Rasputin (song)

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"Rasputin" is a disco song written by Frank Farian and performed by the disco group Boney M. It was first published on Boney M's 1978 album Nightflight to Venus. The song is a semi-biographical ballad whose subject and namesake is Grigori Rasputin, a friend and advisor of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his family during the early 20th century. The song variously sensationalizes Rasputin as a playboy, mystical healer, and political demiurge.

"Rasputin" is also distinctive for its incorporation of a portion of "Uskudara Giderken", a classic Turkish folk song.

[edit] Subject

The real Rasputin

The song references Grigori Rasputin's alleged amelioration of Tsarevich Alexei of Russia, and how this endeared him to the boy's mother, the Tsarina Alexandra Fyodorovna (former Princess Alix of Hesse). However, it also (falsely) claims that Rasputin was Alexandra's paramour ("Ra Ra Rasputin: lover of the Russian queen"), and that Rasputin's political power overshadowed that of the Tsar himself. While "Rasputin" accurately indicates that unfavorable rumors damaged Grigori's reputation, there is no verifiable evidence to suggest that he had an affair with Alexandra.

The end of the song recounts a modified version of a popular description of the events that culminated in Rasputin's assassination, as perpetrated by Felix Yusupov, Vladimir Purishkevich, and Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia on December 16, 1916. Specifically, the song states that Rasputin's assassins fatally shot him after he survived the poisoning of his wine with a very large dose of cyanide.

[edit] Reception and legacy

Although the song was written and performed in English (with a smattering of German), it enjoyed great popularity in Russia and is credited with making Rasputin famous again there.^[1]

Battle/folk metal band Turisas have also been known to cover this song at festivals and gigs.