Кем быть (Who to Be)

Song Meaning

The lyrics open with a cascade of aspirational roles: a policeman, a film director, a rescuer of children, even a communist tending gardens. This initial burst of potential futures feels almost like a child's wish list, full of grand, perhaps naive, ideals. The narrator seems to be grappling with a vast, undefined future, a blank canvas of possibilities that quickly gets painted over by a harsh reality. The central tension explodes in the chorus: "Around are only cops! Around are only assholes!." This stark contrast between the lofty aspirations and the grim, cynical present is jarring. The idea that "punks rule punks" and that this is their "high" suggests a self-perpetuating cycle of low expectations and brutal social dynamics. It’s a world where the only power available is the power to oppress others within the same desperate strata. The second verse plunges into a forced, almost involuntary descent into vice and violence: "You'll smoke and drink by force / You'll fuck and beat by force." The imagery of disrespecting authority figures, like "pissing in Brezhnev's mouth," and the chilling detail of wiping a knife after a grimace, paints a picture of nihilistic rebellion. It’s not a choice, but a consequence of the environment described in the chorus. Ultimately, the lyrics question whether any of these initial dreams mattered. The narrator wonders if the subject "knew it all beforehand" or was just a "cynical fool." The final verse suggests a bitter fulfillment of the initial aspirations, but twisted: the policeman catches him, the director mocks him, the communist lectures him. The repeated, almost defiant assertion that "this is our high" lands with a heavy, resigned irony, suggesting that in this bleak landscape, even degradation has become the only attainable form of pleasure or power.