Reply #1: Kick, for those wondering who the author is: [View All]

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Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky (Владимир Семёнович Высоцкий) (January 25, 1938 – July 25, 1980) was a great Russian singer, song-writer, poet, and actor, whose career has had an immense and enduring effect on Russian culture. The multifaceted talent of Vladimir Vysotsky is often described by the word bard that acquired a special meaning in the Soviet Union, although he himself spoke of this term with irony. He thought of himself mainly as an actor and writer, and once remarked, "I do not belong to what people call bards or minstrels or whatever." Though his work was largely ignored by the official Soviet cultural establishments, he achieved remarkable fame during his lifetime and to this day exerts significant influence on many of Russia's popular musicians and actors who wish to emulate his iconic status.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Vysotsky

I often wonder who really won the Cold War, when I see the emergence of Red States in the USA, and worry that, perhaps, we need somebody like Vysotsky to wake us up from our slumber.