Khochu peremen: Difference between revisions
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'''"Khochu |
'''"Khochu Peremen"''' (''Хочу перемен''; Russian: "''Changes''" or "''We Are Awaiting Changes''")<ref name=bbc/> is a song by the Russian rock band [[Kino (band)|Kino]]. It was made famous by its use in the 1987 film [[Assa (film)|''Assa'']], an official Soviet government film promoting [[Glasnost]] and [[Perestroika]] in which Kino's lead singer [[Viktor Tsoi]] had a starring role. The song has since become a favourite for political opposition movements in post-Soviet states. It has been used in Russia by opponents and supporters of President Vladimir Putin, by Ukrainian [[Euromaidan]] protesters and by opponents of Belarusian President [[Alexander Lukashenko]]. |
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== History == |
== History == |
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Revision as of 03:26, 5 September 2020
| "Khochu Peremen" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Kino | |
| Language | Russian |
| Released | First performed Summer 1986 |
| Genre | Russian rock |
| Songwriter(s) | Viktor Tsoi |
"Khochu Peremen" (Хочу перемен; Russian: "Changes" or "We Are Awaiting Changes")[1] is a song by the Russian rock band Kino. It was made famous by its use in the 1987 film Assa, an official Soviet government film promoting Glasnost and Perestroika in which Kino's lead singer Viktor Tsoi had a starring role. The song has since become a favourite for political opposition movements in post-Soviet states. It has been used in Russia by opponents and supporters of President Vladimir Putin, by Ukrainian Euromaidan protesters and by opponents of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
History
Kino and their lead singer Viktor Tsoi had previously been part of the underground rock movement in Soviet Russia. In 1987 Tsoi starred in the official Soviet government film Assa. The film, which became a cult classic, promoted Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's Glasnost and Perestroika political, social and economic reforms. In the film Tsoi plays a rock musician who, when confronted by a zealous official reading out a list of rules he must abide by to make a live performance in a restaurant, ignores them and steps on stage to play "Khochu Pereman".[1]
The film became a symbol of the rapid changes made in Gorbachev's USSR and brought Kino a mass audience for the first time. Kino performed the song in June 1990 at in front of 62,000 people at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, one of the band's first major gigs. Though it has since become an iconic song for political opposition and reform campaigns Tsoi, who died in August 1990, said that the change he described was personal change.[1] The song has been described by The New European as having an "urgent drum-beat and sub-rockabilly riffs", its lyrics include: "Our hearts need changes, our eyes need changes, into our laugh and our tears, and into our pulse and veins. Changes! We are waiting for change".[2]
Impact
The song has been used during many Eastern European political campaigns and movements, despite Tsoi's original meaning. Its success is partly because the lyrics are vague enough to allow it to be applied to numerous causes.[1] The song was played from speakers at barricade manned by civilians opposing the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt by hard-line communists; it was also played at protests during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis.[2] It was sung in Moscow in 2011 by opponents of Putin, but also, separately, by his supporters.[1] "Khochu Pereman" was sung at the 2011 Belarusian protests against President Alexander Lukashenko and at the 2013-14 Euromaidan protests in Ukraine.[2]
The song has been used frequently during the 2020 Belarusian protests against Lukashenko, particularly at rallies for opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya.[1][3] On 6 August 2020 two sound engineers slipped the track into the line-up for a pro-government concert. Government officials pulled the power to the speakers mid-song and the engineers were arrested and imprisoned.[3]
Such is the influence of the song that Gorbachev later recalled being inspired by it when he assembled his new pro-reform politburo after coming to power following the death of Konstantin Chernenko in 1985. This cannot have occurred as Kino's first public performance of the song came in Summer 1986.[2]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Sillito, David (22 August 2020). "How a 33-year-old song became an anthem for change". BBC News. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
- ^ a b c d Connelly, Charlie (13 August 2020). "Great Lives: Viktor Tsoi". The New European. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
- ^ a b "'I want changes!' Minsk court jails two sound engineers for ten days for playing a famous protest song at a pro-government event". meduza.io. 7 August 2020. Retrieved 24 August 2020.