The music video for Tam, de nas nema references two Soviet films that were produced in Ukraine: Battleship Potemkin (1925) and Earth (1930).
Large portions of the music video cite Battleship Potemkin‘s famous “Odesa Steps” montage, in which a crowd of panicked citizens flee advancing soldiers, trampling each other in the process. This particular montage is assembled to tell a story of a diverse group of people all being crushed under the heel of a common enemy. It provides a narrative contrast to the ultimate plot of the film, in which a 1905 revolt is fictionalized to tell a story of different groups of people uniting to face a common enemy. The crowd is scattered, and in its lack of unity the individuals in the crowd suffer serious injury and death. In Battleship Potemkin, no member of the crowd is calm.
In Okean Elzy’s rendition, the band members–the young generation–step through the chaos in relative calm. They mime panicked faces at a landing, frozen as the rest of the crowd flows around them. They recline on the steps as the rest of the crowd surges past. Their movements set them apart from the rest of the crowd. They advance steadily, much like the soldiers, who are replaced by shots of people dressed in an alternative style. Their stockings and high heeled boots resemble the fashion of late 1990’s/early 2000’s youth culture.
In citing Battleship Potemkin, Okean Elzy brings up the question of revolution (if only cultural or generational). Instead of a baby’s stroller clattering down the steps, it is a young person’s skateboard. Instead of soldiers advancing, the footsteps of people dressed in youth fashion march forward. This brings to mind the potential message that social change stemming from younger generations cannot be stopped, but at the same time the social change is accompanied by a great deal of chaos and turmoil. This is reflective of the experience of Ukraine through the 1990’s.
The notion of social change is also present in Earth, which uses images of verdant rural landscapes and images of ripe produce–most noticeably an apple–to showcase abundance in a period and location where an engineered famine was taking place. Earth emphasizes the cyclical, unceasing change that occurs as old generations yield to new generations. In their music video, Okean Elzy’s band members are framed inside a refrigerator filled with an abundance of produce, resembling the shots of food in abundance from Earth. There are multiple shots of band members taking a bite of a juicy apple, as a character in Earth does at the beginning of the film. The theme of both unstoppable social change and abundance or times of plenty are brought to mind in the citation of scenes and motifs from Earth.
All of the themes established by these film references complement the lyrics, which ask a few important questions:
- When will a time of plenty come?
- Why can I not let go of the past I no longer have, nor the future I am imagining?
- Where will I fit into this changing cultural/political landscape?
Ultimately, these themes reflect the social turmoil and feelings of uncertainty of late 1990’s Ukraine, when this song was released.
Lyrics sourced from lyricstranslate.com
Lyrics transcribed by user crimson_antics, Translated by user Julia Tem
There, there, there, only where we are not – there is no winter
Only there, only where we are not – from the sky
There, there, there, only where we are not – it does not drop
Only there, only where we are not – and it’s not even needed
Там, там, там, тiльки там, де нас нема –
там не падає зима
Тiльки там, тiльки там де нас нема
з неба
Там, там, там, тiльки там, де нас нема –
Там не падає вона
Тiльки там, тiльки там де нас нема
й не треба
There, there, there, only where we are not – everybody is walking on their heads
Only there, only where we are not – they are walking
There, there, there, only where we are not – everybody is walking on their heads
And they keep asking us
Where are you?
Where are you?
Там, там, там, тiльки там, де нас нема –
ходять всi на головах
Тiльки там, тiльки там де нас нема
ходять
Там, там, там, тiльки там, де нас нема – ходять всi на головах
I питаються у нас.
Де ви є?
Де ви є?
Chorus:
Tell me, why I cannot
Forget what I do not have
Tell me, why I cannot
Forget that
There is winter around me.
Приспів:
Скажi менi, чому не можу
Забути те, чого нема
Скажi менi, чому не можу
Забути те, що,
Те, що навколо зима.
There, there, there, only where we are not – there is no winter
Only there, only where we are not – there are no people
There, there, there, only where we are not – living water flows
Only there, only where we are not – everywhere
Там, там, там, тiльки там, де нас нема –
там не падає зима
Тiльки там, тiльки там де нас нема люди
Там, там, там, тiльки там, де нас нема – там тече жива вода
Тiльки там, тiльки там де нас нема всюди.
There, there, there, only where we are not – there is less ice than warmth
Only there, only where we are not – there is no ice
There, there, there, only where we are not – everybody is walking on their heads
And living water flows
Not for us.
Там, там, там, тiльки там, де нас нема – менше льоду, нiж тепла
Тiльки там, тiльки там де нас нема льоду
Там, там, там, тiльки там, де нас нема – ходять всi на головах
I тече жива вода
Не для нас.
Chorus
Tell me, why I cannot
Forget what I do not have
Tell me, why I cannot
Forget that
There is winter around me.
Приспів:
Скажi менi, чому не можу
Забути те, чого нема
Скажi менi, чому не можу
Забути те, що,
Те, що навколо зима.
Resources Used:
- “Okean Elzy – Там, де нас нема (Tam, de Nas Nema) Lyrics + English Translation.” Lyricstranslate.com, 2015, lyricstranslate.com/en/%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BC-%D0%B4%D0%B5-%D0%BD%D0%B0%D1%81-%D0%BD%D0%B5%D0%BC%D0%B0-there-where-we-are-not.html. Accessed 14 Dec. 2023.
- Battleship Potemkin (1925). Director: Sergei Eisenstein
- Earth (1930). Director: Oleksandr Dovzhenko