service on speed dial. Shnurov took the phone but declined the request, remembering that, a couple of years earlier, Surkov’s people had flushed Sorokin’s novels down the toilet in front of the Bolshoi theatre. The phone ended up in the hands of one of his musicians, who, during a tour in Germany, called the concierge: are in Cologne,” he “We said. do we get in touch with a local drug dealer?” “How By 2007, both the oil-fuelled economy and Shnurov’s popularity showed signs of overheating. That year the singer made a cameo appearance in a re-make of an iconic film of the perestroika era that marked the 30th anniversary of Viktor Tsoi’s song “We Demand Changes”. Standing on the same stage, Shnurov sang: The pulse in the veins is getting weak We no longer long for changes. There is no fire, just smog And nobody will die young. We are longing but not for changes – Shnurov drew a curtain on Leningrad almost at the same time as Putin stepped down as Russia’s president and put Dmitry Medvedev as a place-holder in the Kremlin. Neither was gone for long. In 2010, Shnurov returned to the stage under the slogan zhivy dlia “snova nazhivy” (“we are back for a buck”). Putin too was planning a comeback as president. But his admission that it had been long-planned, and that he had never loosened his grip on power, sparked mass protests in Moscow and St Petersburg. Shnurov mocked this sudden burst of civic activism: Buy some tickets, brothers I am democracy’s last rock star! Sure, I will not lose out I will get my percent The ring of the falling cents is sweet Drip, drip, drip, drip. The lyrics chimed with a comment of accusing protesters of taking money from the American government and likening their white ribbons to used condoms. The protesters were the educated middle class who had once made up the core of Putin’s supporters and Shnurov’s audience. These people now demanded respect and dignity, so the cynicism jarred. Shnurov found himself out of tune with the times. The Kremlin responded to the protests not just with repression, but also by promulgating a narrative Russia’s destiny. It sought to trump the idea of a modern
service on speed dial. Shnurov took the phone but declined the request, remembering that, a couple of years earlier, Surkov’s people had flushed Sorokin’s novels down the toilet in front of the Bolshoi theatre. The phone ended up in the hands of one of his musicians, who, during a tour in Germany, called the concierge: “We are in Cologne,” he said. “How do we get in touch with a local drug dealer?” By 2007, both the oil-fuelled economy and Shnurov’s popularity showed signs of overheating. That year the singer made a cameo appearance in a re-make of an iconic film of the perestroika era that marked the 30th anniversary of Viktor Tsoi’s song “We Demand Changes”. Standing on the same stage, Shnurov sang: The pulse in the veins is getting weak We no longer long for changes. There is no fire, just smog And nobody will die young. We are longing – but not for changes Shnurov drew a curtain on Leningrad almost at the same time as Putin stepped down as Russia’s president and put Dmitry Medvedev as a place-holder in the Kremlin. Neither was gone for long. In 2010, Shnurov returned to the stage under the slogan “snova zhivy dlia nazhivy” (“we are back for a buck”). Putin too was planning a comeback as president. But his admission that it had been long-planned, and that he had never loosened his grip on power, sparked mass protests in Moscow and St Petersburg. Shnurov mocked this sudden burst of civic activism: Buy some tickets, brothers I am democracy’s last rock star! Sure, I will not lose out I will get my percent The ring of the falling cents is sweet Drip, drip, drip, drip. The lyrics chimed with a comment of accusing protesters of taking money from the American government and likening their white ribbons to used condoms. The protesters were the educated middle class who had once made up the core of Putin’s supporters and Shnurov’s audience. These people now demanded respect and dignity, so the cynicism jarred. Shnurov found himself out of tune with the times. The Kremlin responded to the protests not just with repression, but also by promulgating a narrative Russia’s destiny. It sought to trump the idea of a modern
2._shnur_rocking_the_kremlin.docx