Taras Chubay

Taras Chubay / Тарас Чубай

Published: January 7, 2017

Taras Chubay (Тарас Григорович Чубай) is Ukrainian rock musician, poet, singer, composer, and leader of the seminal Ukrainian rock band Plach Yeremii (Плач Єремії). Through his poetic sensibilities and popular music, Chubay played a major role in the development of post-Soviet Ukrainian art.

Chubay was born in 1970 in the city of Lviv, Ukraine. His father, Grigoriy Chubay (Григорій Чубай), was a legendary underground cultural figure in 1970s Ukraine, and Taras was influenced strongly by his father’s poetry and cultural presence. At the age of six, Chubay attended a Czesław Nieman concert with his father, which left a strong impression on him and eventually led to his pursuing music seriously.

Chubay’s father died in 1982, leaving a substantial library and music collection to his son. Chubay began putting his late father’s poetry to music, singing the verses himself in what would become typical of his musical style. In 1984 Chubay started his first band, Cyclone, through which he became acquainted with his longtime musical partner Vsevolod Dyachyshyn (Всеволод Дячишин), with whom Chubay still plays today.

In the summer of 1987 Chubay composed some 40 songs, many of which he still plays today, and went on a short tour. He joined the variety theater Ne Zhurys’ (Не журись!; “don’t worry”), founded by Viktor Morozov (Віктор Морозов) and Yuriy Vynnychuk (Юрій Винничук), both of whom would also become prominent figures in Ukrainian underground culture. Four years later, in 1991, Chubay formed Plach Yeremii, which quickly became a prominent band in post-Soviet Ukraine. With this group, Chubay composed poetry set to music and also performed poems of the new generation of Ukrainian writers.

Throughout the tumultuous ’90s, Chubay and his group retained an important place in the development of an independent Ukrainian artistic culture. By the early 2000s Chubay had married, had a child, and moved to Kyiv to further pursue his music. In 2009 the President of Ukraine awarded Chubay the prestigious title of Honored Artist of Ukraine. That same year, television network New Channel aired Chubay’s music program Live Sound to a massive television audience.

Chubay has recorded three full-length albums, which feature poetic compositions as well as interpretations of Ukrainian folk songs and insurgent army songs. He has played more than 100 concerts in and around Ukraine, including a solo performance at Kyiv’s Ukraina Palace.

Find Taras Chubay on Amazon

 

Here is Chubay’s famous single “She” (“Вона”):

 

Lyrics for “Вона”:

Завтра прийде до кімнати
Твоїх друзів не багато
Вип`єте холодного вина
Хтось принесе білі айстри
Скаже хтось життя прекрасне
Так життя прекрасне а вона

Приспів:
А вона а вона сидітиме сумна
Буде пити не п’яніти від дешевого вина
Я співатиму для неї аж бринітиме кришталь
Та хіба зуміє голос подолати цю печаль

Так у світі повелося
Я люблю її волосся
Я люблю її тонкі вуста
Та невдовзі прийде осінь
Ми усі розбіжимося
По русифікованим містах

Приспів

Лиш вона лиш вона сидітиме сумна
Буде пити не п’яніти від дешевого вина
Моя дівчинко печальна моя доле золота
Я продовжую кричати ніч безмежна і пуста

Так у світі повелося
Я люблю її волосся
Я люблю її тонкі вуста
Та невдовзі прийде осінь
Ми усі розбіжимося
По русифікованим містах

Приспів

Лиш вона лиш вона сидітиме сумна
Буде пити не п’яніти від дешевого вина
Моя дівчинко печальна моя доле золота
Я продовжую кричати ніч безмежна і пуста
Я продовжую кричати ніч безмежна і пуста
Я продовжую кричати ніч безмежна і пустa

 

Here is Chubay with Plach Yeremii, performing “When Your Lips” (“Коли до губ твоїх…”):

 

Lyrics for “Коли до губ твоїх…”:

Коли до губ твоїх лишається півподиху,
Коли до губ твоїх лишається півкроку –
Зіниці твої виткані із подиву,
В очах у тебе синьо і широко.

Щось шепчеш зачаровано і тихо ти,
Той шепіт мою тишу синьо крає.
І забуваю я, що вмію дихати,
І що ходити вмію, забуваю.

А чорний птах повік твоїх здіймається
І впевненість мою кудись відмає.
Неступленим півкроку залишається,
Півподиху у горлі застряває.

Зіниці твої виткані із подиву,
В очах у тебе синьо і широко,
Але до губ твоїх лишається півподиху,
До губ твоїх лишається півкроку.

 

Find Taras Chubay on Amazon

About the author

Zachary Hicks

Zach Hicks is a PhD student in Comparative Literature at the University of Oregon. He is currently participating in SRAS's Home and Abroad scholarship program. His main areas of interest are twentieth-century Russian and Soviet literature, socialist modernism, and critical theory. Outside of academics his major interests are martial arts, the outdoors, and music. In Russia, he plans to continue to increase his language proficiency, to learn as much as possible about the Russian underground music scene, its tattoo culture, and to become a student of Russia’s native martial art, SAMBO.

Program attended: Art and Museums in Russia

View all posts by: Zachary Hicks