User:HawkNightingale175/sandbox
| "I Am Very Glad, As I'm Finally Returning Back Home" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Eduard Khil | |
| Released | 1966 |
| Recorded | 11 June 1965, St. Petersburg |
| Genre | World music |
| Songwriter(s) | Arkady Ostrovsky |
"I Am Very Glad, As I'm Finally Returning Back Home", known more simply as "Vocalise", is a song written by Russian songwriter Arkady Ostrovsky and first recorded by Eduard Khil. The song, specifically Khil's rendition, became an internet meme in the early 2010s, where it was known as the "Trololo Song", nicknamed as such based off of an onomatopoeia interpreted from Khil's nonsensical vocals.
Background and recording[edit]
Originally written by Ostrovsky in 1964, the song's lyrics were about an American cowboy as he rides back home, singing about how happy he is to have returned, thus showing that, in spite of the concurrent Cold War tensions between the United States and Soviet Union, the people of said countries weren't that different. Ostrovsky initially presented the song to singer Eduard Khil, who agreed to record it; however, Khil's recording company would not allow him to record the song due to its lyrical content. As a result, Khil and Ostrovsky re-worked the song to be made up of nonsensical vocalizations. The re-worked song, dubbed "Vocalise", was recorded by Khil on 11 June 1965.
Following the release of Khil's version of the song, several other interpretations would be recorded by a number of recording artists, including covers by Muslim Magomayev and Valery Obodzinsky in 1966 and János Koós in 1967. Nonetheless, Khil remained the most popular and recognizable performer of the song. On February 13, 1976, Khil performed the song as part of a special on Arkady Ostrovsky aired on Programme One.
Internet meme[edit]
Khil's 1976 TV performance of "Vocalise" was first uploaded onto YouTube in 2009. The following year, it would become a highly popular internet meme, being dubbed as the "Trololo Song", which would lead it to become associated with the act of trolling. On the Russian internet, the video would be used as a bait-and-switch prank in a nature similar to that of Rickrolling.