My friends Evgeny Dodolev and Natalya Razlogova came to me on the anniversary of the death of Tsoi. Natalia told us how she taught Victor to play chess. A talented man, they say, is talented in everything. He learned chess quickly. It took him just a couple of hours. 25 years have passed since the death of the famous singer and a wonderful person. I often hear different opinions about him and his talent. And for some reason it seems to me that the most important thing about himself he has told in an interview, when he said, «a man lives on the planet, rather than in the state. «
Moreover, talking to friends that came to me I thought that we all need some kind of example or a model leading us to an ideal. ‘A Star Called Sun’.
Perhaps, Tsoi himself was not fully aware of the significance and power inherent in his songs. But I still believe that Victor was a kind of a pilot and messenger who perfectly knew why he was there and what was his mission. He honestly accomplished this mission and left us because he had fulfilled his destiny...
No one can deprive us of our dreams and aspirations to defend our freedom, and Choi will always be our ideal. Nothing could erase the writings on the wall «Choi is alive! « Because for many he is alive for real, and invisibly present in our lives.
One only can guess what Viktor Tsoi would become if he lived up to the present days. However, there is no point in guessing because Tsoi would remain forever a young, energetic guy always looking forward into the distance. His songs, fortunately, are always with us. We hear them on the radio, from the street musicians, remixes and cover versions. We watch ‘Assa’ and ‘Igla’, read the memoirs of his colleagues, friends, relatives and those who were close to him.
But perhaps most importantly, there are more and more people who discover the group ‘Kino’ and by becoming Tsoi fans prove that «Choi is alive!» And this is not just a fluent phrase, but nearly the physical sensation.
Yes, a quarter of a century has passed since the death of the leader of ‘Kino’, but some fans write the words «Choi is alive» very seriously, claiming that their hero did not die, but lives a hermit life somewhere far away in Siberia or became a businessman in Japan.
«Our heart works like a new engine,
When we are fourteen years’ old we know all we need to know
And we will do whatever we want,
Before you ruined the whole world.
They made us full of holes before we were born,
And where is the tailor to fix them all?»…
«I would like to stay with you, just to stay with you, but the star high in the sky is calling me away» ... Viktor Tsoi was not a deputy of the State Duma, neither did he offer any programme to change the world. He had already changed it when he sang the main slogan of our time: «Give us changes, we are waiting for changes! «
And I also remembered that the last decree that I signed in 2010 as the head of the Republic of Kalmykia was the one to immortalize the memory of Viktor Tsoi. I must say, that my staff, all of them being the fans of Tsoi, quickly found a sculptor, bought the best bronze, and the monument had turned out gorgeous.
However, we failed to install it in Elista. My ‘successor’ apparently was not interested in the oeuvre of Choi. Or maybe he thought that the land in Elista was very expensive and better be used for the commercial purposes. Therefore, we are expecting that the person, who will replace him, would let us to install the monument.
Unfortunately, the streets or avenues in the cities of the former Soviet Union, where he was so popular, are not named after this remarkable musician. But the walls with the writings of his fans «Victor, you are the God « and «Choi is alive « stand to this day.
The Tsoi Walls are not only at the Moscow Arbat, but in Minsk and Kiev as well. And I know that twice a year on the anniversaries of Victors’ birth and death they are notably crowded.
