The meaning of the lyrics of the song "The Ballad of the Bathhouse" (Ballada o bane) the performer of the song "Vladimir Vysotsky"

Grace or a blessing

Bestow on your attendants -

God, allow us to cleanse ourselves,

Immersing in the holy of holies!

All the vice, sins and sorrows,

Indifference, agreement and dispute -

Steam, that has just been poured,

Bursts, like bullets, from the pores.

What torments you will evaporate

And rise up to the heavens -

And you, cleansed, must descend -

The steam will deal with the sins itself.

Do not rush to the soul ahead of time,

Do not equate washing with purification -

You need to whip the soul with a broom,

You need to steam out the stench from it.

Healing from wounds and deformities -

This steam from life-giving waters -

It's like a return to the state of innocence,

Or rather - the draining of swamps.

There are no naked people here - there is no need to be ashamed

Of a crooked arm or leg.

Here is a semblance of the Garden of Eden -

Admission is for everyone who is stripped bare.

And having thrown off your clothes in the dressing room,

Forget all your attire -

The whisk whips everyone equally.

So don't stick out your chest in vain!

All are equal here in one wealth,

Everyone easily endures the heat -

Here freedom and equality with fraternity

You feel in the thick steam.

Drive generations into the steam room

And convince them to accept baptism -

Pour your holy water on us -

And deliver us from barbarity!

Grace or a blessing

Bestow on your attendants -

God, allow us to cleanse ourselves,

Immersing in the holy of holies!

Благодать или благословение

Ниспошли на подручных твоих -

Дай нам, Бог, совершить омовение,

Окунаясь в святая святых!

Все порок, грехи и печали,

Равнодушье, согласье и спор -

Пар, который вот только наддали,

Вышибает, как пули, из пор.

То, что мучит тебя, - испарится

И поднимется вверх, к небесам, -

Ты ж, очистившись, должен спуститься -

Пар с грехами расправится сам.

Не стремись прежде времени к душу,

Не равняй с очищеньем мытье, -

Нужно выпороть веником душу,

Нужно выпарить смрад из нее.

Исцеленье от язв и уродства -

Этот душ из живительных вод, -

Это - словно возврат первородства,

Или нет - осушенье болот.

Здесь нет голых - стесняться не надо,

Что кривая рука да нога.

Здесь - подобие райского сада, -

Пропуск всем, кто раздет донага.

И в предбаннике сбросивши вещи,

Всю одетость свою позабудь -

Одинаково веничек хлещет.

Так что зря не вытягивай грудь!

Все равны здесь единым богатством,

Все легко переносят жару, -

Здесь свободу и равенство с братством

Ощущаешь в кромешном пару.

Загоняй поколенья в парную

И крещенье принять убеди, -

Лей на нас свою воду святую -

И от варварства освободи!

Благодать или благословение

Ниспошли на подручных твоих -

Дай нам, Бог, совершить омовение,

Окунаясь в святая святых!

In "The Ballad of the Bathhouse," Vladimir Vysotsky uses the image of a Russian banya as a metaphor for spiritual cleansing and moral transformation. The steam room becomes a kind of temple where one can shed the burdens of worldly vanity, sins, and vices, returning to a state of "primordiality" – purity and innocence.

Vysotsky draws a parallel between the physical cleansing of the body in the bathhouse and the purification of the soul. The steam, "knocking out" sins from the pores, symbolizes the process of repentance and liberation from everything negative that weighs on a person. It is important to note that the purification of the soul is not a superficial "washing," but rather a deep inner work requiring effort: "You need to whip your soul with a birch branch, / You need to steam out the stench from it."

The bathhouse in the ballad is a place of universal equality where social differences are erased. "There are no naked people here – there is no need to be ashamed," everyone is equal before the heat of the steam room and the "lashing birch branch." The atmosphere of the bathhouse fosters unity, brotherhood, and freedom.

In the finale, Vysotsky appeals to God with a request to bestow "grace or blessing" upon his "assistants" – people striving for spiritual cleansing. Ablution in the "holy of holies" is a metaphor for transformation, liberation from "barbarity," and the achievement of higher harmony.