The meaning of the lyrics of the song "Alice's Fall" (Padenie Alisyi) the performer of the song "Vladimir Vysotsky"

Will a flying cat catch up in the air— or are you kidding!—

With a flying bat,

A flying dog with a flying cat?

Why am I torturing myself with this nonsense!

And before, I used to think, standing over the precipice:

"Oh, how I wish I could become a flying cloud!"

Well! I became a flying cloud,

So now I'm deciding on this occasion:

Will a flying cat catch up in the air— or are you kidding!—

With a flying bat?

Догонит ли в воздухе — или шалишь! —

Летучая кошка летучую мышь,

Собака летучая кошку летучую?

Зачем я себя этой глупостью мучаю!А раньше я думала, стоя над кручею:

«Ах, как бы мне сделаться тучей летучею!»

Ну вот! Я и стала летучею тучею,

Ну вот и решаю по этому случаю:

Догонит ли в воздухе — или шалишь! —

Летучая кошка летучую мышь?

In Vladimir Vysotsky's poem "Alice's Fall," we encounter a heroine experiencing an existential crisis masked by a childlike counting rhyme.

The poem opens with Alice already "flying," implying a detachment from reality, perhaps immersed in a world of fantasy or undergoing a profound inner transformation. The question of whether "a flying cat will catch a flying bat in the air" is not so much a real problem as a metaphor reflecting the chaotic nature of Alice's thoughts and feelings.

The line "Why am I torturing myself with this nonsense!" emphasizes her exhaustion with her thoughts, her inability to find meaning and support in her fantasies.

The second stanza takes us to Alice's past, where she, standing "on the edge of a precipice," dreams of the freedom and lightness symbolized by the image of a "flying cloud." Here, the "precipice" can be interpreted as a metaphor for a life choice, a threshold between childhood and adulthood, reality and illusion.

And so, Alice's wish is granted - she becomes a "flying cloud," but instead of the expected joy and freedom, she feels only emptiness and confusion. Now, soaring in uncertainty, she asks herself the same meaningless question about the cat and the bat, which further emphasizes her emotional impasse.

Vysotsky's poem, therefore, does not provide answers but rather exposes the depth of the heroine's existential experiences. Having attained her desired freedom, she is confronted with its flip side – loneliness, meaninglessness, and fear of the unknown.