The Tractor Driver

Tractor-Driver (1956) by Aleksandr Deyneka

Lyrics

In a plain Spring landscape Stands a tractor driver He's a simple verity In the noble theme of labour

A chorus of small birds Sings — a live bubbling stream And the hope of the future Pervades the rural scene

The man surveys the meadows At the start of Spring With all the blithe amazement His simplicity can bring

Overjoyed — a little awed — By nature and himself; By tremendous natural power By his optimism and health

As if to match the progress Of a thought so high The exhaust trail of an aeroplane Is written in the sky

Chronology

• Kangaroo?

Interpretations

Art & Language

This song is another monstrosity. The fatuities of some Socialist Realist culture consumption appear in the shape of a superogatory cabaret. ‘The Tractor Driver’ is a painting by the Soviet artist Alexander Deyneka.