Literally Singing the Praises of Gazprom
With the days of socialist marches and propaganda posters fading away, it seems that Russia has found a new way to whip up nationalist pride: an epic anthem extolling the virtues of the national gas company, Gazprom. In a YouTube video that can be described as inspiring, strange, comical, infectious and frightening (or all of the above), Gazprom presents its new theme song in music video form with English subtitles.
Sure, natural gas is an important commodity that’s “giving people warmth and light for office and for home,” but does it deserve three and a half minutes of exultation that borders on religious fanaticism? It’s clear that natural gas is one of the main (if not the most important) factors that maintain Russia’s political relevance in our global society, as then-president Putin showed when he cut off Russia’s gas supply to the Ukraine in the dead of winter last year.
Crucial domestic resource, chief export, invaluable revenue source, political weapon…you can see why the Russians love their gas. However, I doubt average Russians share the unconditional love and reverence for Gazprom that the anthem expresses, or if the song is even known in the country (or anywhere outside the snickering group of 67,950 YouTube viewers), but I do know that they’ll “never ever find a surer friend than Gazprom.”
So pour yourself vodka straight up so we can “drink to all the Russian gas, that it never comes to an end, though it’s so hard to obtain!”
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US Became World’s Biggest Natural Gas Producer in 2009 | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] from the country’s state-owned natural gas company (and subject of a rousing, if not frightening anthem), Gazprom. It is estimated that Russian output fell by nearly 12 percent last year, to 582 billion [...]