Is Borat moonlighting? The kooky Kazakh who once crooned of the superiority of his country's potassium (to the tune of The Star-Spangled Banner) seems to have infected Gazprom. A corporate anthem for the Russian energy monopoly that has made its way to YouTube blends Soviet-style lyrics with images that might make even Borat blanch. "Don't bother trying, you'll never ever find / A surer friend than Gazprom," begins the song, with lines that won't help the company's image among those who worry about its cozy relationship with the Russian military.
Written and performed by Vladimir Tumayev, director of a Gazprom subsidiary, the song jogs between slow rock and folk-drinking tune, which fits nicely with a video that features oil workers sharing a light on the job as the chorus swells: "Let's drink to you / Let's drink to us / Let's drink to all the Russian gas." We should say that, to our ears, every single corporate anthem we've ever heard has a whiff of numbing Soviet style, even KPMG's ditty ("We'll be number one, with effort and fun / Together each of us will run for gold that shines like the sun in our eyes") and PwC's soft-rock ballad ("Yeah the word is out ... PricewaterhouseCoopers, it's comin' from the heart").
As for the Gazprom tune, we have but one minor quibble with the video: For an anthem that seeks to inspire workers by belting, "We're giving people warmth and light / For office and for home," we think it might have been a good idea to include a scene or two of, say, giving people warmth and light in an office or home. But then, if we were a well-remunerated director of Gazprom, we probably wouldn't care what anybody else thinks.
***
THE GAZPROM SONG / I'LL DRINK TO THAT
Don't bother trying, you'll never ever find
A surer friend than Gazprom
We're giving people warmth and light
For office and for home
We should always keep in mind
From dawn till sun down,
That our work is always needed
Working day or holiday.
Let's drink to you, let's drink to us,
Let's drink to all the Russian gas
That it never comes to an end,
Though it's so hard to obtain.
We're renowned for our deeds
The world over
And all your troubles will recede
If Gazprom people are nearby.
Don't try, you'll never ever find
A surer friend than Gazprom
We're giving people warmth and light
For office and for home. Let's drink to you, let's drink to us,
Let's drink to all the Russian gas
That it never comes to an end,
Though it's so hard to obtain.
Watch the video at tgam.ca/GAh