“We came from the underground and became popular with our pop-culture parodies. One day to my horror I realized that our group has become similar to the objects of our parodies and mockery. We were starting to merge with all those pop-star crowd, but I’m not one of them and never wanted to be,” - Sergey Mikhalok, the band’s leader says. He admits that it wasn’t so easy to give up the show business game and become independent once again.
According to him, “it was very difficult to get our true essence back on top. And the thing wasn’t about any contracts. We had to overcome public opinion and, most importantly, set our own minds free. At first, my internal discomfort from the gap between the authentic “Lyapis Trubetskoy” and its public image was relieved by hard drinking and other stuff, but when my weight peaked at 110 kilograms and my mind was about to collapse, I gave up everything, lost 25 kilograms and started to play the music I like.”
“Capital” is the second independent album by “Lyapis Trubetskoy” after the “Zoloty’ye yaytsy” (“Golden Balls”) created in 2004 under heavy reggae and ska influence. “While working on “Zoloty’ye yaytsy” we didn’t understand what to do with our independence. As a result there were some reflex attempts to score a radio hit with “Rain’ka” or “Pochtal’iony” (“Postmen”), - Sergey Mikhalok says. – But this wasn’t the biggest problem. The whole album was overproduced, we tried to mix too many styles, musical instruments and sounds in it. So, we paid too much attention to the form instead of the essence. We were in need of a real professional who could tell us what was good and what was too much.”
That is why searching for a sound producer was one of the main tasks while working on “Capital”. At some point the band wanted to record their album in London, in the hometown the legendary British ska-band “Madness” (one of Mihalok’s favourites). When almost everything was ready for that, a chance interfered. At a concert in Kiev “Lyapis Trubetskoy” met a famous Ukrainian sound producer Vitaliy Telezin. He worked with “Okean El’zi”, “Brat’ia Grim” and other top Ukrainian/Russian artists. But it wasn’t the thing that attracted Mikhalok and his friends.
“We are from the same generation with him, we had common world outlook, we liked the same music. And it was the music we wanted to record on our new album. I don’t want to offend anyone, but, roughly speaking, for our band he is the first studio guy who didn’t need explanations about what is California wave or how “Green Day” and “Offspring” make their sound,” - Mikhalok says.
And this combination has worked perfectly well. Now it’s already clear that the new album will mean to the band and its fans no less than the legendary “Ty kinula” (“You Gave Me Up”) in 1998 and will give a rise to the new popularity wave for “Lyapis Trubetskoy”. Still, according to Sergey Mikhalok, the ideology of both the new album and the present group is different from what used to be in the years between these two landmarks. He says: “When I started my career I used to write songs that changed me and the world around me, but later I began to create stuff, that didn’t have influence either on me or the world around. At best those songs could be a soundtrack for some wedding or birthday. And what is horrible at some point I even used to be proud of that. But now I have come back to what everything started from – to a mix of biting satire and powerful chords.”
Video clips have played an important role in the album presentation. The first clip for the song “Hare” (“Enough”), a cheerful wedding trash-video, was filmed by a famous actor and new wave director Vladimir Epifantsev. The second clip, animation video “Capital”, which has become a real Internet sensation, was made by Aleksey Terekhov, co-author of the legendary “Au” (1998) and “Rozochka” (1999) videos. "Capital" has hardly appeared on TV, but has already won several prizes and got a lot of nominations on the different video & music festivals in Russia, Belarus, Portugal and so on.
Frontman Siarhei Mikhalok anounced mid-March 2014 that the group would ceased to exist the next 1 September.
offical website
www.lyapis.com
myspace page
www.myspace.com/lyapis
Интро
Ляпис Трубецкой Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Кто умнее всех, китайцы или японцы?
Красные, белые, чёрные, жёлтые, маленькие кроты
Мы живём в мире иллюзий, и я, и ты
В волнах рыдает пьяная Луна
Оркестр играет с каждым тактом хуже
Приятно жить в плену хмельного сна
The lyrics of Ляпис Трубецкой's song Интро are open to interpretation, however, one possible meaning is that the song is a comment on the human condition, and the illusions we create and live within every day. The opening lines ask a moth if it flies towards the sun, which is an allusion to the Greek myth of Icarus who flew too close to the sun and fell to his death. This suggests that we humans also chase after things that are dangerous or unattainable. The next lines ask who is smarter, the Chinese or the Japanese, which is a tongue-in-cheek jab at the idea of measuring intelligence based on nationality or ethnicity.
The song continues with a list of colors and animals, which could be seen as a metaphor for the diversity of humanity. The line "we live in a world of illusions, and you and I" suggests that we are all part of the human experience of living in a world of our own perceptions and beliefs, and that we are all susceptible to being fooled by these illusions. The next lines describe a drunken moon crying in the waves, which could symbolize the chaotic and unpredictable nature of life. The final line, "it's nice to live in the captivity of a drunken dream, having fallen to the bottom of a warm spring puddle," could be interpreted as a commentary on the appeal of escapism and indulgence, even if it means giving up on reality.
Line by Line Meaning
Скажи мне мотылёк, ты летаешь к Солнцу
Do you aspire for the unattainable, like a moth drawn to a flame?
Кто умнее всех, китайцы или японцы?
Is there really such a thing as a 'smartest' nation, or is that just an illusion?
Красные, белые, чёрные, жёлтые, маленькие кроты
Despite our differences in appearance, we are all small and insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
Мы живём в мире иллюзий, и я, и ты
We all live in a world of illusions, where things are not always what they seem.
В волнах рыдает пьяная Луна
The moon appears to be crying in the waves, but this is just a drunken illusion.
Оркестр играет с каждым тактом хуже
As time passes, things often get worse and deteriorate, even a once beautiful symphony.
Приятно жить в плену хмельного сна
It can be pleasant to live in the captivity of a drunken dream or obsession.
Упав на дно весенней тёплой лужи
Sometimes hitting rock bottom can be strangely comforting, like sinking into a warm puddle.
Writer(s): с. михалок
Contributed by Brody R. Suggest a correction in the comments below.