The meaning of the lyrics of the song "Citizens, ah, how long it's been since I last sang, and not from laziness..." (Grajdane, ah skolko j ya ne pel, i ne ot leni) the performer of the song "Vladimir Vysotsky"

Citizens, ah, how long I haven't sung, and not out of laziness —

There’s no one to sing to: my wife’s in Paris, all my friends are in jail.

Even Gleb Zheglov — although he'd learned some new slang —

Didn't sing a thing, the weirdo, for five evenings straight.

It's good that in this hall there are no

Unsavory characters of all sorts,

Everyone who wants to come — to the banquet,

Without any passports.

I'll tell you about my brothers —

Writers, comrades,

About people of such soul,

That you won't find any conformists.

Our television demanded sharply

To throw out the words "cop", "garbage" or "thug",

To change an awl for soap, soap for a chisel,

And to transform thieves into "foreign elements."

But brother told brother:

"We will save everything.

We will carry it even through the editorial office."

So in response, the accomplices,

Throwing off their dressing gowns,

Put on their striped shirts,

And pea coats on top.

They read about the robber brothers by Schiller,

Lyon already wrote about the Lautensacks,

Kolya and Valya read about the Serapion brothers...

But where is the novel about the Vainers? They are two in a million!

Having shown diligence,

The buddies said:

"'The Era of Mercy'

Can even be shown in the USA."

From them, the artist Shkatnikov

Would have painted images of gladiators.

And we, in their person, are losing

Cool bearskin hat wearers.

Do not take my speech for a cry,

Do not take it for a whim,

Everything my brothers have done,

I propose to call "Vainerism"!

Граждане, ах, сколько ж я не пел, и не от лени —

Некому: жена — в Париже, все дружки — сидят.

Даже Глеб Жеглов — хоть ботал чуть по новой фене —

Ничего не спел, чудак, пять вечеров подряд.

Хорошо, что в зале нет

Ненаших всех сортов,

Всех, кто хочет, — на банкет

Без всяких паспортов.

Расскажу про братиков —

Писателей, соратников,

Про людей такой души,

Что не сыщешь ватников.

Наше телевидение требовало резко

Выбросить слова "легавый", "мусор" или "мент",

Поменять на мыло шило, шило — на стамеску,

А ворьё переиначить в "чуждый элемент".

Но сказали брату брат:

"Мы усё спасём.

Мы и сквозь редакторат

Это пронесём".

Так в ответ подельники,

Скиданув халатики,

Надевали тельники,

А поверх — бушлатики.

Про братьёв-разбойников у Шиллера читали,

Про Лаутензаков написал уже Лион,

Про Серапионовых читали Коля с Валей...

А где ж роман про Вайнеров? Их — два на миллион!

Проявив усердие,

Сказали кореша:

""Эру милосердия"

Можно даже в США".

С них художник Шкатников

Написал бы латников.

А мы же в их лице теряем

Классных медвежатников.

Не сочтите за крик выступленье моё,

Не сочтите его и капризом,

Всё, братьями моими содеянноё,

Предлагаю назвать "вайнеризмом"!

In the song "Citizens, oh how long I haven't sung," Vladimir Vysotsky, with his characteristic irony and satire, reflects on censorship and conformism in art.

The main theme is the contrast between real, living art, embodied in the image of "robber brothers", and the sterile, impersonal product that "television" demands.

The first verse is the beginning. The lyrical hero, possibly Vysotsky himself, cannot sing his songs because his usual audience is unavailable: his friends are either repressed ("in jail") or have changed their "slang", like Gleb Zheglov, the hero of the film "The Meeting Place Cannot Be Changed", becoming part of the system.

The second and third verses contrast "all sorts of strangers" and "writer brothers". The "brothers" are a collective image of true artists whose souls are pure and open. They are the antithesis of a faceless mass devoid of individuality.

The fourth verse is the climax. "Television", as a symbol of censorship, demands that bright, living characters ("cop", "thief") be replaced with impersonal euphemisms ("alien element"). This is a parody of Soviet censorship, which fought against "low" themes and vocabulary.

The fifth and sixth verses show how the "brothers" circumvent censorship. They hide under their "dressing gowns" (officially permitted themes) their "striped vests" and "peacoats" - real art, rebellion, the truth of life.

The seventh verse develops the theme of true art. Vysotsky mentions classic works dedicated to "robber brothers": Schiller, Leon, "The Serapion Brothers". But where is the novel about modern heroes, about the Vainer brothers, detectives who fight crime?

The eighth and ninth verses are an irrational hope that the "era of mercy" is possible even in the USA, and admiration for the "brothers", in whose "image" we are losing "cool bears" (a metaphor for strong, independent characters).

The finale is a call not to consider the performance a "cry" or a "whim". Vysotsky proposes to call the work of the "brothers" "Vainerism" - a synonym for true, honest art that resists lies and hypocrisy.