The meaning of the lyrics of the song "Siege of Leningrad" (Leningradskaya blokada) the performer of the song "Vladimir Vysotsky"

I grew up during the Leningrad siege,

But I didn't drink or carouse back then,

I saw the Badayev warehouses burning in flames,

And stood in lines for a piece of bread.

Brave citizens, what were you doing then,

When our city couldn't count the dead?

You ate bread with caviar, while I counted out my shag,

Sharing cigarette butts found under platforms, God knows with what.

Even birds wouldn't fly in that frost,

And thieves had nothing left to steal,

Angels took my parents that winter,

And my only fear was not to fall.

There were tons of hungry and dystrophic people,

Everyone starved, even the prosecutor.

And you, in evacuation, read your information,

And listened to the radio, "From the Soviet Information Bureau."

The blockade dragged on, even too long,

But our people crushed their enemies,

And we could live comfortably, like Christ in God's bosom,

If only it weren't for those damn work brigades.

I'll tell you kindly, citizens with armbands,

Don't you dare paw your way into my soul,

About my personal and unpatriotic life

The authorities and the trade union already know.

Я вырос в ленинградскую блокаду,

Но я тогда не пил и не гулял,

Я видел, как горят огнем Бадаевские склады,

В очередях за хлебушком стоял.

Граждане смелые, а что ж тогда вы делали,

Когда наш город счет не вел смертям?

Вы ели хлеб с икоркою, а я считал махоркою

Окурок с-под платформы черт-те с чем напополам.

От стужи даже птицы не летали,

А вору было нечего украсть,

Родителей моих в ту зиму ангелы прибрали,

А я боялся - только б не упасть.

Было здесь до фига голодных и дистрофиков,

Все голодали, даже прокурор.

А вы в эвакуации читали информации

И слушали по радио "От Совинформбюро".

Блокада затянулась, даже слишком,

Но наш народ врагов своих разбил,

И можно жить, как у Христа за пазухой под мышкой,

Но только вот мешает бригадмил.

Я скажу вам ласково, граждане с повязкой,

В душу ко мне лапою не лезь,

Про жизнь мою личную и непатриотичную

Знают уже органы и ВЦСПС.

In Vladimir Vysotsky's poem "Leningrad Blockade", the lyrical hero addresses those who did not experience the horrors of the siege of Leningrad but try to teach him about life and impose their vision of patriotism.

From the very first lines, the hero contrasts himself with the "brave citizens": he, a child of the blockade, witnessed hunger, death, bombings, and stood in lines for a tiny piece of bread. Meanwhile, others, while evacuated, "ate bread with caviar" and received information from official, possibly embellished, sources.

The lines "Even birds didn't fly from the cold, / And a thief had nothing to steal" convey the atmosphere of universal hunger and despair that reigned in the besieged city. The author uses hyperbole to emphasize the scale of the tragedy.

The phrase "angels took my parents away that winter" is filled with bitterness and grief. Death became commonplace, claiming the lives of loved ones.

Despite the hardships and suffering, the people of Leningrad persevered and defeated the enemy. However, the war left a deep mark on the soul of the lyrical hero. He cannot accept the false pathos and hypocrisy of those who did not see the war with their own eyes but try to teach him about life.

The image of the "brigade leader" symbolizes the bureaucracy that prevents the hero from living life to the fullest. He does not need instructions and control from "citizens with armbands"; he knows how to live and what to consider patriotic.

Vysotsky's poem is not just a story about the blockade; it is a reflection on the price of victory, on memory, and on the right to one's own truth.