«The water splashes quietly, a ribbon of blue…» — the line Zhorik whistles on his way out the door is a nod to a beloved Soviet song known as «Из вагантов» («Song of the Vagabonds»), also called simply «The Student.» It was written by the composer David Tukhmanov for his concept album «By the Wave of My Memory» (1976). The Russian words are a free translation by Lev Ginzburg of a thirteenth-century Latin student song, «Hospita in Gallia,» found in the manuscript collection known as the Carmina Burana, a set of medieval poems and songs discovered in a Bavarian monastery in 1803.
The song tells of a student setting off to study «in a French land, on an alien planet,» bidding farewell to his friends. It became the most popular track on the album thanks to its simple verse-and-chorus structure, which made it easy to remember and to sing. Tukhmanov himself said he was aiming, musically, to capture «the mischievous, restless spirit common to student life in every era.»
The song’s first performer was Igor Ivanov, at the time the lead singer of the vocal-instrumental ensemble «Nadezhda.» The recording was made in 1975-1976. Interestingly, to capture the mood of student revelry, members of «Nadezhda» sang backing vocals on the track. One of the participants, Lyudmila Shabina, later recalled being told to «sing like you’re seeing someone off to the army — that is, after two glasses of vodka — and laugh like lunatics.»
For the album version, the lyrics were significantly trimmed — the third and fifth stanzas of the original translation were cut. The third stanza mentioned God, which risked the song being banned outright by Soviet censors.
The song quickly became a classic and remains popular to this day. It has been performed many times by other artists: Maxim Leonidov in the television film «Old Songs About the Main Thing 3» (1997), Sergei Lazarev at David Tukhmanov’s anniversary concert (2010), and members of the group «Prime Minister» in the musical film «By the Wave of My Memory» (2006). Tukhmanov himself recorded his own version of the song in 2000.
Igor Vladimirovich Ivanov (born June 15, 1953, Moscow) is the song’s original performer and has kept it in his concert repertoire for over 45 years. He began his career with the ensemble «Theater of Estrada» (1972), later performed with the ensembles «Leisya, Pesnya» and «Nadezhda,» where David Tukhmanov noticed him. After the success of «Song of the Vagabonds» and other hits («Farewell,» «The Cobbler’s Little Song»), Ivanov formed his own ensemble, «Salut» (later «X»), released solo albums, and toured extensively. In the 1980s he hosted the popular television program «Wider the Circle.» In 1983, a readers’ poll by the magazine «Smena» placed him among the country’s most popular performers. In 2003 he held an anniversary concert at the Kremlin, and in 2014 received a state award for his contribution to the development of culture. He continues to perform in concert to this day.