Let’s Play Thermonuclear War!
Russia, the Ukraine, military invasion, conflict, Putin, Obama, oh brother, here we go again! If the news from Moscow is bleak of late, then turn off that CNN program and turn up the volume on your CD player.
Not that hankering for the “bad ole days” of the Cold War is good, but we’re certainly up for some great pop music — played, naturally, by none other than our all-time favorite singer-songwriter, Sting.
For a nostalgic round of Communists vs. Capitalists, there’s nothing that can compare to the song “Russians,” the Stinger’s fondest stab at “serious classical hymnology” (in the words of reviewer Jon Pareles). Recorded in July 1985 and one of the major cuts from his first solo album, The Dream of the Blue Turtles (A&M), the work puts our country’s testy relationship to the former Soviet Union into plainly humanistic perspective.
If you’ve never heard this piece before now, prepare for a shock, dear listener. While Sting has had his fair share of politicized statements throughout the years (for example, his work with Greenpeace and Amnesty International), this one slices through the propaganda bull and goes straight to the heart of the issue: how can we possibly fear all-out nuclear war from these folks if our Russian rivals venerate the family as much as we do? That’s the essence of the number in a nutshell.
Beginning and ending with the ticking of a clock (or is it a portentous time bomb?), Sting makes full use of a memorable Russian melody that Soviet-era composer Sergei Prokofiev wrote for the film Lieutenant Kijé. It’s the Romance from a suite he later compiled that’s become a concert hall standard.
In the original scoring the tune is played by the saxophone. Ironically, in Sting’s treatment the theme resounds forcefully at key intervals via the employment of a synthesizer (the companion video clip is even more impressive, with black and white images of Russians, young and old, in various guises: from gymnasts and ballet dancers, to retired bureaucrats gazing nostalgically at their younger selves or being led away to convalescent homes).
Sting’s voice is placed in near-falsetto range, giving a sense of strain on the highest notes which help to convey the urgency of his message. There is no lack of hope; however, a noticeable sense of caution is present, as is a touch of guarded optimism as well.
Along with this “synthesized snatch of Prokofiev’s music,” the powerful and timely lyrics are what make this tune a near-classic. Note how Sting’s verbal imagery and use of the conditional and comparative make for a convincing argument for greater understanding and rapprochement among the world’s nuclear powers — a theme that’s as timely and newsworthy as today’s front-page headlines.
Russians
In Europe and America there’s a growing feeling of hysteria
Conditioned to respond to all the threats
In the rhetorical speeches of the Soviets
Mister Khrushchev said, ‘We will bury you’
I don’t subscribe to this point of view
It’d be such an ignorant thing to do
If the Russians love their children too
How can I save my little boy
From Oppenheimer’s deadly toy?
There is no monopoly on common sense
On either side of the political fence
We share the same biology
Regardless of ideology
Believe me when I say to you
I hope the Russians love their children too
There is no historical precedent to put
Words in the mouth of the president
There’s no such thing as a winnable war
It’s a lie we don’t believe anymore
Mister Reagan says ‘We will protect you’
I don’t subscribe to this point of view
Believe me when I say to you
I hope the Russians love their children too
We share the same biology
Regardless of ideology
What might save us, me and you,
Is if the Russians love their children too
(Words and music by Sting, with a sampling by Prokofiev)
Copyright © 2014 by Josmar F. Lopes