Zhit' Stalo Luchshe

by A. V. Aleksandrov

Copyright © 1998 by Hugo S. Cunningham

first posted 981030
latest minor change 001227

Zhit' stalo luchshe, tovarishchi. Zhit' stalo veselee. A kogda veselo zhivetsya, rabota sporitsya. Living has become better, Comrades. Living has become happier. And when life is happier, work is more effective.
--Velikij Vozhd' i Uchitel', 1936 --The Great Leader and Teacher, 1936

The Great Leader and Teacher I. V. Stalin [five minutes of stormy applause] made this famous statement in 1936, as the economy had begun to recover from the horrors of Collectivization (1929-1933). Store shelves really did start to look less empty, and, for most people, the impending Terror of 1937 was only a vague and distant threat.

Composer A. V. Aleksandrov apparently liked the opening bars of this piece. He used them again, with only minor alterations, just a few years later in the tune for the "Hymn of the Soviet Union," national anthem 1943-1991.
A recording of the "Hymn of the Soviet Union" is available at the Finnish University Net (FUNet) audio archive.
Later note: the Russian Duma officially readopted the Aleksandrov "Hymn" as national anthem on December 2000, as part of a political compromise. New, non-Communist words are supposedly to be written.
Also accepted were the blue-white-and-red flag and Tsarist eagle favored by Yeltsin, and the old Red Army flag (yellow star-outline on red field) as the new Russian army flag.

The words and score for "Zhit' Stalo Luchshe" were discovered in
Politicheskoe Upravlenie RKKA, "Pesni Krasnoj Armii," Gosudarstvennoe Voennoe Izdatel'stvo Narodnogo Komissariata Oborony SSSR, Moskva, 1936; str. 20-21.

MIDI rendition by Comrade P.K. Volkov of VOkSovProlKompMuz.
Piano, with piano accompaniment.

Replay "Zhit' Stalo Luchshe."

Ob"yasnenie latinskoj azbuki vospolzuemoj zdes'
Explanation of Russian transcription used here

Zhit' Stalo Luchshe Living has gotten better
Muzyka A. V. AleksandrovaMusic by A. V. Aleksandrov
Slova L. Lebedev-KumachaWords by V. Lebedev-Kumach
----------
1. 1.
Zvonki, kak pticy, odno za drugoj Bell chimes, like birds, one after the other,
Pesni letyat nad Sovetskoj stranoj. Songs fly over the Soviet land.
Xor (dvazhdy povtoryaetsya): Chorus (repeated twice):
    Vesel napev gorodov i polej --
    Beautiful is the melody of towns and fields --
    "Zhit' stalo luchshe,
    "Living has become better,
    Zhit' stalo veselej!"
    "Living has become happier!"
...
2. 2.
Druzhno strana i rastet i poet In friendship the country both grows and sings
S pesnyami obshchee s-chast'e kuet. With songs it forges general happiness.
    x 2:
    x 2:
    Glyanesh' na solnce -- i solnce svetlej!
    Look at the sun -- and the sun is brighter!
    "Zhit' stalo luchshe,
    "Living has become better,
    Zhit' stalo veselej!"
    "Living has become happier!"
...
3. 3.
Vsyudu prostor dlya uma i dlya ruk, Everywhere is recreation for minds and for hands,
Vsyudu naxodish' druzej i podrug. Everywhere are found friends and companions.
    x 2:
    x 2:
    Starost' -- teplee i yunost' -- smelej --
    Old age is warmer, and youth is more adventurous
    "Zhit' stalo luchshe,
    "Living has become better,
    Zhit' stalo veselej!"
    "Living has become happier!"
...
4. 4.
Znaj, Voroshilov, my vse na-cheku, -- See, Voroshilov, we are all prepared, --
Pyadi odnoj ne ustupim vragu. Not an inch will we yield to the enemy.
    x 2:
    x 2:
    Silushka est' u otcov i detej --
    Fathers and sons both have the strength --
    "Zhit' stalo luchshe,
    "Living has become better,
    Zhit' stalo veselej!"
    "Living has become happier!"
...
5. 5.
Xochetsya vsej neob"yatnoj stranoj The whole limitless country wishes
Stalinu kriknut': -- Spasibo, rodnoj To shout to Stalin: -- Thank you, beloved
    x 2:
    x 2:
    Dolgie gody zhivi, ne bolej!
    May you live many years in good health!
    "Zhit' stalo luchshe,
    "Living has become better,
    Zhit' stalo veselej!"
    "Living has become happier!"
...

(Note from fourth stanza) K. E. Voroshilov, a trusted associate of Stalin's (to the extent Stalin trusted anybody) and People's Commissar of Defense 1934-1940, was allowed a personality cult subordinate to Stalin's. He lost some favor in 1940 because of the Soviet Army's poor showing in the 1939-1940 Finnish War. The real culprit, of course, was Stalin himself, who had slaughtered his most talented commanders in the Tukhachevsky affair (1937).
Go back to 4th stanza.

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