The meaning of the lyrics of the song "Criminal Code" (Ugolovnyiy kodeks) the performer of the song "Vladimir Vysotsky"

We don't need plots and intrigue -

We know it all, whatever you may bring.

For me, the best book in the world, you see,

Is our own criminal code, certainly.

And if I'm restless, can't find sleep,

Or with a hangover, my face grows deep,

I open the code, on any page I please,

And can't help reading, till I find my ease.

I haven't given my comrades advice,

But I know robbery is their vice.

I just read about it, clear as day:

No less than three, no more than ten years they'll stay.

Think about these simple lines, I urge -

Why bother with novels, from any time or surge?

They're all the same - barracks, long like a sentence,

Scandals, fights, card games, and pretense.

For a hundred years, I wouldn't want to see

These lines, behind each, a destiny.

And I rejoice, when an article is light,

After all, someone will be alright...

And my heart beats like a wounded bird,

When I begin my own article, unheard.

And the blood in my temples throbs and knocks,

Like the cops, when they come to take you in flocks.

Нам ни к чему сюжеты и интриги, -

Про все мы знаем, про все, чего ни дашь.

Я, например, на свете лучшей книгой

Считаю кодекс уголовный наш.

И если мне неймется и не спится

Или с похмелья нет на мне лица -

Открою кодекс на любой странице,

И не могу, читаю до конца.

Я не давал товарищам советы,

Но знаю я - разбой у них в чести.

Вот только что я прочитал про это:

Не ниже трех, не свыше десяти.

Вы вдумайтесь в простые эти строки, -

Что нам романы всех времен и стран!

В них все - бараки, длинные, как сроки,

Скандалы, драки, карты и обман.

Сто лет бы мне не видеть этих строчек -

За каждой вижу чью-нибудь судьбу!

И радуюсь, когда статья - не очень:

Ведь все же повезет кому-нибудь...

И сердце бьется раненою птицей,

Когда начну свою статью читать.

И кровь в висках так ломится, стучится,

Как мусора, когда приходят брать.

In the poem "The Criminal Code," Vladimir Vysotsky utilizes the image of the primary legal document as a metaphor for human life, fraught with drama, risk, and unpredictability.

The lyrical hero, rejecting fictional stories, finds "The Criminal Code" to be the most captivating book, as it describes real crimes and punishments, reflecting the dark sides of human nature. Insomnia and a hangover may symbolize the pangs of conscience, pushing the hero to seek answers and solace in stories of crimes and punishments.

The lines "Not less than three, not more than ten," referring to robbery, emphasize the hero's knowledge of the "code of honor" in the criminal world, indicating his proximity to or deep understanding of its laws.

Comparing the code to novels, the hero argues that real life, full of "barracks" (prisons), "terms," "scandals," and "deception," surpasses any fictional story in its intensity. Each article of the code represents someone's fate, evoking empathy and fear.

The description of his own article as a fateful inevitability, causing a racing heart and a sense of anxiety ("blood pounding in the temples... like the cops"), suggests that the hero himself is on the wrong side of the law and knows that punishment is only a matter of time.

Thus, "The Criminal Code" becomes a mirror of society, reflecting its vices and the tragedy of human destinies.