will write you.
Don't cry, don't cry, my dear.
I'll never return home again.

My friends will cover me with my pea-jacket,
And carry me off to a high hill,
And bury me in the frozen ground,
Then quietly head off to the barracks.
They'll bury me in the frozen ground,
nd begin to sing sadly:

"They're headed North. Long prison terms.
Whoever you ask, everyone got the "Ukaz."
Look, look into my stern eyes;
Look, perhaps, for the last time."

Этап на север

Этап на Север — срока огромные.
Кого ни спросишь — у всех «Указ».
Взгляни, взгляни в глаза мои суровые,
Взгляни, быть может, в последний раз.

Ты за барьерами стоишь растерянно
Платком батистовым слезу утрёшь
Не плачь, не плачь, для нас уж всё потеряно.
Ты друга нового себе найдёшь.

А дети малые, судьбой оплаканы,
Пойдут дорогами искать меня.
Их ждут скитания, срока огромные,
Их ждут страдания и лагеря.

А завтра утром покину Пресню я,
Уйду с этапом на Воркуту.
И под конвоем, в своей работе тяжкой,
Быть может, смерть я свою найду.

О том расскажут тебе, любимая,
Или напишет товарищ мой.
Не плачь, не плачь, подруга моя милая.
Я не вернусь уже домой.

Друзья накроют меня бушлатиком,
На холм высокий меня снесут,
И закопают в землю меня мёрзлую,
А сами тихо в барак пойдут.
И закопают в землю меня мёрзлую,
А сами грустно запоют:

"Идут на Север — срока огромные.
Кого ни спросишь — у всех «Указ».
Взгляни, взгляни в глаза мои суровые,
Взгляни, быть может, в последний раз."