Intensification '90

Кино—Кончится лето (1990 / Post punk)

Hello internet pals of music. Today we’re thinking about the collapse of the Soviet Union with a band more Westerners should know.

---

Typical Tuesday night over here out in the Texas suburbs. Watching Adam Curtis’s terrifying five part film series TraumaZone (What It Felt Like To Live Though the End of Communism and Democracy) again, and wondering how the USSR might have incorporated AI into it’s famous Five Year Plans, had it not totally collapsed as an economic system.

Now look, I’m not pretending to be an authority on the USSR, I’m just going off the surface level scraping I’ve done—but if they were using data science to map out the structural needs of Soviet society, based on the idea that numbers would create the ultimate logical order, than itvseems pretty likely they could’ve set up their own Colossus (without Dr Forbin) and then who knows…maybe Communism would’ve worked.

Anyway, Adam Curtis. Some people love his work, others sneer at it. I’ve never heard an in-between opinion. I think he’s very good at what he does, which is to make narrative out of collage in a cynical, punk and important way. Critics say he’s too stylized, or too simplistic. Well we’ve all been fooled into buying into this thing we’re all now stuck in, and Curtis is probably right to cut out the grey area at this point because frankly it is pretty simple that the Western post-war ideal was, well, rotting as we ate it up.

Oh yes, music.

---

SERMONS! is reader-supported. If you’re wishing to support our work, I encourage you to become a subscriber. Otherwise, we’ll all probably forget about this thing.

---

I discovered Кино (Kino) several years ago by accident, while I was putting together this video playlist, while again thinking about the collapse of the USSR. I ended up not including them, most likely because I had bigger plans that I subsequently forgot.

How typical.

This song title’s closest translation, as far as I can gather is, Summer Will End. Like what I’ve read about much of their other songs, it is not explicitly political, but is ambiguous enough that anyone looking to affix meaning to it, could. What this song gets right, is that feeling that maybe both communism and capitalism leave us with, which is the doldrums—day in, day out, we’re just biding our time and eventually the reality that nothing really ever changes. There is a lyric video available for this, but whoever put it together used footage of, the collapse…of the…Soviet Union. I think it deserves to not be tethered to that, and maybe the late Viktor Tsoi, singer-leader might agree. But I’m including a wonky translation because even in this garble, I can tell he was a great lyricist.

I'm turning TV-set off, I'm writing letter to you

That I can't look at shit anymore

That I don't have powers anymore

That I'm almost started to drink, but haven't forgotten you

That phone was ringing, wanted that I get up,

Dress and go, more accurately that I run

But I said him "to hell with you"

Said that I'm sick and tired and didn't sleep this night

I'm waiting for answer, there aren't hopes anymore

Soon summer will end.

This (summer)...

Now there is good weather - it's raining for 4 days,

But radio said that even shade will be hot.

But nevertheless in my shade

Now is dry and heat, but I'm afraid now...

And time goes day by day, one day we eat, three days we drink,

And at all our life is funny it's not important that out of the window is rain

Tape recorder broke,

I'm sitting in silence and I'm glad of it

I'm waiting for answer, there aren't hopes anymore

Soon summer will end.

This (summer)...

---

SERMONS! is brought to you by Musik Klub. You can also find Jamie on Twitter and Instagram, if that’s your thing. Like what you’re hearing? Help spread the word!

---

Musik Klub: “Everythang’s Workin”