Vladimir Putin, Better Than Any Psychotherapist

From the prominent Russian band Leningrad; the video has over 750K views, though it was just posted Wednesday. The band members, as I've mentioned before, aren't themselves particularly pro-Ukraine (see here and here)—they are more cynical and realist than ideological, it seems to me (see this song, which I blogged last year). But here, unless I'm completely missing things, the message is entirely obvious mockery of Putin; I thought it was worth passing along as an illustration of how some Russians are managing to criticize the authorities.

Here is my translation, though of course much is doubtless lost in the translation (thanks to my mother Anne for her help); for the Russian lyrics, see here:

The world, so to speak, is burning to the ground
But in Russia life is just getting more and more splendid
All is going according to plan, citizens, comrades
And no one will be forgotten
We will allocate billions for you, all in writing
While the budget will have all expenses entered.[1]
And in all that we were capable of hearing
He was putting a firm end to that question.

[Refrain:]
I listened, without even having time to tidy myself up.
He is better than any psychotherapist.
They tried to spook us from the very beginning
But I listened to Putin and somehow I felt such relief

Ah, but isn't it a coincidence?[2]
Honor God, our country, and our parents!
There still are traitors to the nation
But we've almost finished with them.
It became so calm and peaceful in my soul
My heart felt like gentle ivy entwined it
Too bad he spoke so briefly,[3]
I would have listened much, much longer.

[Refrain]

From the window I look at the slums
In the future, I'll prepare for recording him beforehand
I gave him a standing ovation,
I and the federal assembly
Now, no matter what streams out of the news
I make myself a cup of tea
Sadness and sorrow, out of my heart!
I just put the Putin recording on full volume

[Refrain]

My psychotherapist
My psychotherapist
My psychotherapist
My psychotherapist

[1] I confess that I don't fully grasp what this is supposed to mean in context.

[2] I'm not sure this is correctly translated, but it's my best guess.

[3] Putin's Feb. 21, 2023 speech was actually an hour and 45 minutes long.