melanyouth:

In response to the proud and manly video clip referenced below, here is a painting by Ilya Repin showing what those poor motherfuckers really looked like.

(Click for a bigger version here)

mills:

Leonid Kharitonov & the Red Army Choir - Song of the Volga Boatmen.

To Tragos’ plaintive request for music capable of offsetting the effects of his “highly thanatotic” work environment, the eminent S. Stratodrive responded with the above and added:

it’s what huge teams of russians would sing as they trudged for miles up the banks of the volga hauling barges against the current by their five inch diameter mooring lines.

It’s quite amazing, both the song and the video of the Red Army Choir from 1965. It’s closed-captioned so you can read the lyrics.