Идиот [Idiot] [English translation]

Dostoyevsky enters the building, climbs the stairs

Takes off his sodden frock coat1, kneels.

The greater the city, the lesser the people;2

The dancers are carrying the holy head on a platter.3

The writer looks at the sky, he writes a book about life.

Dawn breaks outside, a rainy morning closes in.

The longer the famine, the wickeder the demons;

Judas salts the bread4 and in the temple the veil has been torn.5

Demons climb through the window, demons enter the soul,

Take off their sheep skins, reveal their fangs and claws.

The brighter the stars, the quieter the sound;

The rooster has crowed three times6 and the sun is rising over the world.

Prince Myshkin enters the metro, takes off his ridiculous hat,

Gets out a simple pencil and writes on the wall: 'Idiot'.

The higher the sun, the smaller the shadow;

The stone of the tomb has been rolled away;7 Easter Day has come.

The cycle of spiritual forces brings us light, brings us life,

Its slowly interlacing strands entwining us forever,

As night without light does not exist,

As day without darkness exists in you.

Idiot

Idiot

Idiot

Idiot

Idiot

Idiot

Idiot

Idiot

Idiot

Without a fatherland

Idiot

Without a homeland

Idiot

Idiot

Orphan without a homeland8

Idiot

Idiot

Idiot

Idiot

Idiot

Idiot

Idiot

Without a fatherland

Idiot

Without a homeland

Idiot

1. Formal coat worn in the 19th century, during Dostoyevsky's time.2. The main character of 'The Idiot' is Prince Myshkin, a pure, moral, upstanding young man who goes to live in Saint Petersburg, which Dostoyevsky described in another novel as "a city of half-crazed people". The novel follows his time there, where his purity is misinterpreted by those around him as idiocy. One of the themes of the novel is that a good person cannot exist long in a corrupt society.3. John the Baptist reproached King Herod for divorcing his wife and marrying Herodias, a marriage that would've been considered incestuous under Jewish law. Herodias later asked for his head on a platter. (The lyrics here state цветную (coloured) but I think I hear святую (holy) and that fits more anyway.)4. In his last supper with his disciples, Jesus said he knew who would betray him, and that person would be to whom he would give a piece of bread once he had dipped it. He proceeded to dip some bread in salt and gave it to Judas. Offering bread to guests was, in that time, a sign of love; Judas accepts Jesus's love despite everything.5. The veil was a barrier between God and people. When people gained access to God through Jesus's death, the veil was torn.6. Again at his last supper, Jesus told Peter: "Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times."7. The stone guarding Jesus's tomb was found rolled away, marking his resurrection.8. Myshkin was an orphan.

• Artist:Vyacheslav Butusov
• Album:Аллилуия (2020)