Freedom, Liberte, Свобода

Horses are free animals, not attached to anything or anyone. If you put the heavy bridle on them, they will run away and never come back... Remember that! Freedom, freedom, freedom is their essence... I think, we as humans are not very different from them. The Declaration of Independence and the French Revolutionary principles (Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite starting off first and foremost with Liberte) come to mind... Freedom of the individual, while not absolute, is a cherished right and should never be underestimated!
Click here for Vladimyr Vysotsky's 'Horses'

(Vysotsky, about whom I posted on this blog below, wrote and sang this song during the dark Soviet years, when his desperate struggle for freedom was doomed. He had to use metaphoric concept of horses to make his point about the repression/oppression of his times).

Igor Talkov

On this day, in 1991 Russia lost another of its most talented and beloved sons, Igor Talkov (1956-1991). A poet, singer and activist for individual liberties, Talkov like Vysotsky came to awaken the slumbering conscience of the Soviet Union, that was already in ruins by the time of his death... He was assassinated in quite a mysterious way similar to many other famous assassinations in history. His life was indeed an example of what an enormous sacrifice it takes to fight for ideals... It is not beautiful phrases that make the difference, it is the degree of self-sacrifice and risk that one may take for higher ideals... Talkov was one of those rare people, that we have the luxury of having among us once in 50-60 years. He sang in anger,

I do not intend to foretell the future,
But I know for sure,
I will be back,
Even in hundreds of centuries,
Not to a country of idiots, but of geniuses,

And fallen in battle,
I will be reborn,
And will sing,
On the first day of a birthday
Of a country returning from war...
(Listen to this song here)

I am wondering, if he came back to today's Russia, would he be happy? I doubt it... Idealist that he was, he did not want half-freedoms or hypocrisy... It was all or nothing for him and he would have fought always, never satisfied or content.

(trans. by Zoya. For more on his songs, visit)

Vladimyr Vysotsky

On July 25, 1980 the Soviet Union lost one of its most talented sons. Vladimyr Vysotsky was not only a singer, a poet. He was the living conscience of the Soviet Union. A hero, a martyr... He was one of the very few who openly criticized and castigated the totalitarian regime of the empire. And he did it with such breathtaking power, passion and intense anger that it really cost him his health... He died shouting the truth and twisting his fists... His whole life was like a conflagration and a complete insane sacrifice for the love of his country. In his last letter he expressed his agony over the future of the country and despair... He has remained one of the most beloved figures in the former Soviet Union. His legacy can only be compared with that of Martin Luther King Jr. in the U.S... But he did not die in vain. Russia has had a profound change since his times and is on its way to European integration and democratization. There is much hope for that. It takes martyrs like Vysotsky to accomplish this much.