Slava Vakarchuk, Ukraine’s biggest rock star, is one of many artists to have joined the war effort. But he doesn’t consider himself a hero
A LITTLE GIRL sings “Let It Go” in a bomb shelter. A cellist plays alone in a ruined city. The chorus of the Odessa opera performs Verdi in the open air. The clips of Ukrainians making music in adversity are among the war’s most poignant: the melodies seem at once ephemeral and indomitable, ordinary and defiant. In one video, a stubbly man in a hoodie sings for an entranced crowd taking shelter in Kharkiv’s metro. Gradually the listeners join in, as if in a rite.
He is one of the many Ukrainian actors, musicians and dancers to have joined the war effort. Several have been wounded or killed. He doesn’t consider himself a hero: “I’m not Mel Gibson in ‘Braveheart’.” Everyone knows fear, he says, but you do what you can “to make the victory closer”. In his case, signing up to the army has let him criss-cross his embattled country with his guitar.
Rock’n’roll has often been politics by other means. During the Orange revolution of 2004, when protests overturned a rigged election, Okean Elzy played sets on Independence Square to keep morale and the numbers up. “Rise up, my darling!” Mr Vakarchuk sang, bouncing on the stage as a gentle snow fell. “Your land is waiting.” That track rose up again during the revolution of 2013-14, along with “Without a Fight”, a love song repurposed as a resistance tune.
For Ukrainians, after all, artists have always carried a special burden. For generations, their sense of nationhood rested more on bards—above all Taras Shevchenko, a revered 19th-century poet—than on politicians. Misrule since independence in 1991 has meant stars like Mr Vakarchuk have again embodied the country’s yearnings. “Culture is the best cement” while a true political nation is evolving, he comments, but afterwards symbolic figureheads are no longer needed. Artists can just be artists.
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Jamie Lee Curtis and John Travolta enjoy a 'Perfect' reunionThey starred together in the 1985 movie Perfect, famous for its high-octane workout scenes.
Read more »
Real incomes in UK to be hit by ’historic shock’ worse than any year in 1970sBank of England Governor Andrew Bailey warned on Monday that real incomes in Britain are set to be hammered by an economic shock from soaring energy prices bigger than in any single year in the 1970s oil crisis
Read more »
All the stars who showed solidarity with Ukraine during the Oscars 2022 ceremonyAll the stars who showed solidarity with Ukraine during the Oscars 2022 ceremony.
Read more »
Concert for Ukraine line-up: Ed Sheeran to headline televised fundraiserEd Sheeran, Paloma Faith and Gregory Porter are among the stars performing tonight in a televised concert hoping to raise millions of pounds in aid for Ukraine
Read more »
'It's Humbling:' Tennessee Family Sends Strength to Ukraine Through Rock & Roll RadioA family in Lebanon, Tennessee, is broadcasting music and supportive messages to Ukrainians through short-wave radio
Read more »