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The Birth of Pussy Riot: Six Early Songs

As long as that thing doesn’t hit the ceiling!

Pussy Riot is arguing that it’s not just women who have such a thing as “penis envy,” as men have it, too, in their opinion. Men are jealous and envious of other men that they know and see online with bigger penises, and this envy likely makes them feel emasculated and, in return, echoes the anxiety that the young girls of Freud’s theory feel. The line containing “that giant one you saw on TV” is likely alluding to purchasable pornographic content that is nowadays available on TV. The “thing” in “As long as that thing doesn’t hit the ceiling” is referring to an actual penis, meaning that Pussy Riot is saying that there are actual men out there that would set the ceiling as their maximum ideal penis length, thereby implying the sheer ridiculousness that is men comparing and being envious of those with bigger penises. I have also italicized “thing” to reflect the air of derision evident towards it in the original Russian.

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“Kill the Sexist” (2011) “Kill the Sexist,” or as it is also known, “Kill the Sexist, Wash His Blood Away!” (Ubeĭ seksista or Ubeĭ seksista, smoĭ ego krov’) served as the public’s first introduction to the newly formed Pussy Riot. The song was played as a recording during a lecture on “punk feminism” on October 1, 2011 by Pussy Riot members Nadya Tolokonnikova and Katya Samutsevich, who were still members of the political performance art group Voina at that time.¹ As heavy sampling was quite common in Pussy Riot’s early music, the tune of “Kill the Sexist” was sampled from the group Cockney Rejects’ track “I’m Not a Fool,” while a handheld Dictaphone was used to record directly over the original lyrics.² There is no evidence online that suggests that any live public performances of this song were ever held or recorded by Pussy Riot. It is therefore possible that the resulting lyrics and song provided in this edition are not original to the version of “Kill the Sexist” that was played by Nadya and Katya on October 1, 2011.

Song recording and lyrics below, featuring cultural commentary in annotation form:

Lyrics in Russian:	Lyrics in simplified ALA-LC style:	Lyrics in English:
Тебе надоели протухшие носки, Папки твоего протухшие носки, Муж твой будет в протухших носках, Жизнь будет в протухших носках. Мать твоя в грязной посуде, С протухшей жрачкой в грязной посуде Пережаренной курицей моет полы. Мать твоя живет в тюрьме. В тюрьме горшки отмывает отстойно, В тюрьме никогда не бывает свободы Адская жизнь, господство мужчин, Выйди на улицу, освободи женщин! Нюхайте сами свои носки, Жопу свою не забывайте чесать Рыгайте, плюйте, бухайте, срите, А мы с радостью побудем лесбиянками! Сами, лохи, завидуйте пенису, Длинному пенису друга по пиву, Длинному пенису из зомбоящика, Пока уровень говна не дойдет до потолка! Стань феминисткой, феминисткой стань, Миру — мир, мужчинам — конец, Стань феминисткой, уничтожь сексиста, Убей сексиста, смой его кровь! Стань феминисткой, уничтожь сексиста, Убей сексиста, смой его кровь!	Tebe nadoeli protukhshie noski, Papki tvoego protukhshie noski, Muzh tvoĭ budet v protukhshikh noskakh, Zhizn’ budet v protukhshikh noskakh. Mat’ tvoia v griaznoĭ posude, S protukhsheĭ zhrachkoĭ v griaznoĭ posude Perezharennoĭ kuritseĭ moet poly. Mat’ tvoia zhivet v tiur’me. V tiur’me gorshki otmyvaet otstoĭno, V tiur’me nikogda ne byvaet svobody Adskaia zhizn’, gospodstvo muzhchin, Vyĭdi na ulitsu, osvobodi zhenshchin! Niukhaĭte sami svoi noski, Zhopu svoiu ne zabyvaĭte chesat' Rygaĭte, pliuĭte, bukhaĭte, srite, A my s radost’iu pobudem lesbiiankami! Sami, lokhi, zaviduĭte penisu, Dlinnomu penisu druga po pivu, Dlinnomu penisu iz zomboiashchika, Poka uroven’ govna ne doĭdet do potolka! Stan’ feministkoĭ, feministkoĭ stan’, Miru — mir, muzhchinam — konets, Stan’ feministkoĭ, unichtozh’ seksista, Ubeĭ seksista, smoĭ ego krov’! Stan’ feministkoĭ, unichtozh’ seksista, Ubeĭ seksista, smoĭ ego krov’!	You’re sick of rancid socks, Your daddy wears those rancid socks, And your husband’s gonna wear those rancid socks, And then your life’s gonna be those rancid socks. Your mom’s knee-deep in doing dirty dishes. Dishes that are covered in rancid grime While burnt chicken coats the floor. Your mom lives in a prison. When you’re in a prison, doing those dishes sucks, When you’re in a prison, freedom isn’t a thing Life is hellish under the dominance of men, Take to the streets and free the women! Sniff your own socks, And don’t forget to scratch your ass! Go belch, spit, get wasted, shit, We’d love to be lesbians! You losers, yourselves, have ‘penis envy,’³ Of your drinking buddy’s big dick, Or even of that giant one you saw on TV, As long as that thing doesn't hit the ceiling! Become a feminist, become a feminist, Peace for the world, the end of men, Become a feminist, destroy the sexist, Kill the sexist, wash his blood away! Become a feminist, destroy the sexist, Kill the sexist, wash his blood away!

Masha Gessen, Words Will Break Cement: The Passion of Pussy Riot (New York: Riverhead Books, 2014), 62.↵
Gessen, Words Will Break Cement: The Passion of Pussy Riot, 66.↵
“Zavist’ k penisu - Osnovnye poniatiia psikhoanaliza,” Psychoanalyze.ru, accessed November 20, 2020, http://psychoanalyse.ru/idea/envy.html.↵