Folk, lyrics D

Anna Samoilovna Berzer, a long-term employee of the New World, worked in the prose department. It was Lev Kopelev who gave her the manuscript of “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich,” and she contrived to hand it over to Tvardovsky himself without any intermediaries. “And Solzhenitsyn’s star began to rise,” as Inna Borisova, Berzer’s colleague, writes in the preface to her publication “Stalin and Literature” (“Star” No. 11’95).
There is one small fragment in this publication that very expressively characterizes Asya, as she was called in the editorial office. Defending Demyan Bedny, whom she valued almost higher than Tvardovsky, from criticism by Stalin for his anti-patriotic feuilletons “Get Off the Stove” and others, she writes: “trying to somehow express sympathy for the poet, I, straining my memory, remembered how Once upon a time everyone around sang his song “Seeing Off.” I’ll quote the memorable lines from memory:
How my own mother saw me off,
Then all my relatives came running:
“Oh, where are you going, boy, oh, where are you going?
Vanyok, you shouldn’t become a soldier.
The Red Army will have bayonets and tea.
The Bolsheviks will manage without you..."
What is described here? Relatives persuade the guy not to join the army in order to defend his homeland together with the Bolsheviks. This is happening during the Civil War and intervention. And it is about these persuasions that Berzer writes with praise: “Living words, as if torn from real life.” And she remembers them all her life. And then this: “But after the truthful lamentations of family and friends, there followed a long, ideologically consistent speech by the hero himself, which shattered the misconceptions of his relatives. I didn’t remember a word from it, although it was sung everywhere - from beginning to end.” What's the matter? Why is this speech so disgusting to her that not a word remains in her memory? Yes, because this is how the guy answers his relatives:
If everyone were like you, rotose,
What would be left of Moscow, of Russia? —
etc.

In a word, the patriotism of even distant times made the intelligent Asya sick to her stomach even now. These are the types of collaborators Tvardovsky had to work with to create the magazine. But it’s also good that he knew who was who. But how often others either did not know or did not attach any importance to this issue.

Roman Fedyukov

“12 km from Osmino in the village of Zalustezhye lived the prototype of the famous Song of D. Bedny “How my own mother saw me off” - Ivan Kovalev” is a quote from one local history article. I am a hereditary resident of the village of Zalustezhye and therefore am very interested in its history. Dear colleagues, I will be glad if you can help me find at least some information about the history of the creation of the song. Novel

Dear Roman!
Thank you for stopping by and starting such an interesting topic.
I have been looking for something about the history of the creation of this wonderful song for a long time and this is only what I can offer you.
But it seems to me that in many villages there will be prototypes of the hero of the song, because Demyan Bedny himself grew up in a poor peasant family, as his pseudonym eloquently speaks of, and I think he has seen such farewells, I think, more than once. But this is my purely personal opinion.

The poem by Demyan Bedny (1883-1945) was written in 1918, but it became a song later - only in 1922, when the composer D. Vasiliev-Buglai proposed for it the melody of the comic folk song "Komarik", known with different texts among Ukrainians ( begins “Oh, why did you make such a fuss?” and among the Russian gypsies (“Komarichko”). The Ukrainians sing about how a mosquito married a fly, and the gypsies sing about how a mosquito fell from an oak tree, and the flies picked it up. The Ukrainian song was recorded on a record by Peter Leshchenko (Columbia company, England or a branch, 1936-1937, WHR663, "Komarik", Ukrainian comic song).
translation of the gypsy "Komarik":

Once a mosquito flew in
On the green meadow,
And that mosquito settled down
On curly oak.

And that mosquito settled down
On the curly oak,
But they blew it, they played out
The winds are wild.

But they blew it, they played out
Violent winds,
Rocked, shaken
Branches on an oak tree.

Rocked, shaken
Branches on an oak tree
And shook off the mosquito
On the green meadow.

And shook off the mosquito
On the green meadow
And smashed the mosquito
It's all lips and teeth.

And smashed the mosquito
It's all lips and teeth,
Yes, they came to help
Two girlfriends-flies.

Yes, they came to help
Two girlfriends-flies,
We caught a mosquito
Under white handles.

We caught a mosquito
Under white hands,
They dragged away a mosquito
In the green forest.

Olga Bubnina
Hello Roman! I read your request and Emma’s comment, I think what can be found here. And I was so carried away by the fables and biography of Bedny, Demyan - by the way, his name is Pridvorov Efim Alekseevich, that I FOUND quite interesting material... I didn’t expect it myself!
Here, read the article from the regional newspaper “Morning of Russia”. It turns out that he is really your fellow countryman, only his name is Ivan Nikanorovich Nikanorov!!!

and here it is:
People of the older generation remember the song about Vanya, who went to become a soldier, or more precisely, to the Red Army. Back then this was a rare occurrence, especially for villagers. The song was called "Seeing Off" and was very popular. The Red Army soldiers sang it like a drill song. They struck a ringing step to the words of a song that had sunk into their souls.
How my own mother saw me off,
When all my relatives came running:
"Oh, where are you going, boy? Oh, where are you going?
Shouldn't you, Vanek, become a soldier!..

Are you going involuntarily? Al from hunting?
Vanya, Vanya, you will disappear for nothing!
Your dear mother has turned grey,
Look - there’s so much activity in the field and in the hut!..”

Many decades have passed. But the song is still alive. However, most Russians, I believe, do not know that the hero of the song, Vanek, is not just a collective image, but a very real person. This is one of the first Red Army soldiers, Ivan Nikanorovich Nikanorov, a native of the village of Zalustezhye, Gdov district, Pskov province. Under the influence of the Bolsheviks, he became a communist and took an active part in the fight against the White Guard rebellion led by General Krasnov. Following this, Nikanorov participated with a detachment of revolutionary-minded soldiers in the battles near Pskov in February 1918 against the troops of the Kaiser’s Germany, rushing to Petrograd.

When the German offensive was stopped, soldier Nikanorov received permission to go on leave to his native Zalustezhye. What happened there served as the basis for writing the lyrics of the song “Seeing Off.” Relatives began to persuade Ivan not to leave the village to join the Red Army, they advised him to get married and start a household. Anyuta Kolopakhina, Ivan’s fiancée, was also present at this conversation.

Will there be bayonets and tea in the Red Army?
The Bolsheviks will manage without you.

* * *
It would be better if you married Arina, light.

But Ivan Nikanorov did not give up and gave a decisive rebuff to his relatives: “Don’t whine about me, for God’s sake.”

That summer, an alarming situation developed on the Eastern Front. 300 Petrograd communists were sent there to help the red troops. Among them was Ivan Nikanorov.

The envoys of Red St. Petersburg were traveling through Moscow. It was here that Nikanorov met with the poet Demyan Bedny. Near the building of the Revolutionary Military Council, he approached the Red Army soldiers and began asking them who they were, where they were from, where they had served. He also turned to Ivan Nikanorov, who was just about to write a letter to his relatives in the village. Ivan told everything about what happened at the send-off, how his relatives did not let him into the Red Army.

Demyan Bedny later recalled this meeting. “He tells me, and I look and think that these are the Ivans who are going to strangle the world counter-revolution, to conquer land for the people.”

The song was first published in the newspaper "Bednota" on December 13, 1918. There was no music, and the author of the text was Demyan Bedny. The people quickly picked it up and sang in their own way. This is how she remains to this day.

During the Civil War, Ivan Nikanorov fought on the Eastern and Western fronts, and then defeated Wrangel’s troops. At the end of the war, he graduated from an artillery school and then a military academy. He managed defense enterprises. During the Great Patriotic War, he asked to go to the front, but they did not let him go: he was a very necessary person for the military industry.

In the post-war years, Nikanorov retired with the rank of colonel and lived in the suburbs of Leningrad.

These are different times. Soldiers sing new songs. But their goal is the same as that of veterans of past wars - faithful service to the people, the Fatherland.

Nikolay LEONOV,
Ussuriysk.

As soon as Demyan goes down the Trinity Bridge and leaves the Kremlin, a peasant from any province is within easy reach. Opposite the Kutafya Tower is the reception room of the “All-Russian headman” Kalinin. Walkers from “the entire Race” flock here; a little further, towards the Arbat, on Vozdvizhenka, is the editorial office of Bednota. There are not many people here, but there are tons of letters. Both people and letters show Demyan that the man is generally happy: of course! After the Tenth Party Congress, the surplus appropriation system was replaced by a tax in kind. The situation of the peasants has been made twice as easy. But the introduction of a new economic policy brought with it a new struggle, new questions. But the country is drowning in poverty, and newspapers are published with constant sections: “On the bloodless front.” No, although the civil war is over - the front is not yet behind... The only thing that Demyan can now take away from the combat schedule of the day, what he can do for fun in his idle time, is to rummage through books. Just on the way from Mikhail Ivanovich to “Bednota” there is a good bookstore. Good luck is not expected very often. The selection is strict, and the library is getting better. This business is like fishing: you need patience and patience. It's okay if there are no finds. I'll come by tomorrow! And he moves on.

How old and dirty this city is! The center is in cobblestone streets with countless potholes. The cab drivers are shaking, driving around as best they can, arguing with each other and with passers-by. There are so few cars that their appearance is almost an event. Only trams create excitement, and even those are few; As time passes, Demyan, an active deputy of the Moscow Council, will count how much has been added. He will congratulate Muscovites on the fact that the crowd has noticeably decreased.

Crowded carriages grind their brakes, going down to the Bolshoi Theater from Lubyanka and Okhotny Ryad from Tverskaya, from all other Moscow hills and hillocks.

The bells ring deafeningly, signaling to passersby scurrying along and across the rails. The boys ride, clinging to the footrests and buffers, on the so-called “sausage” - a rolled up hose sleeve. The darkness of the homeless. Monks and nuns. Vendors peddled pies, postcards, cigarettes, seeds, apples, toffees, all sorts of handicraft little things - “devils”, balls that bounce on elastic bands, stain removers, and finally books. And everyone shouts: “Here’s to whom!”, “Ira cigarettes are left from the old world!”, “Fok’s monkey dances without rest and time!”, “What does a wife do when her husband is mute?”, “Famous translation from French! Let’s fly!”, “Who wants decals?”

And all this noise is not somewhere in the outskirts - in the very center, near the most ceremonial buildings. Beggars in bast shoes and homespuns beg; “noble” ladies, men; “The officer, saying goodbye to his epaulettes, is selling newspapers on the corner...” Demyan will notice how he notices everything. Even at the height of the civil war, I caught excited rumors at the Iverskaya Chapel about the “liquidation” of the icon and calmly said to those who were “stirring up evil rumors”: “Adults cannot afford to argue with children over a pacifier. At least pray to the board, you weirdos!”
fully

WIRES

Folk music
Words by Demyan Bedny

Like my own mother
saw off
How are all my relatives here?
Ran up:

“Where are you going, boy?
Where are you going?
Shouldn't you go, Vanek,
Yes to the soldiers!

The Red Army has bayonets,
Tea, there will be some.
Without you the Bolsheviks
They'll get by.

Are you going involuntarily?
Al from hunting?
Vanya, Vanya, you will disappear
No way!

Mother, suffering for you,
Has turned grey,
Avon in the field and in the hut
What a lot to do!

And now things have gone well:
Lovely-nice!
How much land do we need at once?
It's gone!

There are no former oppressions
And in sight.
It would be better if you got married, light,
On Arina.

I would live with a young wife,
I wasn’t lazy!”
Here I am my mother's dear
Bowed.

Bowed to all relatives
At the threshold:
"Don't whine about me,
For God's sake.

Be like you all
Rotozei,
What would be left of Moscow,
From Russia?

Everything would go back to the old way,
For a short time,
Would take it back from us again
Land, freedom;

The gentleman would sit on the ground
Evil Malyuta,
We would howl in bondage
The most fierce one.

But I'm not going to dance,
To the party
Leaving you
Old mother -

I'll go with the Red Army
I'm on my way,
I will fight to the death
With the lordly rabble,

What's with the priest, what's with the fist -
Whole conversation:
In the thick belly with a bayonet
World-eater!

Don't give up! Die
I'm fooling you!
Heaven will be dearer to us,
Taken in battle.

Not a bloody, drunken paradise
Miroedsky, -
Dear Rus', free land,
Soviet region!

Russian Soviet songs (1917-1977). Comp. N. Kryukov and Y. Shvedov. M., “Art. lit.”, 1977.

The poem by Demyan Bedny was written in 1918 at the front in Sviyazhsk. In 1928, composer Dmitry Vasiliev-Buglai adapted the tune of the Ukrainian song “Oh, why did you make such a fuss” (aka “Komarik”). This was done for the staging of “Wonderful” based on the fables of D. Bedny at the infantry school named after. All-Russian Central Executive Committee. The tune “Komarika” was used in the Russian army in the First World War, recorded in “Songs of our Army” by S. Orlov and F. Shcheglov, ed. Jurgenson, 1915. See: Nestyev I.V. Mass song // Essays on Soviet musical creativity. T. 1. M.; L.: Muzgiz, 1947. P. 241.

"Komarik" is also known among Russian gypsies ("Komarichko"). The Ukrainians sing about how a mosquito married a fly and then fell from the oak tree, but among the gypsies it immediately fell from the oak tree and the flies picked it up. The Ukrainian song was recorded on a record by Peter Leshchenko (Columbia company, 1936-1937, WHR663, "Komarik", Ukrainian comic song).

There are also Russian songs with a similar plot about a mosquito that fell from a tree - see “Komarochek” and “A mosquito married a fly.” The most famous literary adaptation of the plot of the wedding of a mosquito and a fly is the poem “The Tsokotukha Fly” by Korney Chukovsky (1923).

Sheet music and translation of the gypsy "Komarik"