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“Gagarin sang this song in space!” – said Comrade Dynin from the famous film “Welcome, or no strangers allowed.” Maybe not Gagarin, and not in space – but we all sang for sure. And we still sing – solo in the shower, in karaoke in chorus, even put it on the phone as a ringtone … Which of the songs of Soviet cinema are in the top three most popular and will this list coincide with your personal hit parade?
“Song about hares”
Participants in a survey conducted by the Mosfilm. Golden Collection ”, identified the top 3 most recognizable songs from Soviet films. It is unlikely that anyone will be surprised that the first place was taken by “Song about Hares” from the movie “The Diamond Hand” performed by Yuri Nikulin.
In total, three songs sound in the legendary tape, Alexander Zatsepin wrote the music for them, Leonid Derbenev wrote the lyrics. The scene in the restaurant where Gesha (Andrey Mironov) soldered Semyon Semyonovich Gorbunkov (Yuri Nikulin) was originally supposed to be a musical number. As well as the episode in which the fatal blonde (Svetlana Svetlichnaya) tries to seduce the unlucky hero … “It’s not my fault, he came himself!”
But the composer wrote the third – and the first in the course of the script – song literally in one evening to the words of the poem that Leonid Derbenev brought him: “All covered with greenery, absolutely all, there is an island of Bad Luck in the ocean …” And although many, from critics to spectators , tried to find political subtext in these words, the authors always claimed that it was not there. Well, if the double meaning is so confidently read by listeners of different times, perhaps it still existed – but only at the subconscious level of the writers.
“The Island of Bad Luck” was brilliantly performed by Andrey Mironov, who introduced jazz moves and motives unusual for the ear of a Soviet citizen. According to the recollections of the participants in the filming, the actor himself received great pleasure from working on this scene. Just the fact that his hero is unequivocally negative, and allowed Mironov to misbehave and perform a song that is not at all in the spirit of the Soviet stage.
“Think for yourself, decide for yourself”
The song that became a hit is sung by Zhenya Lukashin (Andrey Myagkov) in Eldar Ryazanov’s film The Irony of Fate. It turns out that the question of who is actually the author of the music still seems debatable. According to the memoirs of lawyer Lev Semkin, the composer and bard Sergei Nikitin picked up the melody – it is he who sings for Lukashin in the film. However, his name was not indicated in the credits, and the composer Mikael Taverdiev received the prestigious USSR State Prize for the music for The Irony of Fate in 1977. Perhaps that is why Nikitin was so reluctant to perform the song at his concerts.
But the verses of “Songs about a Dog” – such is its original name – were written by the sixties poet Alexander Aronov (by the way, the adoptive father of actor Maxim Sukhanov). The opposite story happened to him – despite the fact that Aronov’s poems were often published without the consent of the author, he was asked permission to use this text in the film and even transferred the fee.
“The Earth is spinning faster”
According to the memoirs of the members of the film crew of the film “Prisoner of the Caucasus”, director Leonid Gaidai and composer Leonid Derbenev had a serious conflict over this song. Gaidai wanted her to become a hit, and was very demanding on the melody to the verses of Alexander Zatsepin.
Derbenev wrote several versions and sent them to Alushta, where preparations were underway for filming. He accompanied the music with a note stating that the third option, in his opinion, is the most successful, and if the director is still unhappy, let him invite another composer. Again having received Gaidai’s criticisms, Derbenev wrote a letter of resignation from the picture.
Yuri Nikulin, Georgy Vitsin and Evgeny Morgunov, who really liked the melody, tried to settle the conflict, and Gaidai agreed to option number 3. The composer took the application and remained in the team. Now it remained to find a voice for the heroine Natalya Varley.
To do this, famous performers were called from the radio station on behalf of the Good Morning program and offered to take part in the competition. Aida Vedischeva, popular at that time, arrived and quickly sang a simple, according to her recollections, song to the recording. She was approved. And after the release of the picture, the director’s dream came true – the song became a hit. The first circulation of the record “Melody”, where Vedischeva sings about bears, amounted to 7,7 million copies.
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It is difficult to say which of the songs of Soviet cinema are the best. These are the three most recognizable, but everyone who loves good old Soviet films has their own hit parade. And if you consider yourself an expert and even remember the phrases of movie characters by heart, remember the brightest of them with us by passing the test on the Psychologies website.