Spring is fleeting - it always fits in one moment, lasting at the limit of breathing.
It seems - there was nothing yesterday.
Snow and rain, melted puddles, slush.
Today - a green haze, a fog of foliage rushing to the sun over the forests.
Tomorrow ... Summer.
New life not predicted by anyone.
In the middle of spring, like a secret passage, a portal from the cold inferno to the fierce triumph of being - April.
Everything in it is for us the harbinger of Victory, the Cosmos, the Bright Present, which is within easy reach.
Another effort.
Another leap into eternity!
And the world is ours.
Every year, starting from April 12, as if the horizon opens, the maximum thrust is cut in, and we all, each of us, get our own key to the start.
Space.
And after him?
April 13 - and it is impossible to understand now, the irony of a crafty fate or an imaginary, seemingly such a coincidence - is the birthday of rock and roll.
Maybe even on the 12th, but the furious controversy has not subsided for decades, no one can now say exactly how long Bill Haley and his "Comets" recorded the "heart rate anthem" - Rock Around the Clock, a somewhat sloppy foxtrot by Max Friedman and James Myers.
Foxtrot 1952, which all could not really be attached.
Foxtrot, proposed by Haley and finally sung by him on the night of April 12-13, 1954, at the first studio session (Bill then moved into the hot arms of Decca Records) at the Pythian Temple studio in New York.
Two takes - one master.
Everything is played with three fingers.
The single was released on May 20, 1954.
Nobody knew the words "rock and roll" then, and Rock Around the Clock was marked on the envelope with the name given at birth - foxtrot.
This has something of the first Soviet satellite - three and a half years have passed between its launch and the flight of Yuri Gagarin.
Foxtrot Haley is the same satellite.
He had to pave a difficult path in the complete obscurity of life.
And three and a half years later ... In the fall of 1957, the world was hit by rock and roll already on the spot.
Presley.
In an inimitable gold suit.
Never before and unseen by anyone.
And crowds of people full of adoration ... The symbol and image of America.
Blessed States, which, perhaps, are destined to be born sometime.
Time projection.
The lifespan of rock and roll was short.
And forever.
It doesn't seem to be there.
Now.
Now.
Only he seems to be.
Today.
Gagarin is everywhere.
In an orange spacesuit.
Helmet with the inscription "USSR".
Reaching unreachable limits.
From devastation and war.
From the ashes.
To the stars.
Delighted and shocked world.
A mighty power that single-handedly challenged all the old.
Red Atlantis, which is destined only a time later to rise to the surface.
Resurrected from oblivion.
The comparison may seem wild, meaningless.
Certainly not without criticism.
But think about it - two people, two completely ordinary earthly people, who have lived life in very different ways, from different starting points, symbolize two centers of the world.
Two superpowers.
Two ideologies.
Two ways.
And here's what is interesting - both the States and the USSR almost intuitively, by touch, chose the same image - a shirt-guy from the very ground, from the very bottom.
Not at all a simple "simpleton" who made his way into the sky.
To the gallery page
Remember, in our history of endless confrontation there was also a ray of light - "Union - Apollo".
Docking in orbit, "handshake in space" - July 17, 1975.
Then the parties were able to overcome all the difficulties preceding the "high" meeting - and even the difference in atmospheres, although initially they were considered incompatible - in "Apollo" the astronauts breathed pure oxygen under reduced pressure (0.35 atmospheric), and on "Soyuz" for astronauts an atmosphere similar to that of the earth (in composition and pressure) was maintained.
Yes, there were few such moments.
But they were.
And the memory of them is not so much in cigarettes, stamps, badges ... It is genetic, this memory.
Perhaps also because both countries (one can disagree with this, but this is a fact) were represented by Presley and Gagarin.
Symbols of an almost unattainable dream.
Symbols of the Real.
“And what about Gagarin?
He flew like a dummy! .. What did he do there in orbit?
Was he building a rocket ?! "
And you take it and fly.
It's easy and short-lived.
You can return to dinner.
“What about Presley?
Well, I sang and sang! .. I did not write songs myself.
Musolil the same thing.
Did he create rock ?! "
And you take it and sing.
It's easy and enjoyable.
Open your mouth, make sounds.
This is how humanity works.
From the filth and abomination of the ordinary, from dust and rags, from literally nothing - rock paintings of animals and deities, legends about distant shining points of heaven, dreams of a better and fabulous life to pain.
Though they may eat you right now.
Even though your life is half a penny.
That is why April is amazing and terrible - an eternal reminder of accomplishments, an eternal reminder of today.
Where are we today?
What are we listening to?
What do we believe in?
What stars are we flying to?
Ray Bradbury, at the very end of his long life, in one of his interviews, not without some hidden mockery, was asked: “Mr. Bradbury!
How did it happen that the most important of your predictions - the flights and colonization of Mars - did not come true? "
The answer was angry and precise: "Because people are idiots!"
It was not within the power of one person, be it Yuri Gagarin or Elvis Presley, to change the entire course of history.
But in the strength of each of these two, it turned out to do something more important - to show the way, to light a source of light, to set a reliable landmark.
Yes.
We are not on Mars.
What's already here.
But we'll be there.
There is no doubt about that.
After overcoming strife, squabbles, misunderstanding and savagery, we will be on Mars.
Yes.
Of little value in music today.
More and more "starch and hell".
But.
Everything will change.
Otherwise it can not be.
Having been ill with nonsense, vulgarity, shamelessness and clowning, we will return to the roots, to what is called Music.
The USSR was accused and is accused of all mortal sins.
Recognizing reluctantly and by the way, that “the only humane project of the regime was the brand“ Gagarin ”.
The United States is called the focus of evil, the tumor of the world, but they cannot dispute the exclusive charm and humanity of the Presley brand.
To the gallery page
And these two, who were very close to each other on the memorable days of April (although Gagarin did not build a rocket with his own hands, and Presley did not create all the rock according to the drawings), completely different in appearance, but very contagiously smiling, favorites of fortune and women, heroes of many generations of children, symbols of their epochs, almost celestials, more than the gods of the place, found themselves out of time and space.
You can discuss anything with foam at the mouth and eyes white with fury, but as soon as the conversation comes about these two ...
The heroes of our imaginary Present and Future, they are so good that we often like us not only for what they were, but also for what they wanted to be, dreamed of.
Very different fates.
Various tests and tests for strength.
By fire.
With water.
Copper pipes (especially).
Both space and rock and roll remain young for life.
Dissolved in our every day
Even in our every breath.
Heart rhythm.
Dreams of the stars.
Thrice blessed April.
The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.