5 most popular songs by Viktor Tsoi
The ‘Kino’ rock band and its frontman were iconic in the music scene of the late 1980s and early 1990s and considered true symbols of perestroika.
1. ‘Changes!’
This composition was written back in 1986, but gained nationwide fame after the movie ‘Assa’ (1987), where, in the final scene, a concert where Tsoi sings this song is shown.
“Our hearts demand change!” chants the singer in the refrain. Perestroika had begun in the country and Tsoi, a talented artist, sensed the coming changes and caught the mood of the public, which was so eager for them. It turned out to be a truly epochal hit and a real anthem of perestroika.
2. ‘Pack of cigarettes’
When Tsoi first recorded this song in 1988, many friends and critics were skeptical. They said that the final version was not good enough and the musician was repeating himself. But, this simple song became so popular that it is still sung in any company with a guitar.
The lyrical hero is off the path, lost. But, despite the melancholic message, there is a touch of optimism in the song. Tsoi declares that if you have a pack of cigarettes in your pocket, it means that not everything is so bad!
Read our translation of the song into English here.
3. ‘Cuckoo’
One of Tsoi's last songs was recorded shortly before he passed away in a car accident. The track was released on ‘The Black Album’ in 1991, already after the artist's death. Symbolically, this very composition philosophically raises the question of fate and fatalism (Russians often superstitiously listen to the cuckoo sing, asking how many years they have left to live).
The hit is still popular today – covers of ‘Cuckoo’ are actively being recorded even today.
Read our translation of the song into English here.
4. ‘Saw the Night’
An unusually cheerful composition by Tsoi, who sings about young people walking carefree at night.
The public heard the future hit for the first time in 1986: it opened the 5th album of the band called ‘The Night’. Tsoi himself said that the night is a special time for him, very different and very romantic.
A new wave of popularity came to the song in 2000, when Moldovan rock band ‘Zdob și Zdub’ made a cover version with the participation of a gypsy choir.
Read our translation of the song into English here.
5. ‘A Star Called Sun’
The main song of the album of the same name can be heard in the movie ‘The Needle’, in which Tsoi played the main role. The 1989 composition is permeated with anti-war messages and, at the same time, with thoughts about the inevitable finale of every person’s life.
