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The Birth of Pussy Riot: Six Early Songs

Their flashing lights can't help them, Kennedy will be there to receive them

The “flashing lights” here, migalki in Russian, refers to how “wealthy and well-connected Russians are given (often officially, via government agencies) flashing blue lights known as migalki to circumvent traffic laws on everything from speeding through stop lights to going the wrong way down one-way streets. These migalki are a very visible, daily reminder of the wide separation between the haves and have-nots in modern Russian society, and a stark illustration of what an anarchist like Kropotkin would have described as the unfair, oppressive character shared by both Bolshevism and Capitalism. The lyrics imply that even these sorts of powerful, oppressive tools of the upper classes won’t protect them, any more than a presidential security team could protect Kennedy.”

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“Kropotkin-Vodka” (2011) Focusing on “the Putin era’s obsession with luxury,” the song “Kropotkin-Vodka” was written to be performed in places “where wealthy Putinists congregate,”¹ such as at a fashion show’s catwalk, high-end boutiques like those on Kuznetsky Most (a very famous and old luxury fashion district in Moscow), the hoods of luxury sport cars, and the rooftops of VIP bars near the Kremlin.² This was all done in an attempt to fight what Pussy Riot calls “Putin’s glamor,” a phenomenon “founded on passivity, conformism, and non-interference” in modern politics.³

In an effort to fight such politics, Pussy Riot held multiple performances of “Kropotkin-Vodka” from late November up until the December 4, 2011 State Duma elections.⁴ In typical Pussy Riot fashion, these performances were guerilla style and highly illegal. In one instance, members jumped onto a catwalk at a live fashion show, ignited a flammable powder, accidentally burned the hands of the member Pokhlëbka, and endangered the spectators gathered around them. During the grand finale of the VIP bar’s rooftop performance, Pussy Riot members sprayed people on the sidewalk with a fire extinguisher.⁵ Another notable performance at the Podium concept store on Kuznetsky Most ended abruptly when three Pussy Riot members ran away, accidentally stealing the dresses they had tried on prior to their impromptu performance.⁶

Performance footage provided below, followed by lyrics and cultural commentary in annotation form:

Lyrics in Russian:	Lyrics in simplified ALA-LC style:	Lyrics in English:
Оккупируй кухонной сковородкой город Выйди с пылесосом, добейся оргазма Соврати батальоны полицейских девиц Менты голые радуются новой реформе Пиздец сексистам ебаным конформистам! Кропоткин-водка плещет в желудках Тебе хорошо, а у кремлевских ублюдков Восстание сортиров, отравление смертельно Мигалки не помогут, Кеннеди встретит Пиздец легавым ебаным начальникам! Вроде поспала, день — снова угнетать Кастет в кармане, феминизм наточен В Восточную Сибирь перенеси свой суп Чтобы Райот стал достаточно груб Пиздец сексистам ебаным путинистам! Пиздец сексистам ебаным путинистам! (x3)	Okkupiruĭ kukhonnoĭ skovorodkoĭ gorod Vyĭdi s pylesosom, dobeĭsia orgazma Sovrati batal’ony politseĭskikh devits Menty golye raduiutsia novoĭ reforme Pizdets seksistam ebanym konformistam! Kropotkin-vodka pleshchet v zheludkakh Tebe khorosho, a u kremlevskikh ubliudkov Vosstanie sortirov, otravlenie smertel’no Migalki ne pomogut, Kennedi vstretit Pizdets legavym ebanym nachal’nikam! Vrode pospala, den’ — snova ugnetat’ Kastet v karmane, feminizm natochen V Vostochnuiu Sibir’ perenesi svoĭ sup Chtoby Raĭot stal dostatochno grub Pizdets seksistam ebanym putinistam! Pizdets seksistam ebanym putinistam! (x3)	Occupy the city with your kitchen frying pan Woo your vacuum, it’ll make you cum Seduce the battalions of young and unmarried policewomen Cops are rejoicing nakedly at this new reform⁷ Screw the sexist fuckin’ conformists! Kropotkin-vodka splashes in your tummies⁸ It makes you feel good, but those bastards in the Kremlin Have got a rebellion of toilets and deadly poison on their hands Their flashing lights can’t help them, Kennedy will be there to receive them⁹ Screw the snitching fuckin’ bosses!¹⁰ You were napping, it seems, and this day will once again be oppressed Load your pockets with brass knuckles, sharpen your feminism Send your homemade soup to Eastern Siberia¹¹ So that this Riot will have become crude enough Screw the sexist fuckin’ Putinists! Screw the sexist fuckin’ Putinists! (x3)

Gessen, 73.↵
“Nelegal’nyĭ tur protiv putinskogo glamura ‘Pizdеts Seksistam, Ebanym Putinistam,’” Pussy Riot: Kak v krasnoĭ tiur’me, December 1, 2011, http://pussy-riot.info/blog/2011/12/1/pizdets-seksistam.↵
“Nelegal’nyĭ tur protiv putinskogo glamura ‘Pizdеts Seksistam, Ebanym Putinistam.’”↵
Ibid.↵
Ibid.↵
Ibid.↵
Ben Mezrich, “Pussy Riot vs. Putin, Annotated by Ben Mezrich,” Medium, June 2, 2015, https://medium.com/cuepoint/pussy-riot-vs-putin-annotated-by-ben-mezrich-e8ba4769fab0.↵
“Nelegal’nyĭ tur protiv putinskogo glamura ‘Pizdеts Seksistam, Ebanym Putinistam.’”↵
Mezrich, “Pussy Riot vs. Putin, Annotated by Ben Mezrich.”↵
“Avdey Stepanovich Ter-Oganyan,” Arthive, accessed November 1, 2020, https://arthive.com/artists/27011~Avdey_Stepanovich_TerOganyan and “A. S. Ter-Oganian: Zhizn', Sud'ba i kontemporari-art,” VikiChtenie, accessed November 1, 2020, https://biography.wikireading.ru/15210.↵
“Nelegal’nyĭ tur protiv putinskogo glamura ‘Pizdеts Seksistam, Ebanym Putinistam.’”↵