Russian Doll, Pussy Riot (Akpanoluo Etteh)
One of the greatest things I like to share when talking about music is how obsessive I get about digging into the music I encounter in film. I never know where the rabbit hole will lead. So, I hope from this post you’ll get a taste for that and do your own digging!
I started watching the Netflix show Russian Doll on Sunday morning, the day before I completed this post, and contrary to my disinclination toward binging shows, I finished all eight episodes in a single day! I fell in love with their use of music; the percussion-centric light jazz, a characteristically dreamy song from Cults, the thumping rhythm of Anika’s “I Go to Sleep” cover, some French Rock from Limiñanas, and, let’s not forget the “Gotta Get Up” which the show drilled into our heads. most captivating, to me an absolutely radical track from Pussy Riot called “Organs”.
The song will make you want to dance but the lyrics are dark, and speak out against the oppression of Putin’s Russia. It’s incredible hearing something so brave being citizens of such a regime, especially after their imprisonment for “undermining the social order” in 2012. I posted “Organs” above, but if you want to check out the fittingly macabre music video and to check out the lyrics translated to English, follow the link to a Huffpo article here.
And, a sample of the lyrics:
❝They promised us economy and military defense, but we’ve got none of these
See what we’ve got instead: FSB, prison camps, handcuffs, fences,
Putin’s gofers, crooks, thieves,
Iron curtains, prison grub, locks…❞
A minor detail I noticed about the music video is the fact that Nadya Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riot is wearing similar eyeliner to that of actress Greta Lee’s character in Russian Doll (see below).
It makes me curious about whether this was intentional, and whether the producers of Russian Doll intended to pay homage to Pussy riot beyond a single track at the end of one of the penultimate episode of the series. I’m happy to update this with attribution to anybody who has insight into this matter.
Check out the full official playlist for Russian Doll below, created by Spotify for Netflix:
— Akpanoluo U Etteh II
Akpanoluo Etteh is a singer, beatboxer, sound imitator, trombonist, music curator, and founder of The Soundshop.
