Hymn (In Memoriam Alexei Navalny)
Writer - Tennant/Lowe
First released - 2025
Original album - (none)
Producer - Pet Shop Boys
Subsequent albums - (none)
Other releases - (none)
The Pet Shop Boys posted this brief, stately song on YouTube on February 20, 2025. They explained its origins both there and on their official website:
Just over a year ago the Russian opposition leader, Alexei Navalny, died in prison in Russia. We wrote and demoed this song in the last few days and dedicate it to his memory and his cause.
– Neil and Chris
The original version consists of just six succinct A-B-C-B quatrains, all but the last beginning "Free Russia / Let Russia [or, in one instance, "Russians"] be free." The equally simple instrumentation consists primarily of piano, unobtrusively supported by synth strings, a single cymbal flourish (between the fifth and sixth verses), bass pedal (likely synthesized), and what sounds like their Neilatron—a digital variation on a mellotron that employs Neil's "ah" vocals—though good old-fashioned multitracked background vocals by Neil are possible.
The lyrics condemn the "cruelty," "lies," and "autocracy" of the government of Russia led by "the poison of Putin." It pleas for an end to these malevolencies and the eventual "liberty" of Russia and its people. The final verse points to "poets" as leaders in this struggle, asking them to "decree the secret is love for Russia to be free."
Perhaps inspired by their scheduled participation in a late-June memorial concert for Navalny in Berlin—but which was subsequently canceled due to circumstances beyond their control—the Boys began streaming on June 6 two new mixes of the track (or three, depending on how you look at it), most notably a much longer "Dance Mix" that adds Neil's narration of excerpts from Navalny's writings (his prison letters as well as his book Patriot) to his sung vocals from the original, with a brief sample of Navalny's own voice near the end. The video version of the Dance Mix, however, differs from the audio in that it features in place of Neil's narration far more of Navalny's voice, extracted from various public speeches.
Annotations
- Alexei Navalny (1976-2024) was a Russian attorney who became an opposition leader against the autocratic government of Vladimir Putin. After famously declaring the rulers of Russia a "party of crooks and thieves," he was twice convicted of embezzlement, charges widely regarded to have been trumped-up for political reasons. He endeavored to run against Putin in the 2018 presidential election, but he was barred from running. In August 2020 he was hospitalized for poisoning, believed by many to have been administered by Putin's agents. Despite having been removed to Berlin for treatment, he chose after recovery to risk his life by returning to Russia to continue leading the opposition, which included mass public protests. Designated an "extremist" by the government, he was sentenced to prison in March 2022 and was transferred to a Siberian "corrective colony"—essentially a Gulag—in December 2023. Two months later he was reported as having died in custody, likely the result of malnutrition and/or maltreatment.
- "Hymn," the song's main title (that is, not counting its parenthetical subtitle "In Memoriam"), may carry multiple connotations:
- The song's structure is quite hymnal in nature, with short, simple, somewhat repetitive stanzas. By the same token, its extremely solemn, pleading mood is also highly reminiscent of many if not most hymns.
- Navalny was an avowed Christian, having converted from atheism late in life. That, together with Neil's own Catholic upbringing, makes it apt that he should co-write a "hymn" in his memory. Hymns are almost invariably sung at Christian funeral/memorial services, as well as at such services in certain other faiths.
- Putin himself rarely mentioned Navalny by name in public, usually simply referring to him by the pronoun "him" when referring to him at all. Thus "Hymn" may be a pun of sorts—though I'll concede that could be a stretch.
- "the poison of Putin" – This alliterative phrase works both figuratively and literally. Figuratively, of course, it refers to the corrupt autocratic regime of the Russian leader, which "poisons" his nation's government, politics, and culture. But on a literal level, it alludes to allegations that Putin has used poison as a tool for silencing—or at least attempting to silence—political opponents, including Navalny, who (as noted just above) suffered a serious case of nerve-poisoning in 2020.
Mixes/Versions
Officially released
- Mixer: unknown at this time
- Original mix (1:36)
- Dance mix (5:04)
- Dance mix - video version (5:04)
- Choral Mix (1:34)
List cross-references
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