Song of a Fighter Plane (Песня самолета-истребителя)

"Song of a Fighter Plane", Vladimir Vysotsky, USSR, 1968 This song represents a lot of Vysotsky's work: it's a war song, a lyrical song, a story, and a song where Vysotsky takes a unique role: the role of a fighter plane. According to v-vissotsky.ru, this is the second song of "Two Songs About One Dogfight ('Air Battle')", the first being "Песня летчика" (Song of a Pilot). Lyrically, the two songs do seem to detail the same event (a WWII dogfight) from two different perspectives: the pilot and his plane. Translations are readily available for both songs (see wysotsky.com for details). Throughout this song, we see two recurring phrases: The first is the third line of a stanza being "Тот, который во мне сидит" (The one who sits in me). This is changed to "Тот, который во мне сидел" (The one who sat in me) in the last repetition, after the pilot dies. It's interesting and ironic that our inanimate plane refers to his pilot as "the one who sits in me" rather than "my pilot" (the word 'pilot' is only said once, in a sarcastic 'eh, another 'ace pilot!'). There is also another variant: 'The one who is in my skull', which further disconnects the expected 'pilot-plane' relationship. Furthermore, there's a theme throughout the song: the plane attributes all actions to itself - 'I shot down a Junkers', 'I come out of the dive', etc. Our plane seems to believe that it can do things by itself, and the pilot just forces it to do difficult things - likely why our plane contempts him so. In the penultimate stanza, when the pilot dies, our plane is at first happy at being able to fly freely, but is then shocked to find that he's in a deep dive that he can't get out of (because planes can't really fly themselves). The second recurring phrase is the expression "Мир вашему дому!" (Peace to your home, or peace be to your house). This phrase is said thrice, around every 'third of the way through.' We can divide the song into three parts with it, if we wish. Notably, 'singing' this phrase is associated with death: it is first sung by bombs, then an exploding wingman, and finally our crashing plane. The song's plot is as thus: The plane announces itself as "Yak", a fighter plane - but "the one who sits in [him] believes that HE'S the fighter". We are introduced to this song's topic: a fighter plane who holds his pilot in contempt. In this battle, our plane shot down a "Junkers" plane, but the pilot has really got on his nerves. The plane names date this song to World War II. The plane complains that he was damaged in the previous battle, but the pilot is again forcing him into a tailspin. The plane comments: from the bombers, the bombs carry death to the aerodromes (airports/airfields) - and it seems that the stabilizers sing "Peace be to your home!" The action now begins: a "Messerschmitt" (an infamous German fighter plane) approaches - our plane threatens to leave, tired of wounds - but the pilot decides to ram the Messerschmitt. The plane is shocked - what's he doing? There's going to be an explosion! But the plane isn't to burn on the sand - for, with all limitations and speeds exceeded, the plane escapes out of the dive that he's in. Our plane tells us that it's the leading plane, but behind him... where's his wingman?! His wingman bursts into smoke, 'nods', and sings: "Peace be to your home!" With the wingman dead, the pilot is now alone, but he continues fighting, leading the plane 'astray and into a dive straight out of a loop'. The pilot jerks a lever towards himself, and the stress on the plane is doubled - the plane bitterly says 'Eh, another 'ace pilot!''. And the plane is forced to obey again, but this is the last time. Frustrated with the difficult maneuvers, the plane swears to be obedient no longer: 'it's better to lay on the ground!'. The plane then asks how/why the pilot doesn't hear how his 'pulse is going crazy': 'gasoline - my blood - is at zero!'. The plane says 'the patience of a machine has its limits'... and the pilot's time runs out, as he 'suddenly sticks his head into the glass'. The plane exclaims 'He's dead! I'm happy! I fly light, I burn the last of my strength...' - but now the plane is in a deep dive, and it can't get out of it in any way. The final stanza gives some dying words: 'It's a shame that I myself didn't manage much - but let it work out for someone else!' It turns out that, in the end, he too sings "Peace be to your home!" The expression is repeated a second time, and the song ends: our plane likely crashes and dies. This is an incredibly interesting song to analyze and think about, especially if we take into account its companion song "Song of a Pilot". Once again, if more fluid and interpretive translations are necessary: http://wysotsky.com/wysotsky/0002/008.asp?n=60 Alternative titles: «Смерть истребителя в тринадцати заходах» - "Death of a Fighter on the Thirteenth Run" «Я – “Як”-истребитель» - "I'm a "Yak" fighter"