FEATURE: Beloved Georgian Singer's Sad Song Hits Wrong Note In Russia (rferl.org)

By Chloe Arnold

MOSCOW -- Against a backdrop of Russian fighter planes bombing Georgian apartment buildings at the height of last August’s conflict, the legendary Georgian singer Vakhtang Kikabidze -- "Buba" to his fans -- speaks of betrayal and "the smell of melancholy" in his controversial new song, "You Disappointed Me."

A video of the tune, which has appeared on the Internet, shows Russians and Georgians in happier times, interspersed with footage of Georgians wounded in Russian attacks, piling their belongings into cars, or crying for help on rubble-strewn streets.

Kikabidze, who performs the song in Russian, says in the chorus, "You haven't betrayed me, you've disappointed me."

The 70-year-old singer tells RFE/RL's Russian Service that the song is aimed not at the Kremlin or the Russian military, but at the Russian intelligentsia, who failed to speak out in Georgia's defense.

“Of course, [the Russian intelligentsia] isn’t to be blamed -- no one is saying that. The point I am trying to make is that politics is one thing, people are another," Kikabidze says. "And this is where the disappointment lies -- because not everyone can say what they feel, you understand. Not everyone allows themselves to speak the truth.”