The meaning of the lyrics of the song "A book with an indecent title." (Knijka s neprilichnyim nazvaniem) the performer of the song "Vladimir Vysotsky"

You were in the palm of my hand

Like a beautiful book

In a rough dust jacket

I was in love like a boy

With a quiet, secret trepidation

I was leafing through our little novel

With an indecent title

There were vows and tears

All the same

Mostly it was prose

And poems were rarer

Your tempestuous caresses

And all other means

It's scary, like in a fairy tale

Of very early childhood

I secretly hoped

That you weren't messed with

But you, like in a reading room

So many have taken you

I was told about it

You may not believe me

Under a huge secret

Forty-nine people

I wish I could read my wedding!

I pray to Christ - God

To quickly scroll through

The end for me with an epilogue

I will not wait for the moment

When I am late

I will hand over the book

With an indecent title

То была не интрижка

Ты была на ладошке

Как прекрасная книжка

В грубой суперобложке

Я влюблен был как мальчик

С тихим трепетом тайным

Я листал наш романчик

С неприличным названьем

Были клятвы и слезы

Все одни и все те же

В основном была проза

А стихи были реже

Твои бурные ласки

И все прочие средства

Это страшно, как в сказке

Очень раннего детства

Я надеялся втайне

Что тебя не трепали

Но тебя, как в читальне

Очень многие брали

Мне сказали об этом

Можешь мне и не верить

Под огромным секретом

Человек сорок девять

Прочитать бы мне свадьбу!

Я молю Христом – богом

Чтоб скорей пролистать бы

Мне конец с эпилогом

Не дождуся я мига

Когда я с опозданьем

Сдам с рук на руки книгу

С неприличным названьем

In Vladimir Vysotsky's song "The Book with an Obscene Title," the metaphor of a book with a provocative title serves as a vehicle to describe a fleeting and perhaps superficial romance. The lyrical hero compares his lover to such a book: outwardly attractive ("a beautiful book"), yet concealed behind a coarse cover, hinting at her availability.

He delves into this relationship ("leafing through our little novel") with trepidation and naivety ("I was in love like a boy"). It is filled with passion ("tempestuous caresses") but lacking depth ("it was mostly prose, and poetry was rare"). The comparison to a book that "very many have taken" emphasizes the frivolity and transience of the romance, while the "forty-nine people" who read it before him heighten the feeling of deceit and disappointment.

The ending of the song is tragicomic: the hero, like a reader in a library, dreams of "handing over" the tiresome book and finding out "the end with the epilogue." This irony reveals the bitterness of unfulfilled love and the desire to forget this sad experience as soon as possible.