“In the Square in Liverpool, Dressed in Tailored Suits”: The Beatles in Russian Urban Folklore

Abstract

The article examines texts of several genres of urban folklore the content of which is related to the Beatles. These texts are remakes of lyrics (“Michelle”, “Back in the U.S.S.R”), jokes, and various kinds of fictional narratives, like funny stories about writing particular songs and about some events from the life of the band members. Some jokes about the Beatles involve popular characters of Soviet jokes (anekdot) — Vasilii Ivanovich (Chapaev) and his batman Pet’ka. The song “Can’t Buy Me Love” was also rendered in a folkloric manner (“In the Square in Liverpool…”). Variations of this song were widespread among rock music fans in the USSR in the 1970s. Today, modern communication modes, like the Internet and social networks, are instrumental in the revival of these folklore (post-folklore) texts.