1950s – 2020sPeak: 1970s
Bard Song
About Bard Song
Bard song, or avtorskaya pesnya, is the Soviet tradition of poets writing and performing their own songs to an acoustic guitar. It grew in the 1950s and 1960s around figures such as Bulat Okudzhava and spread through song clubs, campfire gatherings and home tape recordings rather than state radio. Vladimir Vysotsky took it to its widest audience with hoarse, urgent songs about war, labour camps and everyday life. The words come first, and the melodies stay simple enough for anyone with a guitar to sing.