The Hasych family fled Pokrovsk this summer. But they’re determined not to forget the place they still call home. Anna’s mother, Yulia, says she’s glad to see her daughters practising Shchedryk. “We won’t forget the history of our town,” she says.
For Anna, the tune brings back memories. “When I played it at home it seemed happy. It reminded me of winter and Christmas,” she says. “Now it’s more of a sad song to me because it reminds me of home, and I really want to go back.”
But for one Ukrainian military band, Shchedryk has become a song to inspire resistance. They’re even playing it in the trenches – using weapons as improvised instruments.
They may be musicians, but their commander reminds me that they’re soldiers first. All have spent time on the front line. Colonel Bohdan Zadorozhnyy, the head of the band and its conductor, says the song helps lifts soldiers spirits. “Those beats and rhythms cheer up the guys on the front line and inspire them to fight,” he says.
22-year-old Roman uses a rocket launcher casing, filled with rice, to shake vigorously in time with the music. Shchedryk, he says, is the “pride of our country, it’s freedom, it’s in our souls, I get goosebumps from this song”.
Colonel Zadorozhnyy says Shchedryk shows that Ukraine is a civilised nation, now at war, fighting for its identity.
Source link
