The meaning of the lyrics of the song ""Song about the madhouse" can be translated into English in a few ways, depending on the nuance you want to convey:Formal: Song of the Madhouse (most literal) Song of the Asylum Song abou" (Pesnya o sumasschedschem dome) the performer of the song "Vladimir Vysotsky"

I told myself - stop writing, but my hands just itch to.

Oh, my dear mother, my beloved friends.

I lie in the ward - they give me side glances,

I don't sleep - I'm afraid they will attack, for all around are quiet, incurable psychos.

There are all kinds of psychos, not violent but filthy.

They are treated, starved, beaten by orderlies.

And what is surprising, they all walk around without restraints.

And everything that is brought to me, these psychos devour.

Dostoyevsky with his famous Notes has nothing on this,

the deceased would have seen how foreheads are smashed against doors.

And to tell Gogol about our wretched life.

By God, this Gogol wouldn't have believed us.

This is torture, damn them, they are all violent scum.

Everyone is trying to take advantage of me, by God, I have no strength left.

Yesterday, in ward number seven, one completely lost it.

He yelled "Give us America!" and beat the orderlies.

I don't want fame and while I'm in good health.

My mind has not yet faded, and that is yet to come.

There's the head doctor, a woman, though quiet but crazy.

I say - I'm going crazy, she tells me - wait.

I'm waiting, but I already feel

Like I'm walking on a knife edge.

I forgot the alphabet, I only remember two cases.

And I ask my friends,

whoever I may be, to take this me away from here.

Сказал себе я- брось писать, но руки сами просятся.

Ох, мама моя родная, друзья любимые.

Лежу в палате- косятся,

не сплю- боюсь набросятся, ведь рядом психи тихие неизлечимые.

Бывают психи разные, не буйные но грязные.

Их лечат, морят голодом, их санитары бьют.

И вот что удивительно, все ходят без смирительной.

И всё, что мне приносится всё психи эти жрут.

Куда там Достоевскому с Записками известными

, увидел бы покойничек как бьют об двери лбы.

И рассказать бы Гоголю про нашу жизнь убогую.

Ей богу, этот Гоголь бы нам не поверил бы.

Вот это мука, плюй на них, они же ведь сука буйные.

Всё норовят меня лизнуть, ей богу, нету сил .

Вчера в палате номер семь один свихнулся насовсем.

Кричал Даёшь Америку и санитаров бил.

Я не желаю славы и пока я в полном здравии.

Рассудок не померк ещё, и это впереди.

Вот главврачиха женщина, хоть тихо но помешана.

Я говорю- сойду с ума она мне- подожди.

Я жду, но чуйствую уже

Хожу по лезвию ноже.

Забыл алфавит, падежей припомнил только два.

И я прошу моих друзьям,

чтоб кто бы их бы не был я, забрать ему его меня отсюдова.

Vladimir Vysotsky's song "The Madhouse" places its lyrical hero within the walls of a mental institution. The poem is filled with satire and dark humor, used to criticize not only the conditions in the hospital but also Soviet society as a whole.

From the very first lines ("I told myself - stop writing, but my hands are itching"), one feels the hero's despair and desire to speak out, to share his thoughts and feelings. He describes the appalling conditions: "I lie in the ward - they squint at me, I don't sleep - I'm afraid they'll attack, because there are quiet, incurable psychos next to me." The image of "quiet" madmen who can suddenly "attack" creates an atmosphere of constant tension and fear.

The hero encounters different types of mentally ill people, including the "not violent, but dirty" who are "treated, starved, beaten by orderlies". He is amazed by the absurdity of the situation: "And here's what's surprising, everyone walks around without a straitjacket." This detail, as well as "everything that is brought to me, all these psychos eat," emphasizes the lack of basic amenities and the degrading treatment of patients.

Further, Vysotsky uses a literary allusion, comparing his situation with the works of Dostoevsky and Gogol, masters of depicting the human soul and social vices: "Dostoevsky with his famous Notes from Underground wouldn't believe his eyes if he saw how they bang their foreheads against the doors. And to tell Gogol about our wretched life... By God, even Gogol wouldn't believe us." This comparison shows that the reality of the "madhouse" surpasses the wildest fantasies of the classics, revealing the unsightly truth about Soviet reality.

The hero's fear of insanity is intertwined with the realization that the line between "normality" and madness is very thin: "Here's the head doctor, a woman, though quietly but deranged. I say - I'll go crazy, she tells me - wait." This phrase hints that madness can be not only a medical diagnosis, but also a metaphor for the suppression of dissent in a totalitarian state.

The finale of the song is imbued with hopelessness. The hero feels himself losing himself: "I forgot the alphabet, I only remember two cases." His last request - "so that whoever they are, not me, would take him, me, away from here" - sounds like a cry for help addressed not only to friends, but to all those who are able to hear and understand.