Remove AdsBm B5 B5Long before he ever became a minister,
B5 BmPavlo Tychyna lived and loved, and did not know
Bm DThat the legacy he left would be destroyed forever
G F#And from such a fate, none of us is protected
BmWe’ll start from the end: one, nine, six, and two
DHow tears have punished the old singer's soul
GMr. Telnyuk enters, he has urgent business
F#
A "life or death" question — well, such is the state
BmHe enters the office with cautious steps
DThere, among the books, a poet is buried
G"May I?" — "You may, if you’re careful, you know...
F#You know, Telnyuk, I feel somewhat anxious"
Bm"Tychyna, what’s wrong? Sit down, what is it?"
D"The Soviet state demands you again, so that..."
G"Please, stop it! I can’t take it anymore!"
F#And suddenly he rose, looking like a ghost
Bm"Look at these letters, right here before your eyes
DWrites a certain 'Citizen X', a broken man
Gmaj7Back in the thirties, when in Siberia
F#He was perishing among the cursed wolves
BmHe got ten years and lost his whole family
DAnd who is to blame? That’s right — Tychyna"
Gmaj7 G"Pavlo Hryhorovych, may I?" — "I’m not finished!
F#By trusting only letters, I have also lost
BmKurbas, and Kazka, and 'Slovo', VAPLITE...
DWhat a criminal stands before you, Telnyuk, did you know?
GPavlo Hryhorovych, may I?" — "Let me continue!
F#He also mentions the prizes, received so godlessly
EmHe asks: 'Do they not weigh you down, medals and orders
GWhich were awarded to you for betraying your friends?'"
F#And suddenly he rose and broke into a scream:
Bm"I tried to save everyone, no matter how they asked!
DEven when they didn’t ask, those cursed orders...
Gmaj7I gave the money to everyone who needed it!"
EmThat broken clarinet wept loudly and bitterly
F#And he began to wail so that the floorboards shook
Gmaj7He struck out of tune, such a maddened sound
AA pity that only Mr. Telnyuk witnessed it
BmOne, nine, six, and two — in five years he’ll be gone
DAnother sixty will pass — and here we are today
GListening together to the story from its end
F#How tears have punished the old singer's soul
BmLong before he ever became a minister
Pavlo Tychyna lived and loved, and did not know
BmThat one can be a genius and a traitor at the same time
AThe poet of Ukraine and a Soviet puppet
G Gmaj7A flute, a messiah, a symbol of love
Em F#mAnd the one of whom they’ll say: "His hands are in blood!"
BmWith medals on his chest, and Stalin’s portraits there
DBut in his chest — pain and a scorched soul
GThe boy who survived in the "Slovo" building
F#Burying friends is, alas, not new to him
BmJust like burying honor, and the "Solar Clarinets"
DAs Petliura and UNR, and as these stories...
GCan they be contained within one exhausted man?
F# BmOh, it’s very simple. His name was...
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