The Star Called Sun

"The Star Called Sun" (Russian: Звезда по имени Солнце, tr. Zvezda po imeni Solntse) is a song by the Soviet rock band «Kino» from the album with the same title released in 1988.

He doesn’t remember the words "yes" or "no",

He doesn’t remember any ranks or names.

And he can reach for the stars,

Aside from it's a dream,

And he falls, burned by the star

By the name of Sun...

— "The Star Called Sun" - Kino

Viktor Tsoi wrote the lyrics and music. He also sang all the songs in the album. The duration of the song in the album 3:45. In the playlist of the album, this song is the second.

The artists performing in the song are:

• Viktor Tsoi — vocals, guitar
• Yuri Kasparyan — lead guitar
• Igor Tikhomirov — bass guitar
• Georgiy Guryanov — drums

The song was included in the album "The history of this world". The song is used in the movie "Igla", directed by Rashid Nugmanov and was written by Viktor Tsoi during the filming:

The song was written on my guitar in my apartment Alma-Ata.

—Rashid Nugmanov^[1]

The song is very popular (one of the most popular songs on "Kino"). Many novice guitarists learn to play it, and there have been a lot of cover versions. The song is heard on the air of Russian radio stations daily.^[2]

Cover versions

The band Brazzaville has recorded a cover version of "The Star Called Sun" in English called «Star Called Sun» for the album East L.A. Breeze (2006). The lyrics are different to the original: it is about the death of the singer's mother David Brown.

Near a star, called sun,

It was there that my mom came undone

Sounds of a summer parade

90.5 in the shade

— «Star Called Sun», Brazzaville

The song was sung in Udmurt language by the folklore band "Buranovskiye Babushki" (Udmurt: Брангуртысь песянайёс, Russian: Бурановские бабушки) ^[3] Praskovia Fyodorova Translated the song into Udmurt.^[4]

Vyacheslav Butusov recorded the song for the tribute album to «Kino», called «KINOproby» (Russian: КИНОпробы). The album was released in 2000. The cover version is in the second part of the сompilation. Butusov with "U-Piter" band played the song on concerts.^[5] It's part of a concert programm of «Imya zvyozd».^[6]

The cover versions were also made by «Inspector», «Mara», «Natali», «Rybin-band».

Vladimir Vasilev has a quite interesting cover version. The science fiction writer wrote the fourth couplet of the song in his book «Face of black Palmira»:

Now the city turning on the lights,

Lights is our eyes,

City knows us in halcyon days,

City remembers us even in tears.

And for these two thousand years,

It got used to lights of our eyes,

It doesn't divide into ins and outs,

To him we lingered just for a moment

Under the light of a star

Called Sun...

— «Face of black Palmira», Vladimir Vasilev

— Where did from the 4th couplet of «The Star Called Sun»? — I wrote it. Ten years ago. (Vladimir Vasiliev @ Sep 25 2003) — Question-answer forum with the official site of Vasiliev.

Using song in films

The song is heard in the films:

• Quick march
• Needle (Игла)

Acknowledgement

Taking it the twelfth largest, the song was one of the "top 100 songs of the 20th century" chosen by Nashe Radio.

References

1. ↑ Lenta.Ru: Пресс-конференции: Рашид Нугманов, режиссер фильма "Игла Ремикс", и Игорь Вдовин, музыкальный продюсер проекта
2. ↑ moskva.fm — ротации песни «Звезда по имени Солнце»: группа «Кино», В. Бутусов
3. ↑ Видео on YouTube
4. ↑ Источники: Удмуртская народная песня «Звезда по имени Солнце»!!!, Хор пожилых женщин исполняет песню Цоя «Звезда по имени Солнце» на удмуртском, «Бурановские бабушки» поют песню Цоя «Звезда по имени Солнце»
5. ↑ См. запись с фестиваля «Нашествие» 2004 on YouTube
6. ↑ Источники: Бутусов и «Ю-Питер» исполнят песни «Кино» и «Наутилуса», Вячеслав Бутусов и группа Ю-Питер «Имя звезд»