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niment. The topics varied from the usual
humorous critiques of Soviet bureaucratism and
shortcomings that were permissible in the
Brezhnev era to songs on taboo topics such as
labor camps. Although authorities disapproved
of the latter and disliked his nonconformism,
Vysotsky managed to avoid official persecution.
Like Bulat
OKUDZHAVA
and Aleksandr
GALICH
, the
extent of Vysotsky's great popularity among
Soviet audiences would not have been possible
without the growing availability of tape
recorders. His songs circulated clandestinely on
tape (
magnitizdat
), and fans wrote down his lyrics
and passed them on. A few official sanitized
recordings were issued in his lifetime, especially
toward the end of his career, when his popular-
ity was impossible to ignore. A highly creative,
tortured soul, Vysotsky died prematurely from
alcoholism and drug abuse. He was mourned
throughout the country, with many thousands
turning up for his funeral. His death brought
forth a wave of spontaneous unofficial mourn-
ing, especially in front of the Taganka Theater.
Not since Sergei
ESENIN
in the 1920s had the
tragic early death of a beloved bard touched Rus-
sians so deeply.
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