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"Zvezda po imeni Solntse" (Russian: «Звезда по имени Солнце», lit. 'A star called the Sun') is a song by the Soviet rock band Kino from the album of the same name released in 1988. The song is generally considered to be one of Kino's most popular songs. It is popular among novice guitarists in Eastern Europe, and there are many cover versions. The song is broadcast daily by Russian radio stations.

Cover versions

The American indie pop band Brazzaville recorded a cover version of the song in English called "Star Called Sun" for their 2006 album, East L.A. Breeze. The lyrics are not a direct translation, but are instead about the death of the singer's mother.

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 by the folklore band Buranovskiye Babushki (Udmurt: Брангуртысь песянайёс, Russian: Бурановские бабушки). Praskovia Fyodorova translated the song into Udmurt.

Vyacheslav Butusov recorded the song for the 2000 tribute album to Kino, KINOproby (Russian: КИНОпробы). Butusov has also played the song in concerts with his band U-Piter. It is part of a concert program of «Imya zvyozd».

Cover versions have also been made by Inspector, Mara, Natali, and Rybin-band.

The science fiction writer Vladimir Vasilyev wrote a fourth verse for the song in his book Black Palmira's Face (Russian: Лик Черной Пальмиры), which takes place in the same universe as Sergei Lukyanenko's Watch series.

Personnel

The artists performing the album version of the song are:

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

References

The song is heard in the films The Forced March (Russian: Марш-бросок) and The Needle (Russian: Игла). The 2002 compilation album Kino v Kino (Russian: «Кино в Кино», lit. 'Kino at the Movies') includes the version of "Zvezda po imeni Solntse" used in The Needle. The song was also included in the album The History of this World (Russian: История этого мира, romanized: Istorija ètogo mira). The song is used in the 1988 movie The Needle, directed by Rashid Nugmanov, and was written by Viktor Tsoi during filming.

Legacy

Nashe Radio ranked the song 12th on its list of the "Top 100 Songs of the 20th Century".

References

1. moskva.fm — ротации песни «Звезда по имени Солнце»: группа «Кино» Archived 2012-12-02 at WebCite, В. Бутусов Archived 2012-12-02 at WebCite
2. Видео on YouTube
3. Источники: Удмуртская народная песня «Звезда по имени Солнце»!!!, Хор пожилых женщин исполняет песню Цоя «Звезда по имени Солнце» на удмуртском Archived 2012-12-02 at WebCite, «Бурановские бабушки» поют песню Цоя «Звезда по имени Солнце» Archived 2008-04-13 at the Wayback Machine
4. См. запись с фестиваля «Нашествие» 2004 on YouTube
5. Источники: Бутусов и «Ю-Питер» исполнят песни «Кино» и «Наутилуса», Вячеслав Бутусов и группа Ю-Питер «Имя звезд» Archived 2012-03-30 at the Wayback Machine
6. "Рашид Нугманов, режиссер фильма "Игла Ремикс", и Игорь Вдовин, музыкальный продюсер проекта". lenta.ru. Retrieved 2019-07-04.

• Songs about death
• Songs about mothers
• 1988 songs
• Anti-war songs
• Soviet songs
• Kino (band) songs