V. Vysotsky and B. Pak

Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky — poet, singer-songwriter, actor and author of prose — was born on 25 January 1938 in Moscow. At school he attended a drama club and wanted to enter a theatre institute but, at his parents' insistence, entered a construction institute and soon left it. In 1956 he began studying at the school-studio of the Moscow Art Theatre; three years later he made his debut in «Преступление и наказание». He worked at the Pushkin Drama Theatre and then at the Taganka Theatre of Drama and Comedy. He appeared in nearly 30 films, in many of which his songs are heard. For the role of Captain Gleb Zheglov of the Moscow criminal investigation department in the TV series «Место встречи изменить нельзя» (director S. Govorukhin) he was posthumously awarded the USSR State Prize. He sang to a seven-string guitar; he toured in the USA, Yugoslavia, Hungary, France, Poland and Germany. In his lifetime 7 records and 1 large disc were issued. His last concert was on 16 July 1980; he died on 25 July in Moscow. He wrote «Песня о друге» in 1966 for the film «Вертикаль» (1967) (the book wrongly dates the song 1980). The song is about mountains: if a friend turns out neither friend nor foe, just “so-so”, take him into the mountains, do not leave him alone, on one rope with you — there you will find out who he is. Then two outcomes are given. The first: whoever goes limp at once and heads back down, loses heart on the glacier, stumbles and screams, is a stranger; send him away, such people are not taken up and no songs are sung about them. The second is the true friend: he did not groan or whine, though he was gloomy and angry he walked on, and when you fell off the rocks he groaned but held on; trust him as you trust yourself. Structure: condition and result («Если…, значит…»); rhyme and rhythm give the song its tune. Safety: go up mountains only with training and instruction, with experienced adults or an instructor; the poem is a figurative comparison.