The meaning of the lyrics of the song "The Bard's Song" (Pesnya akyina) the performer of the song "Vladimir Vysotsky"

Neither glory nor earthly crown

I ask of you, my Lord, but this:

Another soul to share my sound,

To sing with me in grief or bliss.

No stolen love or fleeting grace,

No moment's kindness do I seek.

Another heart to fill this space,

To ease the loneliness I speak.

To share the stage, across the plain

Our voices calling, strong and free,

Not for applause, but to sustain

A two-part harmony for me.

Someone to know me, understand,

If only once, this heart's desire,

To lift the horn from my wounded hand,

Scarred by the bullets of the fire.

And though my brother in this art,

Forgets our strength, combined as one,

And rivalry tears us apart,

Betrays me when the day is done...

Forgive him, Lord, he'll never know

The depth of solitude he bears.

Grant him, I pray, another soul,

Like mine, like his, to share his cares.

Ни славы, и ни коровы

Ни тяжкой короны земной

Пошли мне, Господь, второго

Чтоб вытянул петь со мной

Прошу не любви ворованной

Не милости на денек

Пошли мне, Господь, второго

Чтоб не был так одинок

Чтоб было с кем пасоваться

Аукаться через степь

Для сердца - не для оваций,

На два голоса спеть

Чтоб кто-нибудь меня понял,

Не часто, но хоть разок,

И с раненых губ моих поднял

Царапнутый пулей рожок

И пусть мой напарник певчий

Забыв, что мы сила вдвоем

Меня, побледнев от соперничества

Прирежет за общим столом

Прости ему - он до гроба

Одиночеством окружен

Пошли ему, бог, второго

Такого, как я и как он.

In Vladimir Vysotsky's "The Song of an Akyn," the lyrical hero – most likely a wandering minstrel – appeals to God with an unusual request. He asks neither for material wealth, nor for fame, nor for love. His only desire is to find a "second," someone to share his creative path and solitude.

The lines "Neither glory, nor cow / Nor the heavy earthly crown" emphasize that the hero is far from worldly vanity and the pursuit of success. He seeks not recognition, but understanding, not wealth, but spiritual kinship. The plea for a "second" to "help me sing" suggests that the akyn craves not just a listener, but a comrade, a kindred spirit who can share his passion for music and comprehend the depths of his feelings.

The hero's loneliness permeates the entire song. He asks not for fleeting joy ("not mercy for a day"), but for true closeness, the opportunity to "call to each other across the steppe" and sing "in two voices." It's important to note that these songs are meant "for the heart," not for the public. The akyn seeks not applause, but someone who will truly understand him, "at least once."

The image of the "horn scratched by a bullet," which his future comrade lifts from the hero's "wounded lips," symbolizes their shared destiny, full of hardship and trials. They are both wounded souls seeking solace in creativity and in each other.

The final verse is a poignant confession of the hero's own selfishness. He understands that a person doomed to loneliness may not withstand competition and "stab at the common table." But the akyn asks God to forgive his future comrade, for he, like the hero himself, is "surrounded by loneliness." In this forgiveness, in this realization of their shared fate, lies the highest humanism of the song.