Poems and Songs of Vladimir Vysotsky. Serving the Elements.
Commentary to “A Pirate Song”.
This song reflects the events to come described in the eleventh chapter of the Revelation to Saint John. The two scoundrels symbolize the two prophets. The captain symbolizes the Almighty Allah, glorious and exalted is He, and the fact that he has thrown overboard the last booty corresponds to the words of Jesus Christ, peace be upon him, saying, “Every plant which my heavenly Father planted not, shall be rooted up.” (The Gospel According to Saint Matthew, chapter 15, verse 13.) The pirates symbolize mankind, and this comparison corresponds to the words of Porphyry Ivanov, peace be upon him, that we have chosen a wrong path of life. And the two leaders who are not afraid of anything are the “democrats” and the Zionists, but it can also be two persons.
It is pertinent to recall here Bulat Okudzhava’s “A Pirate Lyrical Song” (1979).
The quotes from the Holy Bible given in this publication are taken from the Revised Version of the Holy Bible.