In defense of Vysotsky

[Bernard Besserglik]

Dear Vadim,

This is a fair point, and I accept that it's probably going too far to  
say that he "stood against" the Soviet authorities or risked his life  
on matters of principle. He was no Vaclav Havel. On the other hand,  
there were mutterings around the time of his death that he might have  
been done away with by the KGB. and as you yourself indicate he stood  
out as "being free in the unfree world," in itself a strong enough  
indictment of the world he lived in. It was a posture that must have  
required some courage, or at least a willingness to take risks.

The point of my contribution was simply to say that there is surely no  
comparison to be made between Vysotsky and the singer-songwriters of  
the West who for the most part ran no greater risk than that of being  
ignored, or possibly of succumbing to a drug overdose. Some of them  
were extremely gifted - names which stand out for me are Randy Newman,  
Tim Buckley, Phil Ochs and of course Bob Dylan - but there was a  
consisderable market demand for their work and they tended to have  
recording contracts which ensured they could perform and sing without  
fear of arrest whatever texts they chose to write.

Vysotsky was one of a kind and although the range of his talents and  
his personal charisma were such that he was never exactly short of a  
bob or two, he at times sailed close to a very cold wind indeed. One  
whom that wind swept away was Victor Jara, while another who chose to  
devote his considerable talents to an unpopular cause he believed in  
while remaining indifferent to considerations of personal wellbeing  
was Woody Guthrie. Both names have become the stuff of legend, and the  
former has an asteroid named after him. Beat that, Vlady!

Bernard



>
>
> Dear Bernard,
>
> > Over and above his competence as a singer-songwriter, the quality  
> that singles out Vladimir Vysotsky as a figure of cultural  
> significance is that he stood against the political orthodoxy of his  
> time at the risk of his personal well-being, arguably at the risk of  
> his life, and with a total disregard for commercial considerations.
>
> We must be talking about some other Vladimir Vysotsky.  The one I  
> know never risked his life in a fight against the regime.  In fact,  
> his lifestyle was superior to 99.9% of Soviet people.  He never  
> wrote openly "protest songs."  He never wrote "Get Up Stand Up" and  
> was shot at, like Marley.  He was a very smart and realistic man.
>
> That did not prevent him from being free in the unfree world.
>
> Vadim
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Use 
>  your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription  
> options, and more. Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at: http://seelangs.wix.com/seelangs 
>   
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------


-------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                        http://seelangs.wix.com/seelangs
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/seelang/attachments/20140212/046f9a84/attachment.html>