"Kanatchik's Dacha" - a song by Vladimir Vysotsky

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The author performed this song often, especially in the last years of his life. It is already difficult for today's public to understand why this particular work was perceived with such enthusiasm by the audience. "Kanatchikov's Dacha" by Vladimir Vysotsky is a satirical absurdist narrative about the Soviet reality of the eighties of the last century. This is a view of the world and the events in it from a clinic for violent lunatics. This is a dashing mockery of the images and meanings of the Soviet system and propaganda.

Kanatchikov's dacha is the name of a madhouse. But an attentive listener cannot help but catch himself thinking that it is not quite clear from the song which side of the fence are abnormal people, and which side are sane people. Vysotsky leaves this question open and gives everyone the opportunity to draw their own conclusions, to the best of their knowledge.

The narration is in the form of a monologue

However, identifying the narrator directly with the author is the most common mistake in the perception of the poet's work. The monologue here is nothing more than a device. Like many other songs by Vysotsky, Kanatchikova Dacha is full of expressive images and multidimensional meanings. Life atresidents of the clinic is not boring. They are greatly worried and worried about the mysteries of the universe, the tightening of the regime in the hospital, the philosophical problems of natural science, and events on the fronts of world politics. On most of these issues, the protagonist of the song manages to express his reasoned opinion. The song "Kanatchikova Dacha", among other things, entered the treasury of Russian thought also by the fact that political observers, leaders of public structures, prime ministers and presidents adore quoting the main narrator from it.

The expression "There are few real violent ones, so there are no leaders …" has become a classic and lives an autonomous life. This is an aphorism. It seems that the song is written easily and naturally, but this lightness is deceptive. The poet worked on the text for a long time and hard, before "Kanatchik's Dacha" sounded at his concerts. The text has many handwritten variants of individual couplets and lines. Not all verses were performed from the stage, something has come down to us only in the form of text. Perhaps there was a further development of some themes and images that the author was not destined to implement.

Thirty plus years without Vysotsky

The poet is remembered in Russia, monuments are erected to him, his songs are listened to, his poems are quoted with pleasure. Kanatchikov's dacha, which Vysotsky portrayed in his song, has become a comprehensive image of the socio-political system under which he lived. Much of this song was recognizable, from the head physician to the dumb idiot, inclusive. At one time it seemed thatthese realities have sunk into the past irretrievably. But this conclusion was hasty. Kanatchikov's dacha stands still and intends to outlive us. It often seems that the characters of this song have finally escaped from behind the fence and moved in all directions - to power and administrative structures and on TV screens. They teach us to live and love the Motherland properly. "Real violent" turned out to be not so few at all, as expected by the main character of "Kanatchikova Dacha".