I remember how the Nautilus songs cut me. Of course, the music, and the amazing, unlike anything else voice, but the words. Tough, precise, without unnecessary binders. They hit the target like single shots. Then I found out that a certain Ilya Kormiltsev was writing poetry for the group. And not only for Nautilus, but also for the Urfin Juice group. and for Nastya Polevaya, and again and again. And then we came to Sverdlovsk and Slava Butusov introduced us. I was expecting another one from Nautilus, that pale rock 'n' roll hero. And I saw a short-haired man with glasses, a completely unscenic appearance. He looked more like a physicist from a sixties movie. Then I realized that the master does not necessarily have to look like his product. And before us, of course, are the products of a master. Only one thing confuses me. There is a big difference between actual poetry and poetry written to music. Actually, the poems already contain music in themselves and do not require anything more (that’s why I am against setting poems, say, by Tarkovsky to a pop melody). And the words of the song live together with the melody, rhythm, sound, voice, and to separate one from the other is to cut a living creature in half and see what happens. That’s why, while reading Kormiltsev, I turn on the music of these songs in my head. I don’t know how a reader who has not heard this music will perceive the poems. I don't dare to predict. And one more thing - wonderful drawings by Slava Butusov, so that you don’t forget that this is still rock and roll.A. MakarevichDrawings by S. Butusov