The meaning of the lyrics of the song "Anticlerical" (Antiklerikalnaya) the performer of the song "Vladimir Vysotsky"

Returning home from work,

My rasp by the wall I lean, –

When suddenly someone flutters in the window

From the bed, from my wife, I've seen!

Of course, I question her:

"Who is that?"

And she replies to me:

"The Holy Ghost!"

Oh, I'll meet that Spirit –

Oh, I'll mark him in the ear!

A Spirit is a Spirit, but still:

If you're Holy – leave Masha, my dear!

Even if you're blue-blooded

Even if you're of noble bone, –

When He's born, I know –

Christ won't spare you, you'll be overthrown!

Masha – a troublesome nature –

Always prone to a scandal, –

Offended, the fool:

Seemingly, I interfered with her vandal!

I started gently:

This and that...

And she – against the wall, cautiously:

"No, that's it!"

Then I gritted through my teeth,

Already, of course, rudely:

"Even though he's ancient,

Even though he's six thousand years old, –

He has in every village

Two or three women, that's what I'm told!"

I came to Maria with a proposal, –

I'm a master of inventions, see! –

Saying, next Sunday

You, Maria, do this for me:

I'll leave early in the morning –

As if I'm gone, you see, –

And you receive him as if nothing's wrong,

Agree?

You cover him with a feather bed –

And sing, – then I'll rush in with a thud!

He – with his wing, and I – with a stake,

He – with a psalm, and I – with a rake!

Then, of course, he'll surrender –

Maria's honor will be saved, –

Because, it seems to me,

This Angel – is Satan, depraved!

... So I burst in with a shout, with a tree limb,

All in hope of causing fright...

Masha's crying. "Masha, where is he?"

"He flew away, my desired light!"

"How is that, I don't understand,

How did he manage?"

"That's just how," she replies, "it is,

He flew away, I can't manage!

He read me a psalm

And tickled me with his wing..."

"Are you joking with your living husband!

Oh, you wicked thing!"

I swung my weapon...

Laugh, laugh, Satan!

Возвращаюся с работы

Рашпиль ставлю у стены, –

Вдруг в окно порхает кто-то

Из постели от жены!

Я, конечно, вопрошаю:

"Кто такой?"

А она мне отвечает:

"Дух Святой!"

Ох, я встречу того Духа –

Ох, отмечу его в ухо!

Дух он тоже Духу рознь:

Коль Святой – так Машку брось!

Хочь ты – кровь голубая

Хочь ты – белая кость, –

Вот родится Он, и знаю –

Не пожалует Христос!

Машка – вредная натура –

Так и лезет на скандал, –

Разобиделася, дура:

Вроде, значит, помешал!

Я сперва-сначала с лаской:

То да сё...

А она – к стене с опаской:

"Нет, и всё!"

Я тогда цежу сквозь зубы

Но уже, конечно, грубо:

"Хочь он возрастом и древний

Хочь годов ему тыщ шесть, –

У него в любой деревне

Две-три бабы точно есть!"

Я – к Марии с предложеньем, –

Я на выдумки мастак! –

Мол, в другое воскресенье

Ты, Мария, сделай так:

Я потопаю под утро –

Мол, пошел, –

А ты прими его как будто

Хорошо?

Ты накрой его периной –

И запой, – тут я с дубиной!

Он – крылом, а я – колом

Он – псалом, а я – кайлом!

Тут, конечно, он сдается –

Честь Марии спасена, –

Потому что, мне сдается

Этот Ангел – Сатана!

... Вот влетаю с криком, с древом

Весь в надежде на испуг...

Машка плачет. "Машка, где он?"

"Улетел, желанный Дух!"

"Как же это, я не знаю

Как успел?"

"Да вот так вот, – отвечает, –

Улетел!

Он псалом мне прочитал

И крылом пощекотал..."

"Ты шутить с живым-то мужем!

Ах ты скверная жена!."

Я взмахнул своим оружьем...

Смейся, смейся, Сатана!

Vladimir Vysotsky's song "Antiklerikalnaya" (Anticlerical) satirizes hypocrisy and sanctimoniousness hidden under the guise of religiosity.

The protagonist, a simple worker, encounters an absurd situation: his wife Masha claims that the Holy Spirit appears to her. The hero, of course, does not believe this story and suspects Masha of infidelity. He decides to catch the "Spirit" using crude and even aggressive methods typical of his social class.

The image of the "Holy Spirit" in the song is far from canonical. Vysotsky uses it as a metaphor to denote Masha's lover, who hides behind religion to justify his actions.

The text itself is built on a comical dissonance between the high style of religious vocabulary ("Holy Spirit", "Christ", "psalm") and the hero's rude colloquial speech ("punch him in the ear", "women", "crowbar").

The ending of the song remains open: it is unclear whether the "Holy Spirit" was actually there, or whether Masha simply deceived her husband. However, regardless of the answer, the song makes one wonder how often religion is used to justify one's own sins and how easily people believe in lies that are convenient for them.