During Russia's celebration of Victory Day, old patriotic melodies from the 1940s are heard every year, such as The Holy War or Dark is the Night, but also newer war songs such as We Are the People's Army from 1982 and About That Spring from 2015.
- The songs fulfill a ritual function with the songs and marches that return year after year.
These songs are generally about sacrifices and about how the war is still present and must never be forgotten.
The songs describe it as when the Soviet Union won in 1945, they liberated the world and since that day a light falls on all of us.
They are about never forgetting the motherland, says Gunnar Åselius, military historian at the Swedish National Defense College.
Started playing in the 60's
It was during the 60's that patriotic songs began to be played to a large extent during Victory Day.
- It is after the fall of Khrushchev that the Soviet Union stagnates in earnest.
Before there was a stronger belief in communism and a forward-looking.
After the 60s, there will be a more nostalgic look back and this will be an overriding cult of the Second World War, of sacrifices and of the dead, says Gunnar Åselius.
Important for Putin
Many Russians have an emotional connection to the songs, which work a bit like Christmas songs that recur year after year, says Gunnar Åselius.
The songs evoke traumatic memories of relatives who died during World War II.
But the more distant the memory of the victory in World War II becomes, the more Putin needs to strengthen it, says Gunnar Åselius.
And the songs as patriotic elements have thus become even more important.
- The patriotic aspect of "The Patriotic War" has become more and more important, there is not much other ideological content to highlight, says Gunnar Åselius.