Tag: music-video

Song: “Burn Butcher Burn” from the series “The Witcher”

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On my Facebook, I wrote about how much I disliked the series “The Witcher,” and I found the second season to be far worse than the first. However, in the first season, everyone was blown away by the bard Jaskier’s song “Toss a Coin to Your Witcher,” which unexpectedly became far more popular on the internet than the series itself for a while. And that was true for both the original English version and the Russian adaptation.

In the second season, there was another song performed by Jaskier—“Burn Butcher Burn.” The Russian version sounds rather bland, while the English rendition is far more powerful, almost as if they were two completely different songs. This is unusual because Russian dubbing is typically excellent, owing to decades of experience from the Soviet school of dubbing.

At first, I wanted to feature only the English version in my blog, but then I found a video that compiled the scene in multiple languages with different audio tracks. It starts with the English version and then includes many others, such as Russian and Ukrainian. I must say that in most cases, the voice chosen for the character fits quite well. The Czech and French performances are on par with the original. I’m not as confident about the others. As for my personal playlist, I’ve added the original version.

Song: Johny Cash “Hurt” & Logan/Wolverine

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Not long ago, I wrote about songs that gained a new life or interpretation thanks to new arrangements, including in films.

At the time, I didn’t mention one song, “Hurt,” performed (but not written) by Johnny Cash. That’s because it didn’t fit the criteria: it’s not a reinterpretation or a new arrangement. It’s simply an original song that was used in the trailer for the last Wolverine movie, released in 2017 and titled Logan.

Cash’s version is a cover of a 1995 song by the band Nine Inch Nails. Johnny Cash slightly altered the lyrics, removing any profanity, and recorded his rendition in 2003. The song is considered his final hit during his lifetime, earning numerous awards and receiving high praise from the original authors. Personally, I find it more powerful and emotional than the NIN version.

But why did I mention Wolverine? The thing is, the lyrics of the song didn’t just fit the trailer’s mood—they seemed written specifically for Logan, who, in the movie’s plot, is no longer the invincible and immortal Wolverine we knew, but still has the strength to prove himself one last time. Together, the song and visuals left an unforgettable impression on me. The trailer uses only the first verse of the song, but the music and imagery complement each other perfectly:

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Song: Vasya Oblomov and Garik Sukachyov “Bloody Shame”

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It so happened that I discovered Vasya Oblomov only this year. I mean, I knew the song “I’m Going to Magadan”—it was impossible to miss it back in the day unless you were completely tone-deaf. But I never remembered who performed it and never showed any interest in Vasya Oblomov’s work.

Then, this summer, I listened to a few of his songs and completely fell for them. I understand that his music isn’t for everyone, but in my case, it hit just the right spot. Most of his songs feel like they’re about things you encounter every single day.

Among them, there’s one that stands out for its sheer energy in performance, thanks largely to the incredible Garik Sukachyov. The song is “Bloody Shame.” I’ve heard it performed by Vasya Oblomov himself—it’s good, but Garik is Garik!

Watch how he lets loose in the music video for this song. Vasya Oblomov plays the humble musician in the background.

Song: Måneskin “Beggin'”

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Sometimes it happens that a song written decades ago suddenly re-enters the charts and becomes a massive hit. Sometimes it happens again, and sometimes—for the first time with such overwhelming success (like the case with “Trololo”).

After Eurovision 2021, this fate befell the song Beggin’, originally released in 1967 by the American band The Four Seasons. That’s 54 years ago!

However, I first heard and knew this song from a later 1974 version by the Dutch band Shocking Blue, also known in the USSR for their hit “Shizgara” (actually the song was titled “Venus,” but since most people in the USSR didn’t know English well, they referred to the song by the phrase they thought they heard in the chorus, “Shizgara,” which was actually “she’s got it”).

But back to Beggin’. I really like the version of the song performed by Shocking Blue, and I like the original 1967 version significantly less. So why now, and what does Eurovision have to do with it? The reason is that in spring 2021, the Italian band Måneskin won Eurovision with a completely different song, of course. But the band’s journey started on the Italian version of “X Factor,” where they performed their variation of Beggin’ during one of their appearances. Although this song was never released as a single, after their Eurovision victory, everyone started looking up this “Måneskin.” That’s when their performance from “X Factor” resurfaced, and unexpectedly, this song began climbing the charts again—perhaps even overshadowing their Eurovision-winning track. This is one of those cases where Eurovision really helped the winner. The band’s fame skyrocketed, and it turned out they had quite a few good songs in their repertoire.

Måneskin’s performance of Beggin’ is very emotional and captivating, stylistically much closer to Shocking Blue’s rendition than to the original by The Four Seasons. In short, the song has earned a spot in my playlist alongside the Dutch version.

There are currently two video versions of the song: an official music video made by Måneskin after their cover unexpectedly gained popularity, and a recording of their performance on “X Factor.” I honestly can’t decide which one I like more. I’ll share both.

Let’s start chronologically, with the live performance:

Live performance

And here’s the official music video:

Official music video

Songs of a Second Chance

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In September, I already wrote about remarkable songs from rather mediocre films. But since songs and films are now inextricably linked, today I want to write about a few songs (or melodies) that received a second chance (and sometimes an even stronger one) compared to their original versions. Sometimes it’s just an interesting cinematic arrangement; other times, it’s an entirely new “reading.” I’ll share examples of what I believe are very successful adaptations. And I mean specifically movie (or TV series) adaptations, as there are plenty of amazing covers out there, but we won’t count those today, or we’d simply get lost in them.

So, my criteria were simple:

  1. The melody or song featured in the film existed long before the movie’s release and was already well-known.
  2. It was released as part of the film (soundtrack).
  3. To me personally, it seems very interesting and, in some ways, even better than the original.

I’ll start with a film that is truly rich in such “second winds” — Hipsters by Valery Todorovsky (oh my goodness, it’s already been 13 years since its release, but it feels like it was just yesterday!). Every musical number in the movie is outstanding, so I’ll highlight just three of the absolute best.

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Song: Polonaise by Ogiński / “Farewell to the Homeland”

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It’s strange, but there aren’t that many songs widely associated with Belarus and the Belarusian people. Most likely, the first songs that come to mind are from the Soviet era, performed by “Pesnyary” with Mulyavin or “Syabry.” I imagine “Belovezhskaya Pushcha” and “Alesya” would be among the first to be mentioned.

What’s rather disheartening is that even Belarusians themselves would likely struggle to recall much. And the piece I want to highlight now isn’t even recognized by many as a song—let alone a Belarusian one. It’s not so simple.

This piece is most commonly known simply as “Ogiński’s Polonaise.” Far fewer people know its second title, “Farewell to the Homeland.”

Even its connection to Belarus is not entirely straightforward. Composer Michał Ogiński is now often considered Polish. This particular polonaise (originally titled simply “Polonaise No. 13,” complete with that “lucky” number) was composed in 1794. According to legend, he wrote it as he was leaving the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth after the Russian Empire crushed the Kościuszko Uprising (and there’s debate about whether Kościuszko himself was Polish or Belarusian).

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Song: NIZKIZ “Rules” (Pravily)

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It’s strange—I was sure I’d written about this song, but it turns out that amidst a series of events, I simply forgot.

I was familiar with the Belarusian band NIZKIZ by name, but I hadn’t really listened to them. A year ago, after the events in Belarus, some of their songs started to resonate with me and found their way into my playlist. The song “Правілы” (“Rules”) is clearly dedicated to what happened in the summer of 2020. The official music video makes this absolutely clear (The music video for this song disappeared from YouTube after almost all the band members were imprisoned by “the most fair court in the world.”) And in this combination of sound and visuals, the song tears at your soul even more deeply.

I’m proud of Belarusians!

Masterpiece Songs from Flop Films

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Recently, I was playing some of my favorite songs for the kids in the car. At some point, I caught myself thinking that many of these songs are far more famous than the movies they appeared in. Usually, it’s the other way around: the soundtrack (music and songs) fades into the background as we get absorbed by the story. Sometimes, both the film and the songs are great, and we end up happily humming the tunes afterward—or they even become hits.

The latter category includes “Prekrasnoye Daleko” (“The Beautiful Far Away”) from the excellent film “Guest from the Future“ (which deviates significantly from Kir Bulychev’s original story, but as kids, we were glued to the screen, and Natasha Guseva—the lead actress—became every boy’s favorite girl in the USSR for years). Or “Krylatye Kacheli” (“The Swinging Swings”) from “The Adventures of the Electronic“. There are plenty of other examples too.

But let’s think about cases where we remember the songs, but the movies didn’t leave much of an impression. Of course, I can’t name them all, so I invite you to add your examples in the comments. I’ll share a few from my own playlist, and I’ll add any suggestions from the comments to the post.

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Slot: Slot feat. Neuromonach Feofan “Ancient Russian Soul”

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The Russian-speaking audience is likely familiar with the band Neuromonakh Feofan (literally meaning “Neuromonk Theophanes”), but I doubt it is well-known outside those circles. A few years ago, it became a phenomenon—a mysterious performer embodying the image of an old Russian schemamonk, singing in a style that resembles traditional ancient Russian folk music (or at least what we recognize as such, inspired by Russian fairy-tale movies) but with a modern twist.

The song I want to share today is a collaboration between two bands: Neuromonakh Feofan and Slot. Its title in English is “Ancient Russian Soul”. The track combines Neuromonakh’s traditional style with elements of techno dance music. I believe it could be intriguing for non-Russian listeners to hear at least once. For me, it was a very impressive discovery. Unfortunately, there is no official video for this song. Below, I’ve included a concert video and the Spotify version of the song. I hope you enjoy it!

Song: Grechka “Love Me, Love”

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Once, Alexander Pushnoy brilliantly covered the song “I’m Losing My Roots” by the band Korni in the style of Splean and Boris Grebenshchikov (BG). At the end, he concluded with the phrase, “The song is nothing; the performance is everything.”

This happens with other songs as well. Many years ago, the Otpetye Moshenniki released a pop song called “Love Me” that played everywhere but remained just a pop song. Until it was performed by the relatively unknown singer Grechka. And here, as they say, “feel the difference.” The song immediately took on a completely new life. I first heard it in the series “Peace! Friendship! Chewing Gum!“ (which, by the way, is a pretty decent show about teenagers in the ’90s). Take a listen yourself:

An additional fact about this song: its author is Alexander Kozlov, the founder, keyboardist, and composer of many songs for the band “Agata Kristi.”