USSR Anthem
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Origin
The USSR Anthem, officially known as The State Anthem of the Soviet Union, is a famous National Anthem belonging to the now dissolved Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.), a communist state located in Eurasia.[1] The anthem has since been heavily remixed and covered online, specifically on YouTube.
Origin
In 1938, composer Alexander Vasiyevich Alexandrov wrote a piece to be the hymn for the popular Bolshevik Party in the Soviet Union. Eventually, it was picked up by the Soviet leader, Joseph Stalin from a contest for the country's national anthem. It was rewritten to have lines referring to the defeat of Nazi Germany, the Great Patriotic War, and Stalin being for the people. On March 15th, 1944, the song was adopted as the official anthem of the union (shown below).
After Stalin's death in 1953 however, the lyrics, which had many references to the former leader, started to be deemed as "unacceptable", and the song was mostly played without lyrics during events. So, in 1977, in celebration of the 60th anniversary for the creation of the Soviet Union through the October Revolution, revised lyrics were created which removed the nods toward Stalin, as well as many other references. It's this version which is heavily used online (shown below).
Lyrics
The lyrics for both the 1944 and 1977 versions of the anthem, along with their English translations.[2]
Союз нерушимый республик свободных
Сплотила навеки Великая Русь.
Да здравствует созданный волей народов
Единый, могучий Советский Союз!Славься, Отечество наше свободное,
Дружбы, народов надежный оплот!
Знамя советское, знамя народное
Пусть от победы, к победе ведет!Сквозь грозы сияло нам солнце свободы,
И Ленин великий нам путь озарил.
Нас вырастил Сталин – на верность народу
На труд и на подвиги нас вдохновил.Славься, Отечество чаше свободное,
Счастья народов надежный оплот!
Знамя советское, знамя народное
Пусть от победы к победе ведет!Мы армию нашу растили в сраженьях,
Захватчиков подлых с дороги сметем!
Мы в битвах решаем судьбу поколений,
Мы к славе Отчизну свою поведем!Славься, Отечество наше свободное,
Славы народов надежный оплот!
Знамя советское, знамя народное
Пусть от победы к победе ведет!
United forever in friendship and labor,
Our mighty republics will ever endure.
The Great Soviet Union will live through the ages.
The dream of a people their fortress secure.Long live our Soviet motherland,
Built by the people's mighty hand.
Long live our people, united and free.
Strong in our friendship tried by fire.
Long may our crimson flag inspire,
Shining in glory for all men to see.Through days dark and stormy where Great Lenin lead us
Our eyes saw the bright sun of freedom above
And Stalin our leader with faith in the people,
Inspired us to build up the land that we love.Long live our Soviet motherland,
Built by the people's mighty hand.
Long live our people, united and free.
Strong in our friendship tried by fire.
Long may our crimson flag inspire,
Shining in glory for all men to see.We fought for the future, destroyed the invaders,
And brought to our homeland the laurels of fame.
Our glory will live in the memory of nations
And all generations will honor her name.Long live our Soviet motherland,
Built by the people's mighty hand.
Long live our people, united and free.
Strong in our friendship tried by fire.
Long may our crimson flag inspire,
Shining in glory for all men to see.
Союз нерушимый республик свободных
Сплотила навеки Великая Русь.
Да здравствует созданный волей народов
Единый, могучий Советский Союз!Славься, Отечество наше свободное,
Дружбы народов надёжный оплот!
Партия Ленина – сила народная
Нас к торжеству коммунизма ведёт!Сквозь грозы сияло нам солнце свободы,
И Ленин великий нам путь озарил,
На правое дело он поднял народы,
На труд и на подвиги нас вдохновил.Славься, Отечество наше свободное,
Дружбы народов надёжный оплот!
Партия Ленина – сила народная
Нас к торжеству коммунизма ведёт!В победе бессмертных идей коммунизма
Мы видим грядущее нашей страны
И Красному знамени славной Отчизны
Мы будем всегда беззаветно верны!Славься, Отечество наше свободное,
Дружбы народов надёжный оплот!
Партия Ленина – сила народная
Нас к торжеству коммунизма ведёт!
Unbreakable Union of freeborn Republics,
Great Russia has welded forever to stand.
Created in struggle by will of the people,
United and mighty, our Soviet land!Sing to the Motherland, home of the free,
Bulwark of peoples in brotherhood strong.
O Party of Lenin, the strength of the people,
To Communism's triumph lead us on!Through tempests, the sunrays of freedom have cheered us,
Along the new path where great Lenin did lead.
To a righteous cause, he raised up the peoples,
Inspired them to labor and valourous deed.Sing to the Motherland, home of the free,
Bulwark of peoples in brotherhood strong.
O Party of Lenin, the strength of the people,
To Communism's triumph lead us on!In the victory of Communism's immortal ideal,
We see the future of our dear land.
And to her fluttering scarlet banner,
Selflessly true we always shall stand!Sing to the Motherland, home of the free,
Bulwark of peoples in brotherhood strong.
O Party of Lenin, the strength of the people,
To Communism's triumph lead us on!
Spread
Although the anthem has been used previously, most notably with a Techno remix done by YouTuber Sundiwarrior, which was posted on January 30th, 2013 and has over 1.2 million views (shown below, left),[3] remixes online only became popular around late 2016, or around the time ironically supporting Communism started gaining popularity.[4] The first memetic use at this time was by YouTuber Salim Bin Alim, who created a cover using Jazz, on September 9th, 2016. As of April 2018, this video has over 29,000 views (shown below, right).[5]
On November 7th, 2016, a shittyflute version was posted to YouTube. Within a year and a half, the video (shown below) has amassed over 750,000 views as of April 25th, 2018 (shown below, left).[6]
Nineteen days later, on November 26th on the same year, YouTube user Stalin's Headquarters uploaded an edit of a Simpsons scene, Barts Testing Megaphones with the anthem, which accumulated almost a million views as of April 25th, 2018 (shown below, left).[7] In 2017, the anthem was used more in remixes and covers. For example, on April 15th, 2017, YouTuber Grandayy remixed the song with Smash Mouth's All Star, and garnered over 1.4 million views and 5,000 comments (shown below, right).[8]
On August 2nd, 2017, YouTuber TheRBZ created a Minecraft cover for the song using noteblocks. This video has over 1.9 million views as of April 25th, 2018 (shown below, right).[9]
Various Examples
Search Interest
External References
[1] Encyclopedia Britannica Soviet Union
[2] Marxists.org – Lyrics: The Soviet National Anthem
[3] YouTube – DJ Stalin – National Techno Anthem of The Union of Soviet Socialist Republic
[4] Google Trends – Communism Meme, USSR Anthem
[5] YouTube – Soviet Anthem – Jazz Version
[6] YouTube – RUSSIAN / USSR ANTHEM – SHITTYFLUTED
[7] YouTube – soviet bart
[8] YouTube – Be glorious, our free Swampland!
[9] YouTube – Minecraft: U.S.S.R. Anthem in Noteblocks
Top Comments
Vomkrieg
Apr 29, 2018 at 03:40PM EDT
Kazuhira Miller
Apr 28, 2018 at 09:43PM EDT