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about
As part of my solidarity efforts with Ukraine, I launched a fundraiser that raised over $33,000 to support Ukraine in their humanitarian and military needs.
In addition, in 2022 I recorded a song that I had written while living in Ukraine as a United State Peace Corps Volunteer (2005 - '07). The song is called Soviet Man and it tells the tale of the prototypical character “Soviet Man,” who is forced to “swear allegiance to prove he still conforms right through,” and as a result, he “learns to play the game and eat those sweet lies that they cook, but takes it with a grain of salt and spits it out when they don’t look.”
It’s about the tension that comes from being forced to conform to a system that one does not believe in. Surely many Russians must feel this way at this time, where public deviation from the established narrative can land you in jail for 15 years or more, or even worse. Soviet Man’s only comfort is “the thought that there are others like him too, who speak the lies in public but don’t believe them like those fools.”
The Ukrainian people are brave, strong, courageous and resilient. Your support greatly amplifies their ability to defend their sovereignty, their very lives. I’ll leave you with some words that my Ukrainian friend Maks Perov explained during our call prior to his deployment to the Ukrainian army, “This nation cannot be conquered,” and, “Even if we lose, even if we are totally destroyed, that’s the one win [that cannot be taken from us], that all the people out there are Ukrainian, finally.” I incorporated his words into my song.
lyrics
Soviet Man
By: Chris Bryden
Make him swear allegiance to, prove he still conforms right through
Box him in to visions of, the bright future they'll create
And disagreement is a crime, asking questions raises flags
Repeat the same old tired lines, and soon enough they'll call 'em true.
So he learns to play the game, and eat those sweet lies that they cook
But takes it with a grain of salt, and spits it out when they don't look
And though he knows it is a sham, he partly wants it to be true
So he could settle in his work, bury the thoughts that keep him awake at night.
Soviet Man puts his wool cap on, and tucks a smile inside his coat
Takes a deep breath a long look in the mirror and fastens on his boots
He knows he'll need them all to make it through the long day.
So they pass the vodka out, combined with television shows
Anything to pass the time, make you forget you are alive
He silently process life, internalize the external
He's got so many complex thoughts, but they prevent them at all costs.
But then there comes that fateful day, the system must be faced at last
But 'til his tactics are refined, he is still just an easy catch
They control the weapons he could use, like poetry the arts and prose
Which puts before him a tough chore, the mastering of metaphor.
Soviet Man puts his wool cap on, and tucks a smile inside his coat
Takes a deep breath a long look in the mirror and fastens on his boots
He knows he'll need them all to make it through the long day.
He takes comfort in the thought that there are others like him too
Who speak the lies in public but don't believe them like those fools.
In many ways I see we are just like Soviet Man
Censoring ourselves for repercussions are at hand
Until the day we can freely speak our minds...
Soviet Man puts his wool cap on, and tucks a smile inside his coat
Takes a deep breath a long look in the mirror and fastens on his boots
Soviet Man do you still walk with us today?
credits
released April 3, 2022
Chris Bryden - songwriting, lyrics, vocals, guitar, bass, keys
Robin Applewood - producer, mixing, engineering, bass, piano
Andrew Laubacher - percussion
Dan Cantrell - accordion
Valerii Reshetniak - cover photo
Issac Zimberg - graphic design for photography
Chris Bryden draws on years of storytelling, performing, writing and traveling, always seeking to excavate the inner self
and turn the harvest into art. He knows the power of sound to transform, uplift, connect and inspire. He is grateful to have a platform in which to express all that is within in the hopes that it touches a chord of resonance in others....more
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