WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.439 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. We are so glad 00:00:02.439 --> 00:00:04.519 you are here with us today. Yeah, thanks for 00:00:04.519 --> 00:00:06.900 joining us. Whether you are prepping for a meeting, 00:00:07.059 --> 00:00:09.900 commuting, or just looking to understand some 00:00:09.900 --> 00:00:11.980 of the complex... And sometimes contradictory. 00:00:12.480 --> 00:00:14.460 Right, the contradictory layers of history, you 00:00:14.460 --> 00:00:16.980 are in the exact right place. Absolutely. Today, 00:00:17.120 --> 00:00:21.399 we are examining a, well, a very specific artifact 00:00:21.399 --> 00:00:26.539 of musical diplomacy. It is a 1949 Soviet mass 00:00:26.539 --> 00:00:30.109 song called Moscow Peking. Also known as Moscow, 00:00:30.230 --> 00:00:33.609 Beijing. Right. Or, by its much more literal 00:00:33.609 --> 00:00:36.149 alternate title, the Russian and the Chinese 00:00:36.149 --> 00:00:38.840 are brothers forever. Which just rolls right 00:00:38.840 --> 00:00:41.020 off the tongue. It really does. And our mission 00:00:41.020 --> 00:00:43.700 today is to unpack this specific piece of musical 00:00:43.700 --> 00:00:46.500 history to understand how state -mandated art 00:00:46.500 --> 00:00:49.179 actually functions in practice. We are going 00:00:49.179 --> 00:00:51.759 to explore the hidden human desperation behind 00:00:51.759 --> 00:00:54.619 its upbeat melody. And we will train how shifting 00:00:54.619 --> 00:00:57.200 geopolitical realities can take a deadly serious 00:00:57.200 --> 00:00:59.380 piece of propaganda. And completely transform 00:00:59.380 --> 00:01:01.799 it. Exactly. Transform it into a widespread ironic 00:01:01.799 --> 00:01:04.799 joke. But before we delve into the mechanics 00:01:04.799 --> 00:01:07.340 of the song and its history, I do need to make 00:01:07.340 --> 00:01:10.459 a very clear, objective statement to you, our 00:01:10.459 --> 00:01:13.480 listener, because the material we are examining 00:01:13.480 --> 00:01:16.459 today involves highly politically charged historical 00:01:16.459 --> 00:01:20.019 figures and concepts, specifically Joseph Stalin, 00:01:20.239 --> 00:01:23.400 Mao Zedong, the Soviet Union and the newly formed 00:01:23.400 --> 00:01:26.500 communist Chinese state. It is vital to establish 00:01:26.500 --> 00:01:29.159 our parameter. Right. We are absolutely not taking 00:01:29.159 --> 00:01:32.129 any sides here. We are in no way endorsing. any 00:01:32.129 --> 00:01:34.629 of the viewpoints, ideologies, or actions of 00:01:34.629 --> 00:01:37.459 these regimes. Not at all. Our role today is 00:01:37.459 --> 00:01:40.299 strictly to act as your impartial guides, reporting 00:01:40.299 --> 00:01:42.799 on the history and the ideas exactly as they 00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:44.859 occurred and are documented in the historical 00:01:44.859 --> 00:01:47.219 record. Okay, let's untack this. We are looking 00:01:47.219 --> 00:01:49.760 at a piece of music meticulously designed to 00:01:49.760 --> 00:01:52.359 celebrate an eternal alliance. Eternal in quotes, 00:01:52.560 --> 00:01:54.560 of course. Yes, because it was a partnership 00:01:54.560 --> 00:01:57.340 that, as history shows us, barely survived a 00:01:57.340 --> 00:02:00.099 single decade. Barely. But beneath that surface 00:02:00.099 --> 00:02:02.719 -level political failure lies an origin story 00:02:02.719 --> 00:02:06.359 that is incredibly stark. understand the weight 00:02:06.359 --> 00:02:08.419 of this song, we have to start with the official 00:02:08.419 --> 00:02:10.800 narrative. The blueprint. The blueprint of a 00:02:10.800 --> 00:02:13.460 manufactured diplomatic bond. Yeah. The music 00:02:13.460 --> 00:02:15.879 was composed by Vano Muradeli and the lyrics 00:02:15.879 --> 00:02:18.479 were written by Mikhail Vershinin. And it is 00:02:18.479 --> 00:02:20.599 important to note that this wasn't just a pop 00:02:20.599 --> 00:02:23.240 song. Right. It was categorized as a mass song. 00:02:23.500 --> 00:02:26.300 And that categorization is the essential framework 00:02:26.300 --> 00:02:29.300 for everything that follows. Well, a mass song 00:02:29.300 --> 00:02:31.860 was not a popular tune that organically climbed 00:02:31.860 --> 00:02:33.939 the charts because the public just happened to 00:02:33.939 --> 00:02:36.500 enjoy the melody. It was a highly calculated 00:02:36.500 --> 00:02:39.780 instrument of state messaging. So purely utilitarian. 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:43.099 Exactly. The purpose of Moscow Peking was incredibly 00:02:43.099 --> 00:02:45.780 specific. It was engineered to commemorate the 00:02:45.780 --> 00:02:47.680 foundation of the People's Republic of China 00:02:47.680 --> 00:02:51.740 in 1949 and simultaneously to celebrate Joseph 00:02:51.740 --> 00:02:54.169 Stalin's 70th birthday. birthday. Two birds, 00:02:54.289 --> 00:02:57.210 one stone. Precisely. And beyond those two distinct 00:02:57.210 --> 00:02:59.629 milestones, its overarching objective was to 00:02:59.629 --> 00:03:02.069 project a fraternal, unbreakable relationship 00:03:02.069 --> 00:03:04.889 between the Soviet Union and this newly communist 00:03:04.889 --> 00:03:07.949 Chinese state. This was top -down mandated musical 00:03:07.949 --> 00:03:10.629 diplomacy. It really was. When we think about 00:03:10.629 --> 00:03:13.629 how that mandate physically manifested, there 00:03:13.629 --> 00:03:17.090 is this vivid visual from 1950 that captures 00:03:17.090 --> 00:03:20.539 the era perfectly. It is a Chinese postage stamp 00:03:20.539 --> 00:03:23.819 depicting Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong shaking 00:03:23.819 --> 00:03:26.780 hands. Postage stamp. Yeah, a mundane, everyday 00:03:26.780 --> 00:03:30.520 object. Yet every single time a citizen mailed 00:03:30.520 --> 00:03:33.199 a letter, they were confronted with this perfectly 00:03:33.199 --> 00:03:35.860 framed, state -sanctioned friendship. Right. 00:03:35.939 --> 00:03:38.159 It illustrates how the relationship wasn't just 00:03:38.159 --> 00:03:40.259 an abstract political concept being discussed 00:03:40.259 --> 00:03:42.680 in meeting rooms. It was a cultural requirement 00:03:42.680 --> 00:03:45.439 embedded right into the minutia of daily life. 00:03:45.770 --> 00:03:48.050 What's fascinating here is how states utilize 00:03:48.050 --> 00:03:50.789 culture, and specifically participatory music, 00:03:51.030 --> 00:03:53.770 to cement these political alliances in the minds 00:03:53.770 --> 00:03:55.449 of the public. Right, because signing treaties 00:03:55.449 --> 00:03:57.650 behind closed doors only goes so far. Exactly. 00:03:57.650 --> 00:04:00.490 If a regime wants the general population to internalize 00:04:00.490 --> 00:04:01.969 an alliance, they have to weave it into their 00:04:01.969 --> 00:04:04.669 daily existence. You print it on stamps, you 00:04:04.669 --> 00:04:07.009 broadcast it incessantly on the radio. And you 00:04:07.009 --> 00:04:10.370 commission mass songs. Yes. By definition, a 00:04:10.370 --> 00:04:12.750 mass song is musically structured to be sung 00:04:12.750 --> 00:04:16.040 by large, untrained groups of people. The melodies 00:04:16.040 --> 00:04:18.560 are typically sweeping and very accessible, often 00:04:18.560 --> 00:04:20.800 set to a marching tempo. So it's easy to pick 00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:23.399 up. Right. When you have hundreds of people physically 00:04:23.399 --> 00:04:25.860 singing the Russian and the Chinese or Brothers 00:04:25.860 --> 00:04:28.959 Forever, the physical act of participating creates 00:04:28.959 --> 00:04:33.199 a shared visceral experience. It makes a manufactured 00:04:33.199 --> 00:04:36.579 political directive feel like a grassroots reality. 00:04:37.360 --> 00:04:39.459 Here's where it gets really interesting. If you 00:04:39.459 --> 00:04:41.959 just look at the surface of this state -sanctioned 00:04:41.959 --> 00:04:44.259 optimism, you might assume the lyricist Mikhail 00:04:44.259 --> 00:04:47.439 Vershinin. was a comfortable, deeply loyal patriot. 00:04:47.660 --> 00:04:49.819 Right. You might picture him sitting in a warm 00:04:49.819 --> 00:04:52.779 Moscow apartment, overcome with ideological pride 00:04:52.779 --> 00:04:55.939 as he pens an ode to eternal brotherhood. The 00:04:55.939 --> 00:04:58.839 ideal Soviet artist. Exactly. But an interview 00:04:58.839 --> 00:05:00.800 with Vershinin, which was published years later 00:05:00.800 --> 00:05:03.220 in his vestia, shatters that illusion entirely. 00:05:03.540 --> 00:05:05.660 It is a mind -blowing detail. At the time he 00:05:05.660 --> 00:05:07.879 wrote the poem that would become Moscow Peaking, 00:05:08.060 --> 00:05:10.500 Vershinin was not a celebrated state artist. 00:05:10.740 --> 00:05:13.000 He was actually serving a sentence in a forced 00:05:13.000 --> 00:05:16.329 labor camp. And that revelation forces a complete 00:05:16.329 --> 00:05:19.870 reevaluation of the text. It really does. Vershinin 00:05:19.870 --> 00:05:22.269 did not write these lyrics from a place of joyous 00:05:22.269 --> 00:05:24.889 conviction. He authored this poem, which eventually 00:05:24.889 --> 00:05:28.250 found its way into a state -run magazine, specifically 00:05:28.250 --> 00:05:30.970 in a desperate bid to secure a reduction of his 00:05:30.970 --> 00:05:34.149 sentence. The psychological weight of that transaction 00:05:34.149 --> 00:05:38.009 is profound. We are talking about a man enduring 00:05:38.009 --> 00:05:41.269 the freezing, brutal and coercive reality of 00:05:41.269 --> 00:05:45.160 the gulag system. only viable strategy for survival, 00:05:45.339 --> 00:05:47.779 or at least for a slightly less agonizing existence, 00:05:48.139 --> 00:05:50.459 was to write the most triumphant, politically 00:05:50.459 --> 00:05:53.439 compliant, and sycophantic message imaginable. 00:05:53.579 --> 00:05:55.959 There is just a surreal disconnect there. Absolutely. 00:05:56.019 --> 00:05:58.279 You have a citizen sitting in a labor camp writing, 00:05:58.379 --> 00:06:00.579 we are brothers forever, everything is glorious, 00:06:00.759 --> 00:06:03.500 while dedicating it to the 70th birthday of the 00:06:03.500 --> 00:06:05.920 very man presiding over the system that imprisoned 00:06:05.920 --> 00:06:08.459 him. It is a masterclass in cognitive dissonance. 00:06:08.600 --> 00:06:11.220 Driven entirely by the instinct to survive. And 00:06:11.220 --> 00:06:13.259 what is equally remarkable is the sheer element 00:06:13.259 --> 00:06:15.720 of chance that transformed this specific survival 00:06:15.720 --> 00:06:19.079 tactic into a national anthem. Oh, the Muradeli 00:06:19.079 --> 00:06:22.139 connection. Yes. The composer, Vano Muradeli, 00:06:22.279 --> 00:06:24.600 simply happened to read Vershinin's poem in that 00:06:24.600 --> 00:06:26.920 state -run magazine. He needed lyrics that fit 00:06:26.920 --> 00:06:29.560 the current political directives, and Vershinin's 00:06:29.560 --> 00:06:32.139 desperate words fit the required meter perfectly. 00:06:32.459 --> 00:06:34.399 It highlights a striking collision of systemic 00:06:34.399 --> 00:06:36.800 pressures, doesn't it? It really does. You have 00:06:36.800 --> 00:06:39.519 a composer, Moradelli, who is likely navigating 00:06:39.519 --> 00:06:41.899 his own precarious position within the Soviet 00:06:41.899 --> 00:06:44.480 cultural hierarchy. Right. He has quotas to meet. 00:06:44.560 --> 00:06:47.860 Exactly. He needs material to commemorate Stalin's 00:06:47.860 --> 00:06:50.100 70th birthday and the emergence of the Chinese 00:06:50.100 --> 00:06:52.819 state to advance his career, or perhaps just 00:06:52.819 --> 00:06:55.300 to maintain his good standing and avoid his own 00:06:55.300 --> 00:06:58.209 downfall. So he stumbles upon Vershinin's poem. 00:06:58.350 --> 00:07:01.470 And he's entirely unaware, or perhaps willfully 00:07:01.470 --> 00:07:04.170 ignorant, that the words were forged in the desperation 00:07:04.170 --> 00:07:07.269 of a labor camp. The contrast between the sparkling, 00:07:07.410 --> 00:07:10.110 official debut of this mass song and the bleak 00:07:10.110 --> 00:07:12.829 reality of its creation perfectly encapsulates 00:07:12.829 --> 00:07:15.470 the duality of life under these regimes. The 00:07:15.470 --> 00:07:18.290 state extracts its gleaming anthem while the 00:07:18.290 --> 00:07:20.569 human cost is buried beneath the brass and the 00:07:20.569 --> 00:07:23.740 coral swells. Beautifully put. And the state 00:07:23.740 --> 00:07:27.360 eagerly embraced this narrative. Oh, Moscow peaking 00:07:27.360 --> 00:07:30.199 didn't just fulfill a quota. It became a massive 00:07:30.199 --> 00:07:34.740 institutional success. Huge. Before the geopolitical 00:07:34.740 --> 00:07:37.439 winds inevitably shifted, this was the definitive 00:07:37.439 --> 00:07:40.579 soundtrack for any state event involving China. 00:07:40.740 --> 00:07:43.500 It was unavoidable. It was everywhere. And the 00:07:43.500 --> 00:07:46.139 reach of the song extended far beyond the borders 00:07:46.139 --> 00:07:48.660 of the Soviet Union. The Alexandrov Ensemble. 00:07:49.000 --> 00:07:51.480 The legendary official choir of the Soviet Armed 00:07:51.480 --> 00:07:54.220 Forces? Yes. They actually embarked on a tour 00:07:54.220 --> 00:07:57.300 of Beijing. And during that tour, they performed 00:07:57.300 --> 00:08:00.379 this song personally for Mao Zedong. The reaction 00:08:00.379 --> 00:08:02.639 to that performance is particularly revealing 00:08:02.639 --> 00:08:04.579 regarding the nature of autocratic leadership. 00:08:04.980 --> 00:08:07.620 Mao was impressed. He was reportedly so impressed 00:08:07.620 --> 00:08:09.699 by the performance and the ideological purity 00:08:09.699 --> 00:08:12.000 of the song that he specifically requested a 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:14.399 personal meeting with the composer. That interaction 00:08:14.399 --> 00:08:17.300 is the ultimate example of dictator fandom. Yes, 00:08:17.420 --> 00:08:20.920 dictator fandom. Mao Zedong hears this sweeping, 00:08:21.040 --> 00:08:23.839 flattering anthem, loves how it projects his 00:08:23.839 --> 00:08:26.459 own power alongside Stalin's, and wants to shake 00:08:26.459 --> 00:08:28.319 the hand of the genius who arranged the notes. 00:08:28.759 --> 00:08:31.360 All while the man who actually conceived the 00:08:31.360 --> 00:08:34.559 words Mikhail Vershinin. Right. He is entirely 00:08:34.559 --> 00:08:37.580 removed from this glamorous diplomatic exchange, 00:08:37.940 --> 00:08:40.820 having written them while incarcerated. The leaders 00:08:40.820 --> 00:08:43.399 are completely insulated from the grim reality 00:08:43.399 --> 00:08:45.460 of how their favorite propaganda was actually 00:08:45.460 --> 00:08:47.759 produced. They only see the finished, polished 00:08:47.759 --> 00:08:50.659 product. And Stalin's reaction mirrored Mao's 00:08:50.659 --> 00:08:53.759 enthusiasm. He was known to be highly partial 00:08:53.759 --> 00:08:56.600 to the song. And that fandom translated into 00:08:56.600 --> 00:08:59.669 tangible state endorsement. tangible how well 00:08:59.669 --> 00:09:03.470 in 1951 vano murdeli was awarded the stalin prize 00:09:03.470 --> 00:09:06.309 second class specifically for his work on this 00:09:06.309 --> 00:09:09.350 composition wow at that moment the song had achieved 00:09:09.350 --> 00:09:12.269 the absolute pinnacle of state validation both 00:09:12.269 --> 00:09:14.549 leaders immortalized in the lyrics had stamped 00:09:14.549 --> 00:09:16.549 it with their approval but that official validation 00:09:16.549 --> 00:09:20.029 introduces a complex problem for state art Yes, 00:09:20.029 --> 00:09:22.490 it does. Because state art is intrinsically tied 00:09:22.490 --> 00:09:25.389 to the political present, it is only as permanent 00:09:25.389 --> 00:09:27.730 as the regime's current agenda. Which is never 00:09:27.730 --> 00:09:30.690 permanent. Exactly. So, Vado Muradeli wins the 00:09:30.690 --> 00:09:33.750 Stalin Prize in 1951, but Stalin dies just two 00:09:33.750 --> 00:09:37.549 years later, in 1953. Eventually, Nikita Khrushchev 00:09:37.549 --> 00:09:41.070 consolidates power. So what happens to a state 00:09:41.070 --> 00:09:43.830 -mandated song when the state abruptly changes 00:09:43.830 --> 00:09:46.190 its mind about the central figure it's celebrating? 00:09:46.600 --> 00:09:48.840 A very tricky situation. Because the original 00:09:48.840 --> 00:09:52.000 lyrics, written by Vershinin, directly reference 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:55.559 Joseph Stalin by name. Obviously, if you are 00:09:55.559 --> 00:09:58.240 writing a poem to get out of a gulag, you name 00:09:58.240 --> 00:10:00.360 drop the architect of the system. Of course you 00:10:00.360 --> 00:10:03.080 do. But once Khrushchev initiates the period 00:10:03.080 --> 00:10:06.220 of de -Stalinization, that explicit reference 00:10:06.220 --> 00:10:09.799 becomes a massive political liability. If we 00:10:09.799 --> 00:10:12.220 connect this to the bigger picture, this is where 00:10:12.220 --> 00:10:14.480 the mechanics of revisionism become incredibly 00:10:14.480 --> 00:10:17.799 visible. Yeah. De -Stalinization meant dismantling 00:10:17.799 --> 00:10:19.919 the cult of personality that had defined the 00:10:19.919 --> 00:10:22.419 previous decades. The state demanded that art 00:10:22.419 --> 00:10:24.620 reflect its current, unquestionable reality. 00:10:25.000 --> 00:10:27.100 Stalin transitioned from the celebrated father 00:10:27.100 --> 00:10:30.279 figure, whose 70th birthday merited a national 00:10:30.279 --> 00:10:33.120 chorus, to a figure the new regime actively sought 00:10:33.120 --> 00:10:35.440 to distance itself from. However, the melody 00:10:35.440 --> 00:10:37.600 of Moscow Peking was already popular, and the 00:10:37.600 --> 00:10:39.539 diplomatic alliance with China it was still theoretically 00:10:39.539 --> 00:10:41.279 active. So they couldn't just throw the whole 00:10:41.279 --> 00:10:43.799 song out. Exactly. So instead of banning the 00:10:43.799 --> 00:10:46.399 song entirely, they opted for surgical censorship. 00:10:46.799 --> 00:10:49.340 The lyric referencing Stalin was simply removed 00:10:49.340 --> 00:10:52.519 and replaced. That raises a fascinating logistical 00:10:52.519 --> 00:10:55.720 question. How do you practically rewrite a song 00:10:55.720 --> 00:10:58.799 that millions of people already know by heart? 00:10:59.059 --> 00:11:01.519 It is a massive undertaking. It's one thing to 00:11:01.519 --> 00:11:04.840 edit a document in an archive, but a mass song... 00:11:05.179 --> 00:11:07.620 is literally in the mouths of the public. It 00:11:07.620 --> 00:11:10.240 requires a chilling level of bureaucratic efficiency 00:11:10.240 --> 00:11:13.379 and collective coercion. You have to halt the 00:11:13.379 --> 00:11:15.899 printing of the old sheet music and distribute 00:11:15.899 --> 00:11:18.860 the revised versions to every single state choir, 00:11:19.159 --> 00:11:21.740 school, and military band. Every single one. 00:11:21.840 --> 00:11:24.539 You have to recall or destroy old vinyl recordings 00:11:24.539 --> 00:11:27.220 and broadcast only the new version on state radio. 00:11:27.600 --> 00:11:29.860 But most importantly, it relies on the enforced 00:11:29.860 --> 00:11:32.220 silence of the populace. They had to play along. 00:11:32.679 --> 00:11:34.700 Millions of citizens knew the original words. 00:11:34.759 --> 00:11:37.480 They knew Stalin's name used to be there. But 00:11:37.480 --> 00:11:39.679 when the conductor raises his baton or when the 00:11:39.679 --> 00:11:42.259 radio plays the new version, the public sings 00:11:42.259 --> 00:11:44.740 the new lyrics. They participate in the revisionism 00:11:44.740 --> 00:11:47.720 out of self -preservation. Yes. It demonstrates 00:11:47.720 --> 00:11:51.000 that in a totalitarian system, history is not 00:11:51.000 --> 00:11:54.240 a fixed record. It is a curated living document 00:11:54.240 --> 00:11:57.820 that must be continuously updated. They curated 00:11:57.820 --> 00:11:59.820 Stalin right out of his own birthday present. 00:11:59.940 --> 00:12:02.139 They really did. But even with that surgical 00:12:02.139 --> 00:12:05.120 edit, the song could not outrun geopolitics forever. 00:12:05.519 --> 00:12:08.100 We have to look at the massive shift that occurred 00:12:08.100 --> 00:12:11.220 in the 1960s. Sino -Soviet split. Yes. The internal 00:12:11.220 --> 00:12:13.200 brotherhood between the Soviet Union and China 00:12:13.200 --> 00:12:15.740 completely fractured. And the Sino -Soviet split 00:12:15.740 --> 00:12:18.500 was not just some minor diplomatic disagreement. 00:12:18.580 --> 00:12:21.779 It was a profound ideological and strategic rupture. 00:12:21.779 --> 00:12:24.480 Right. Following Stalin's death, Khrushchev began 00:12:24.480 --> 00:12:27.059 advocating for a policy of peaceful coexistence 00:12:27.059 --> 00:12:29.360 with the capitalist West. Which Mao did not like. 00:12:29.519 --> 00:12:32.279 Not at all. Mao Zedong viewed this as a fundamental 00:12:32.279 --> 00:12:35.679 betrayal of orthodox Marxism -Leninism, maintaining 00:12:35.679 --> 00:12:38.240 a much more militant, uncompromising stance. 00:12:38.519 --> 00:12:40.799 And that snowballed. It did. This ideological 00:12:40.799 --> 00:12:43.320 divergence escalated into a severe breakdown 00:12:43.320 --> 00:12:45.419 of relations, eventually leading to outright 00:12:45.419 --> 00:12:47.980 border skirmishes. The two nations went from 00:12:47.980 --> 00:12:50.740 mandated brothers to hostile rivals. So what 00:12:50.740 --> 00:12:53.570 does this all mean? For the song. Yes, for our 00:12:53.570 --> 00:12:56.769 highly successful Stalin prize -winning mass 00:12:56.769 --> 00:12:59.629 song, you have a piece of music literally titled 00:12:59.629 --> 00:13:03.090 Moscow Peking, featuring a soaring chorus about 00:13:03.090 --> 00:13:06.230 an unbreakable bond at a time when Moscow and 00:13:06.230 --> 00:13:08.789 Peking are pointing weapons at each other. It 00:13:08.789 --> 00:13:11.710 resulted in immediate and undeniable irrelevance. 00:13:11.809 --> 00:13:14.269 The song was explicitly engineered to celebrate 00:13:14.269 --> 00:13:16.690 a political reality that had ceased to exist. 00:13:17.009 --> 00:13:19.850 So the state just dropped it? They had to. The 00:13:19.850 --> 00:13:22.169 Soviet state could no longer have mass choirs 00:13:22.169 --> 00:13:24.269 singing about a fraternal bond with a nation 00:13:24.269 --> 00:13:26.509 they were actively denouncing. Consequently, 00:13:26.690 --> 00:13:29.809 the mandated broadcasts abruptly stopped. Just 00:13:29.809 --> 00:13:32.289 pulled from the airways. Yes. The sheet music 00:13:32.289 --> 00:13:35.350 was quietly retired from state events. The overarching 00:13:35.350 --> 00:13:38.460 official narrator had pivoted entirely. and Moscow 00:13:38.460 --> 00:13:41.059 Pekin became a political embarrassment, swept 00:13:41.059 --> 00:13:43.340 under the rug by the very institutions that had 00:13:43.340 --> 00:13:45.440 commissioned it. But you can't just erase a catchy 00:13:45.440 --> 00:13:47.399 chorus from the collective memory of an entire 00:13:47.399 --> 00:13:49.700 generation. No, you can't. You can stop playing 00:13:49.700 --> 00:13:51.840 it on the radio, but the words are still there, 00:13:51.960 --> 00:13:54.320 and this leads to what is arguably the most poetic 00:13:54.320 --> 00:13:56.799 justice in this entire narrative. I love this 00:13:56.799 --> 00:14:00.419 part. By the late 1960s, the song's central lyrical 00:14:00.419 --> 00:14:03.000 hook, The Russians and the Chinese are brothers 00:14:03.000 --> 00:14:06.320 forever. had not disappeared. Instead, the public 00:14:06.320 --> 00:14:09.200 resurrected it. Yes, and completely subverted 00:14:09.200 --> 00:14:12.500 its meaning. It evolved into a widespread, cynical, 00:14:12.679 --> 00:14:15.600 and deeply ironic joke. This raises an important 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:18.240 question regarding how everyday citizens process 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:21.240 and ultimately dismantle failed state propaganda. 00:14:21.659 --> 00:14:24.320 Right. For years, the public was coerced into 00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:27.139 singing this lyric, forced to look at those postage 00:14:27.139 --> 00:14:29.559 stamps, and required to swallow the narrative 00:14:29.559 --> 00:14:32.059 of Brothers Forever without question. And when 00:14:32.059 --> 00:14:34.759 it fell apart. When that alliance spectacularly 00:14:34.759 --> 00:14:37.440 and publicly collapsed, the citizens didn't just 00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:40.299 forget the song, they weaponized it. Repeating 00:14:40.299 --> 00:14:41.960 the phrase, the Russians and the Chinese are 00:14:41.960 --> 00:14:44.360 brothers forever, became a subtle method of highlighting 00:14:44.360 --> 00:14:47.059 the absurdity and the sheer fallibility of the 00:14:47.059 --> 00:14:49.620 state's absolute proclamations. They curded against 00:14:49.620 --> 00:14:51.840 them. The government had demanded they sing it 00:14:51.840 --> 00:14:54.220 as an eternal truth, and the people chose to 00:14:54.220 --> 00:14:57.090 keep singing it as a punchline. It functioned 00:14:57.090 --> 00:14:59.850 as a quiet, profound form of intellectual rebellion. 00:15:00.250 --> 00:15:02.590 It is the ultimate collective eye roll at the 00:15:02.590 --> 00:15:05.289 state's expense. A dangerous eye roll, but yes. 00:15:05.529 --> 00:15:08.049 When you step back and look at the entire lifespan 00:15:08.049 --> 00:15:12.049 of Moscow peaking, the trajectory is just staggering. 00:15:12.350 --> 00:15:15.950 It really is. It begins as a desperate, transactional 00:15:15.950 --> 00:15:19.330 poem scratched out by Mikhail Vershinin in a 00:15:19.330 --> 00:15:22.519 freezing forced labor camp. Solely to survive. 00:15:22.820 --> 00:15:25.539 Yeah. Through sheer bureaucratic serendipity, 00:15:25.580 --> 00:15:29.039 it is transformed into a gleaming state -sanctioned 00:15:29.039 --> 00:15:31.559 anthem that receives the highest honors from 00:15:31.559 --> 00:15:33.940 dictators like Mao and Stalin. Then it gets the 00:15:33.940 --> 00:15:36.500 surgical edit. Right. Awkwardly edited to erase 00:15:36.500 --> 00:15:39.139 Stalin's name to appease a new regime. Shortly 00:15:39.139 --> 00:15:41.720 after that, it is entirely banned because the 00:15:41.720 --> 00:15:43.759 eternal friendship it celebrates dissolves into 00:15:43.759 --> 00:15:46.480 border conflicts. And finally. Finally, it ends 00:15:46.480 --> 00:15:49.220 its life as a sarcastic punchline deployed by 00:15:49.220 --> 00:15:50.980 the very citizens it was originally designed 00:15:50.980 --> 00:16:07.159 to be. As we conclude this deep dive, I want 00:16:07.159 --> 00:16:08.879 to leave you with a final thought to consider 00:16:08.879 --> 00:16:11.159 as you reflect on the history we have unpacked 00:16:11.159 --> 00:16:14.159 today. Please do. We explored the jarring reality 00:16:14.159 --> 00:16:17.419 of Mikhail Vershinin's circumstances, authoring 00:16:17.419 --> 00:16:19.779 a jubilant national anthem from the depths of 00:16:19.779 --> 00:16:22.929 a forced labor camp. It forces us to ask a difficult 00:16:22.929 --> 00:16:26.090 question about the legacy of culture under authoritarianism. 00:16:26.090 --> 00:16:28.870 Yeah. When we study the grand cultural achievements, 00:16:29.009 --> 00:16:31.870 the soaring architecture and the monumental art 00:16:31.870 --> 00:16:34.830 of history, how much of it was born from genuine 00:16:34.830 --> 00:16:37.590 transcendent human inspiration and how much of 00:16:37.590 --> 00:16:40.029 it was simply manufactured by terrified individuals 00:16:40.029 --> 00:16:42.529 doing whatever was necessary to survive the machinery 00:16:42.529 --> 00:16:43.330 of their time?