Frenchman Benjamin Sire reworked this song by Boris Vian to adapt it to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
A French anti-militarist anthem adapted to the Russo-Ukrainian conflict. Le Déserteur, a song written by Boris Vian in 1954, is covered in Russian by singer Daria Nelson. In direct response to the “partial mobilization” of Russian citizens announced by Vladimir Putin to be sent to the front.
“I just / Received my military papers / To go to war / Before Wednesday evening / Mr. President / I don’t want to do it / I’m not on earth / To kill poor people,” sang Boris Vian the end of the Indochina- war.
This letter from a citizen, addressed to a head of state to get him over his refusal to go and fight, spilled a lot of ink when it came out. He was even banned from broadcasting on the radio, considered unpatriotic.
A delicate text, even today
Partly because of this, French musician and journalist Benjamin Sire wanted to revise it at a time when the Russian population is afraid of having to fight. He made the arrangements and looked for a Russian-speaking artist to cover it. And “that’s when the problems started,” as he told BFMTV:
“Everyone refused. The Russians, of course, for understandable security reasons. But also the Ukrainians, because they refused to sing in Russian.”
The solution came when Benjamin Sire contacted French group Dionysus, who whispered the name of Ukrainian-born singer Daria Nelson. The song was in the box in one take.
“We are only addressing the youth who are going to fight against a brother country without any real reason,” said Benjamin Sire. “There is an intention to show the song to try to get it to Russia.”
And finally: “I know that one song will not change the face of the world. But it’s a strong message.”