When the world gets closer.

We help you see farther.

Sign up to our expressly international daily newsletter.

Already a subscriber? Log in .

You've reached your limit of one free article.

Get unlimited access to Worldcrunch

You can cancel anytime .

SUBSCRIBERS BENEFITS

Exclusive International news coverage

Ad-free experience NEW

Weekly digital Magazine NEW

9 daily & weekly Newsletters

Access to Worldcrunch archives

Free trial

30-days free access, then $2.90
per month.

Annual Access BEST VALUE

$19.90 per year, save $14.90 compared to monthly billing.save $14.90.

Subscribe to Worldcrunch
Russia

Russian Rocker Changes His Tune About Ex-Pal Putin

Borrowing from a long tradition of Russian protest music, well-known singer Andrei Makarevich has just released a satirical song on YouTube that pokes fun at the country’s powerful prime minister, Vladimir Putin.

Andrei Makarevich recording
Andrei Makarevich recording

Worldcrunch *NEWSBITES

MOSCOW -- Andrei Makarevich used to be friends with Vladimir Putin. He and the Russian prime minister even attended a Paul McCartney together at one point. Nowadays, however, Makarevich, a well-known musician, is singing a very different tune.

Early Thursday morning, Makarevich released a clearly satirical song on YouTube called "Putin is coming to Kholuyevo," about a fictional small town preparing for a visit from the prime minister. By 1 p.m. in Russia, the song had already garnered nearly 2,000 views.

"Our path is endlessly difficult," Makarevich sings. "Either our head's against the wall or the reverse. Putin is coming to see us in Kholuyevo, so that he can see how the rest of the country is living."

The tune, accompanied by an acoustic guitar and spoken as much as sung, sounded not at all unlike Soviet-era protest songs, which used humor in a similar way to describe common situations and to protest conditions and oppression in the communist era.

But although the song clearly draws from a long tradition of Russian opposition music, it is somewhat of a first – and a change in political leaning – for Makarevich. Despite rising to fame in the 1970s, when others sang obviously political songs, Makarevich has not been particularly political. Instead he had always been close to the heads of Russian government.

In 2008, Makarevich was one of just a handful of artists invited to perform at an official concert following Dimitri Medvedev's election as president. During that concert, the audience was primarily made up of pro-Kremlin youth from the group "Nashi," a youth movement started by Putin in 2005.

Makarevich mentions Nashi in his new song. "Bums have been taken away on stretchers, the main street has been scraped clean of animal droppings," he sings. "All the schoolchildren are wearing the Nashi uniform, just in case he happens to ask questions."

The rocker first began offering hints about his political change of heart late last year. In December, he was one of many people who signed an open letter condemning Michail Khodorkovsky's new sentence. And after the "United Russia" convention, when it became clear that Putin would run for president of the Russian Federation yet again, Makarevich complained openly in an interview on radio "Svoboda"

"We have already been told who is going to be president," he said. "It's not about Putin, it's about the feeling that even the last crumbs of our right to vote are being taken away from us."

Read the full original story in Russian by Andrei Kozenko

Photo – Youtube

*Newsbites are digest items, not direct translations

You've reached your limit of free articles.

To read the full story, start your free trial today.

Get unlimited access. Cancel anytime.

Exclusive coverage from the world's top sources, in English for the first time.

Insights from the widest range of perspectives, languages and countries.

Society

Should Christians Be Scared Of Horror Movies?

Horror films have a complicated and rich history with christian themes and influences, but how healthy is it for audiences watching?

Should Christians Be Scared Of Horror Movies?

"The Nun II" was released on Sept. 2023.

Joseph Holmes

“The Nun II” has little to show for itself except for its repetitive jump scares — but could it also be a danger to your soul?

Christians have a complicated relationship with the horror genre. On the one hand, horror movies are one of the few types of Hollywood films that unapologetically treat Christianity (particularly Catholicism) as good.

“The Exorcist” remains one of the most successful and acclaimed movies of all time. More recently, “The Conjuring” franchise — about a wholesome husband and wife duo who fight demons for the Catholic Church in the 1970s and related spinoffs about the monsters they’ve fought — has more reverent references to Jesus than almost any movie I can think of in recent memory (even more than many faith-based films).

The Catholic film critic Deacon Steven Greydanus once mentioned that one of the few places where you can find substantial positive Catholic representation was inhorror films.

Keep reading...Show less

The latest