Mr. Oleg Gazmanov a Russian pop star with close connections to the Kremlin has written a major new hit song “Made in U.S.S.R.” According to The New York Times the song is winning regular airplay on Russian radio. The song looks back fondly on the Soviet Union and glorifies Lenin and Stalin, under whom millions of people (twenty to be exact) were executed. Mr. Gazmanov has emerged as the country’s leading champion of the Russia’s Soviet history, writes E. Arvedlund in The Times. Gazmanov regularly performs at government sponsored functions, and he headlined the concert celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Allied victory in Europe. Russian President Putin has bestowed on him the Soviet-era title of “People’s Artist.” Here’s the first verse of “Made in U.S.S.R.”:
The Ukraine and the Cremea, Belarus
and Moldova–
This is my country.
Sakhalin and Kamchatka, the Ural
Mountains–
This is my country.
Krasnoyarsk Krai, Siberia and
Povolzhe,
Kazakhsta and the Caucasu, and the Baltics, too.
