August 24, 2021

Even Communists Like Rock


Even Communists Like Rock
Tsoy rolls in his grave.  Photo via duma.gov.ru (CC BY 4.0)

The Communist Party of the Russian Federation is now cool with the anti-soviet rock group Kino, or at least it would appear that way after reading a recent tweet from the party leader Gennady Zyuganov. In the unexpected post, Zyuganov honors the lead singer, Viktor Tsoy, thirty-one years after his untimely death (which, ironically, may or may not have been orchestrated by the U.S.S.R.).

Zyuganov tries to claim in his tweet that by writing his songs, Tsoy created a subculture that was "a logical counterbalance to the cult of consumption." We aren't quite sure that the Communist Manifesto is what Tsoi had in mind when he penned the lyrics to the song "Mother Anarchy," but okay.  

Needless to say, Russian Twitter has taken to mocking to tweet pretty severely. Some users suspect that Zyuganov is just confused and that whenever he says the name "Tsoi," he really means to say "the [Communist] Party." Others theorize that maybe Zyugavov's Twitter account was taken over by the Taliban. Who is to say? 

You Might Also Like

Victor Tsoy - Interview and Lyrics
  • May 01, 2012

Victor Tsoy - Interview and Lyrics

This issue's Uchites insert offers a glossed interview with rock legend Victor Tsoy, plus a gloss of the lyrics from one of his most famous songs.
Victor Tsoy
  • May 01, 2012

Victor Tsoy

No rock musician has had such a profound, lasting effect on Russian culture as Victor Tsoy.
Tsoy Lives!
  • April 25, 2012

Tsoy Lives!

There is not a single other figure in Russian rock – living or dead – who has attained the same sort of cult status as Victor Tsoy, who would have been 50 on June 21. And while Tsoy’s biography is well-known, it hardly explains how it is that the person and legacy of Victor Tsoy continues to this day to play such an important role in Russian culture - even in Russian mass culture.
New Kino Clip
  • October 28, 2020

New Kino Clip

The musical group Kino has released a new music video with archive vocals from Victor Tsoy.
Tsoy's Last Concert
  • August 14, 2020

Tsoy's Last Concert

A recording of Viktor Tsoy’s last concert with his group Kino has recently been rediscovered.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
At the Circus (bilingual)

At the Circus (bilingual)

This wonderful novella by Alexander Kuprin tells the story of the wrestler Arbuzov and his battle against a renowned American wrestler. Rich in detail and characterization, At the Circus brims with excitement and life. You can smell the sawdust in the big top, see the vivid and colorful characters, sense the tension build as Arbuzov readies to face off against the American.
Russian Rules

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.
A Taste of Chekhov

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Dostoyevsky Bilingual

Bilingual series of short, lesser known, but highly significant works that show the traditional view of Dostoyevsky as a dour, intense, philosophical writer to be unnecessarily one-sided. 
Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
Turgenev Bilingual

Turgenev Bilingual

A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages.
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
Fearful Majesty

Fearful Majesty

This acclaimed biography of one of Russia’s most important and tyrannical rulers is not only a rich, readable biography, it is also surprisingly timely, revealing how many of the issues Russia faces today have their roots in Ivan’s reign.
Survival Russian

Survival Russian

Survival Russian is an intensely practical guide to conversational, colloquial and culture-rich Russian. It uses humor, current events and thematically-driven essays to deepen readers’ understanding of Russian language and culture. This enlarged Second Edition of Survival Russian includes over 90 essays and illuminates over 2000 invaluable Russian phrases and words.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955