506
Teenager jailed for playing anti-Kremlin song on the streets of St Petersburg
(www.independent.co.uk)
this post was submitted on 28 Oct 2025
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I believe this is the song she was playing
Terrible Google translate of the lyrics:
A lot of references to the fall of the USSR
Crazy how it went from this 5 months ago to this two weeks ago, talk about Streisand effect
Them's some fire lyrics right there. I like it.
Please explain to the lyrics to someone like me who can't understand them due to a case of severe ADHD, and possibly an undiagnosed learning disability as well.
The main thing is probably the reference to the Swan's lake which has traditionally (for many, many decades) been used to replace tv programs whenever a top official died while the succession was sorted out. That was to make sure nobody would say anything out of line.
So asking for the ballet is asking for putin to be replaced, which is obviously bad.
Hey, I’ll do my best, here is my take;
Someone feeling frustration over wanting to talk about things but the person can’t hear them because they only listen to and regurgitate what the TV (main stream media or government controlled media) wants them to say.
We were getting back up after the fall of the USSR when everything fell apart and cratered. I don’t agree with what is going on, even though you didn’t ask I am going to tell you how I feel about all this anyway.
This has been going on for 8 years now and you have turned a blind eye to it. I want to watch Swan Lake again at the ballet (referencing Russia’s primary artistic exports historically is ballet, of which Swan Lake is one of the most popular/wellknown)
Not entirely sure what this is referring to, my best guess is juxtaposing story elements of Swan Lake to current political happenings in Russia, ie comparing Putin to a grandpa and lake may be ambiguous as a reference to Swan Lake and Putin’s lakeside palace.
When we, or future generations, fix this you are just going to pretend you had nothing to do with it, you’re a liar, like the lies they tell us about why we have the right to invade Crimea in Ukraine to justify our war with an innocent country. You know it is wrong but you keep lying to yourself about why.
Repeat of the first verse; Someone feeling frustration over wanting to talk about things but the person can’t hear them because they only listen to and regurgitate what the TV (main stream media or government controlled media) wants them to say.
Repeat of the second verse but changing “Fucking inhuman monsters” to “fucking monsters”
Repeat of the first line in the fourth verse but changing fear to tremble, again most likely referencing Putin and him willing to sacrifice the people of Russia in order to keep his extreme wealth and lake side palace.
Solovyov is a famous TV presenter in Russia, which I believe the speaker believes, or is inferring, is a government shill or otherwise bought off to only report what Putin wants him to report. So they are demanding Solovyov be removed from TV and to give the people back their freedom (swans dancing)
Hope that helped if you were being sincere about needing assistence to understand it. I have ADHD myself and have several friends with both ADHD and learning disabilities (they are co-morbidities of ADHD) so I can understand the frustration.
I was being sincere. Thank you.
As someone in their late 30s with a recent diagnosis, I'm being to learn just how stigmatized my condition is. It's beyond frustrating when I get dismissed as just being lazy by even my own friends and family.
[Incoming Rant]
Nobody understands the struggle unless they have it. They don't seem to understand that it's a lot more than just forgetfulness and an inability to process long blocks of text. It is a full-blown disability that has been holding me back from reaching my full potential. Hell, I didn't even move out of my parents' house until my 30s due to my condition. Even other people with ADHD don't seem to understand that there's different levels of severity, and I'm on the more extreme end of the spectrum.
[/rant]
So again, thank you for being kind.
So, some of this is a bit of deep cut of Russian history, which is probably contributing to your confusion.
Here's my take.
The artist would like to have a conversation, but the person they want to talk to is just repeating the propaganda they see on TV.
The USSR fell in the '90s, and the artist doesn't think modern Russia has developed in a good way.
Eight years is likely referring to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The ballet bit is talking about how Swan Lake played on repeat during the fall of the USSR, as a placeholder to keep broadcast airwaves available for use as emergency broadcast. Because it has been so completely tied to the idea of political upheaval in Russia, it's recently picked up steam again as a sort of shorthand for calling for protest and resistance against the government.
Grandpa was pro-USSR, the artist wants the empire to hurry up and fall already.
Once the USSR had fallen, a lot of people tried to deny their support or involvement with it.
The song repeats a few things, and the only thing left of note is that "Solovyov" has been a news anchor on Russian television since shortly before the invasion of Ukraine.
What to I look like? A special ed. Councilor?
I didn't mean literally you. I meant anyone reading this. That's how public forums work. Anyone can reply.
I fucking love "let the swans dance"
What does it mean?
Historically, the USSR would broadcast a recording of the ballet Swan Lake (on loop I think?) when their leader died, and it was also broadcast during the failed coup in 1991. The lyrics in the song that the teenager played, assuming the above translation is correct, are a not-so-subtle call for a certain kind of event...