The meaning of the lyrics of the song "If I get sick..." (Esli ya zaboleyu...) the performer of the song "Vladimir Vysotsky"

If I fall ill,

I won't go to doctors, no,

I'll call upon my friends -

Don't think me delirious, though:

Make me a bed of the steppe so wide,

Curtain my windows with mist as a shroud,

And at my headboard place, as my guide,

A star that has fallen from heaven's cloud!

I've always walked boldly, head held high,

Never a soul would call me meek or shy.

If wounded I am

In battles for justice, heavy and grim,

Bind my head then, I pray,

With the road through the Russian woods, wild and free,

And cover me gently,

With a blanket of autumn's own tapestry.

From mountains and seas, eternity calls,

With vastness and freedom, it beckons and sprawls.

Look closely and feel it:

We're eternal, my friends, our spirits won't steal it!

Not through hospital halls,

Will I leave you, my friends, but with a story to tell,

I'll depart, comrades,

On the Milky Way's path, where wonders dwell...

Если я заболею

К врачам обращаться не стану,

Обращусь я к друзьям -

Не сочтите, что это в бреду:

Постелите мне степь,

Занавесьте мне окна туманом,

В изголовье поставьте

Упавшую с неба звезду!

Я шагал напролом,

Никогда я не слыл недотрогой.

Если ранят меня

В справедливых тяжелых боях,

Забинтуйте мне голову

Русской лесною дорогой

И укройте меня

Одеялом в осенних цветах.

От морей и от гор

Веет вечностью, веет простором.

Раз посмотришь - почувствуешь:

Вечно, ребята, живем!

Не больничным от вас

Ухожу я, друзья, коридором,

Ухожу я, товарищи,

Сказочным Млечным путем...

In his song "If I Fall Ill...", Vladimir Vysotsky speaks not of a physical illness but of a state of mind, a thirst for freedom and closeness to nature. The lyrical hero rejects traditional methods of treatment, turning to friends with a request to create a "healing" landscape for him: steppe, fog, a fallen star - symbols of space, mystery, dreams.

The second verse continues the theme of connection with nature and native land. The hero asks to "bandage" his head with a "Russian forest road", which can be interpreted as a desire to find peace of mind, return to the roots, heal with the power of his native land. A blanket "in autumn colors" symbolizes not fading, but peace and tranquility.

In the final part of the song, Vysotsky speaks of eternity and overcoming death. The sea and mountains, personifying eternity, give a sense of the boundlessness of being. The hero's departure is not death in the usual sense, but a transition to a different state, a fusion with the cosmos ("Milky Way"). He leaves not through a hospital corridor, but through the "fabulous Milky Way," signifying a transcendent journey beyond the earthly realm.

The song, therefore, is a powerful testament to the human spirit's yearning for freedom, connection with nature, and the eternal. It suggests that true healing and meaning are found not in hospitals but in embracing the vastness of existence and the enduring power of the natural world.