The meaning of the lyrics of the song "Robber Song" (Razboynichya pesnya) the performer of the song "Vladimir Vysotsky"

In a troubled land,

A cruel and wicked province,

Fate dealt the young man

Only thorns and thistles.

He'd had his fill of grievances,

His hands overflowing,

And the sorrow he had tasted -

None could be more bitter.

Drink poison, drown yourself in it!

Luckily, it costs nothing.

No matter how much the rope twists,

It always forms a knot!

It chases the unlucky ones

Across the world with a knapsack.

Life slips through their fingers

Like a delicate spiderweb.

And those it dragged, dragged along

A treacherous road -

Were swept by the winds

Straight to the dungeons.

Don't hope for mercy here -

Grit your teeth and endure!

No matter how much the rope twists,

It always forms a lash!

Oh, you wild side of life,

No matter how much I search in you,

You are adorned with a scaffold

And a slippery rope...

And the hanged, the devil himself

Licks their bare heels.

Laughter, frustration, honestly!

No living, no surviving!

Don't cry, don't weep, but laugh -

Tears won't be forgiven these days.

No matter how much the rope twists,

They'll shorten it anyway!

Thoughts are most agonizing at night.

The carpenters waste no time.

Don't be late for matins -

They hang you early in the morning.

Don't regret, don't regret it -

What good is a reprieve to you?

On your rope,

There's not a single knot.

Better lie down and warm yourself -

I won't, you see, oversleep the execution...

No matter how much the rope twists,

It will become your noose!

Как во смутной волости,

Лютой, злой губернии

Выпадали молодцу

Все шипы да тернии.

Он обиды зачерпнул, зачерпнул

Полные пригоршни,

Ну, а горя, что хлебнул, -

Не бывает горше.

Пей отраву, хоть залейся!

Благо, денег не берут.

Сколь веревочка ни вейся,

Все равно совьешься в кнут!

Гонит неудачников

По миру с котомкою.

Жизнь течет меж пальчиков

Паутинкой тонкою.

А которых повело, повлекло

По лихой дороге -

Тех ветрами сволокло

Прямиком в остроги.

Тут на милость не надейся -

Стиснуть зубы, да терпеть!

Сколь веревочка ни вейся -

Все равно совьешься в плеть!

Ах, лихая сторона,

Сколь в тебе ни рыскаю,

Лобным местом ты красна

Да веревкой склизкою...

А повешенным сам дьявол-сатана

Голы пятки лижет.

Смех, досада, мать честна!-

Ни пожить, ни выжить!

Ты не вой, не плачь, а смейся -

Слез-то нынче не простят.

Сколь веревочка ни вейся,

Все равно укоротят!

Ночью думы муторней.

Плотники не мешкают.

Не успеть к заутрене -

Больно рано вешают.

Ты об этом не жалей, не жалей, -

Что тебе отсрочка!

А на веревочке твоей

Нет ни узелочка.

Лучше ляг да обогрейся -

Я, мол, казни не просплю...

Сколь веревочка ни вейся -

А совьешься ты в петлю!

The song "Robber's Song" by Vladimir Vysotsky depicts the tragic fate of a man driven into a corner by a harsh reality. The hero of the song is a typical image of a "superfluous man" who cannot find his place in an unjust world.

From the very first lines ("As in a troubled land, / In a cruel, evil province / A fine fellow got / Nothing but thorns and thistles"), the author paints a bleak picture of life where the main character has to face only difficulties and hardships. He got "full handfuls" of resentment and bitterness, "more bitter than which there is none."

The image of a rope, which "no matter how much it twists, it will still twist into a whip (lash, noose)," is central to the song and symbolizes the inevitability of fate, the inevitability of punishment. The hero's life is like a cobweb - thin, fragile, dependent on the will of others. The "dashing road" leads him straight to prison, where one cannot hope for mercy.

The world described by Vysotsky is cruel and merciless. The "dashing side" is "red with the place of execution / And a slippery rope," and the hanged man "is licked on his bare heels / By the devil-Satan himself." Even laughter and frustration do not help - "neither live nor survive!"

The only thing left for the hero to do is to resign himself to his fate, not to regret the possible reprieve, and to meet death with irony: "Better lie down and get warm - / I won't oversleep the execution... / No matter how much the rope twists - / It will still twist into a noose!"

In this song, Vysotsky raises the eternal themes of the injustice of fate, the inevitability of fate, the loneliness of man in a cruel world. Using vivid images and colloquial vocabulary, he creates a poignant picture of hopelessness that makes one think about the place of man in this world.