The image above is a photo of Bulat Okudzhava, as a young boy, with his mother.
"Настоящих людей так немного" (Real People are Few) was written by Bulat Okudzhava in 1956. Below is the original Russian text, an English translation, and a performance of the poem by Bulat Okudzhava himself.
Настоящих людей так немного! Все вы врете, что век их настал. Посчитайте и честно и строго, Сколько будет на каждый квартал.
Настоящих людей очень мало: На планету - совсем ерунда, На Россию - одна моя мама. Только что она может одна?
Real people are few, that’s a fact!
You’re lying, who say there are plenty.
Go count, be strict and exact, -
per neighborhood, tell me, how many?
Real people are not very common:
worldwide – just a handful are known.
In all of Russia – my mama,
but what can she do on her own?
Born in Moscow on May 9, 1924, Bulat Okudzhava was one of the most famous bards in Russian history. He is even regarded as the founder of the so-called "bard movement" in Russia, which saw artists like Vladimir Vysotsky, who has also had work reviewed on this website, come to fruition. Okudzhava's parents were both devout communists. His father had even become a communist politician. Unfortunately, Okudzhava's father had run into conflict with his superior, Lavrentiy Beria, who eventually became one of the most feared leaders of the NKVD (an agency that had a monopoly over all law enforcement activities in the Soviet Union. This conflict resulted in Okudzhava's father's accusation of being a foreign spy. This was during the "Great Purge," in Russia, which was a brutal political campaign, led by Joseph Stalin, to eliminate anyone he considered a threat. The "Great Purge" had effectively killed approximately 750,000 people, of which Okudzhava's father was included. Okudzhava's father was first captured before his eventual murder. After his capture, Okudhava's mother was expelled from the communist party. She then had to work at "some workmen's cooperative association." Then, Okudzhava's mother spent all of her free time to get through to Beria to tell him, "you knew him, you worked with him - he can't be a Trotskyite or an English spy." A Trotskyite is someone that follows the communist ideology of Leon Trotsky, a political opponent to Joseph Stalin, who was also killed as a part of the "Great Purge." Eventually, Beria had enough of Okudzhava's mother, and one night policemen came and took her away. She ended up spending the next two decades in the Gulag. This left Bulat Okudzhava without parents, so he left with his three-year-old brother to live with their Grandma. Later, he moved to Tbilisi to live with his relatives. After a brief stint on the front lines of World War 2, Okudzhava was wounded and returned to Tbilisi to study philosophy at the local university. There he met Galina Smolyaninova, and the two of them got married in 1947. Okudzhava wrote his first song in 1943, but none of his songs achieved notoriety until the 1950s. His writing had become so popular that he quit his job as a teacher in 1961 to focus on writing. By that time, he was already a household name.
Bulat Okudzhava wrote "Real People are Few" (Настоящих людей так немного) in 1956. The song was written one year after his mother was released from the Gulag. The song comments on society, but more specifically comments on Beria and the situation regarding Okudzhava's parents' imprisonment. His primary message throughout the song is that "real" people are hard to come by, and you need to hold on to the ones that are "real". He also called Beria out for pretending to be "real," where in reality he was the reason for Okudzhava's parents' fate. He then states that "in all of Russia - my mama" is the only real one. This quote shows his love for his mother and his joy for her return. However, he then concludes the song by saying, "but what can she do on her own?" This conclusion highlights how unfair life can be, and even if people are "real", their life may be marred by forces out of their control. His mother tried to convince Beria to release Okudzhava's father, but being "real" did not help her and in the end, she spent twenty years in the Gulag.
In this poem, Okudhzava is saying that his mother is the only real person he knows. He also implies that the world would benefit if everyone was their authentic selves. Integrity and honesty are important aspects of someone’s character. In the age of fake news, it is more important than ever to maintain a high level of integrity and honesty. Often, people try to elevate themselves and their careers by projecting their fake selves, either on social media or even in regular conversation. Readers can look back at this poem and should feel inspired to project their true selves.
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