I love it when musical artists collaborate. Like, Willie Nelson with anyone else, and Frank Sinatra with anyone else, Run DMC with Aerosmith and so many other collaborations.
One of the best and most meaningful collaborative efforts I have embraced in my life was that of Sting and Prokofiev; Sure, lil' Gordy (as I'm sure he was called) was born in 1951 and Sergei passed away in 1953 but what they accomplished in that time was beautiful.
Together they wrote the song "Russians." Okay, Sergei Prokofiev wrote the brilliant score of "Lieutenant Kije'" which is an amazing piece of music and Gordon Sumner (Sting) utilized Kije's theme for the music to Russians, a very touching song. Russians came out at a time when I was just starting to understand the cold war. Ironically, what I understood was that it didn't make a whole lot of sense.
"So let me get this straight. The Russians want to blow us up because we don't agree with them but they know that we'll just blow them up right back so neither of us will have anyone to disagree with or even agree with for that matter? That seems stupid?"
I likened this to that time in the 7th grade when a big bully told me he was going to "beat me up" because I didn't like him. Of course, my smart ass self replied with something like "and you think beating me up will make me like you?" He beat me up anyway but I'm pretty sure I got my point across. I never did like him.
So Sting and Prokofiev's song suddenly got me to think on a different level. Maybe Soviet kids were sitting over there in their country thinking the same thing I was: "Mom, Dad, they want to blow us up? This sounds stupid!" of course, they probably said it in a language other than English.
Growing up a Navy brat I was always aware of a "cold war" but didn't fully understand. My friends and I actually discussed, and at times even argued over, what number we were on the U.S.S.R's list of Nuclear Targets. "It goes, New York, Chicago, Washington D.C., Pascagoula and Goose Creek! We're in the top 5!" And if some kid suggested that maybe Philadelphia, or Miami, or California was ranked higher, than us, there was a fight to be had!
But my Dad was a very sensible man. As a hardened submariner I pretty much expected him to be very "GO TEAM, WIN!!!" but he was more practical and level headed than that.
"Dad, do you hate the Soviets?"
"No son, of course not. I just don't like their submarines." He would say with a somewhat serious smile.
But that was enough to help me grow up not being a world damning fanatic! If Russians felt the same way as my Dad and now me and they really loved their kids, then maybe there was hope for all people.
In my adolescent mind I thought maybe the U.S.S.R. and the U.S.A were just the big kids on the block trying to impress some cute girl. Of course, her name was "Afghanistan" and I'm sure the Russians got to the point where they said "she's too complicated and high maintenance, you can have her" and now they're looking at us saying "Oh MY GOD!!! You're really taking her out? We were sooooo KIDDING!!! High Maintenance though! Am I right? Yeahhhhh I'm right!"
But another point that I took away from the song Russians was that all the nations in the middle of us were none too pleased. They were like the last few items left on a buffet, with two really hungry fat guys on either side trying to pick out who gets what, all the while hoping that the sneeze guard really works!
So, here I am, 27 years after hearing a beautiful piece of music that changed my soul. Of course, my Mom introduced me to Prokofiev, Shostakovitch, Tchaikovsky and many other amazing Soviet composers (as well as Mozart, Beethoven, Bach and The Beatles) and my Dad introduced me to the reality of level headed thinking (unless I forgot to mow the lawn, again) but Sting introduced me to a human mindset shared by Americans, Russians and Europeans.
And now I have a blog. For my own theraputic purposes I type pointless thoughts that come to my head and I really hope I don't offend anyone. I've come to realize that I have a really good following in my home nation but my second largest following is from Russia. I have no idea why or how this has happened but I really appreciate you for reading.
So thank you Russian Readers for checking in each day... and thank you for Beef Stroganoff, Chicken Kiev and Vodka! Those are three of the best secrets my people ever stole from your people! I hope you are not trying to steal any secrets from me. I don't know any.
Okay, so yeah, there's some residual cold war stuff still in my head. Sorry.
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