Vladimir & The Beast Part Iii Lyrics

Stranglers Vladimir & The Beast Part Iii

Thank you, my fatherland
For helping me to be totally reintegrated and
normalised
Only in the world's greatest socialist democracy
could one hope to be forgiven for losing temporary
sight
of the aims and goals of the of the Marxist/Leninist
revolution

Two years it took me to be cured of my illness
Being still a relatively young and fit man
I was still in search of fulfilment
The memory of Olger, Sergey and my two children
Motivated me to seek an occupation
That would both repay my debt to my great party
And obviously help the way to international socialism
I was still unable to resume my lectureship at the sub-
nucleonic particle physics
And therefore volunteered to help our Afghan comrades
In their great struggle for liberation
I was readily accepted
Into a motorized maintenance unit

It was not long before I realised that our support
For the liberation struggle of our comrades in
Afghanistan
Was not viewed at all together unanimously by the local
population
In fact, we were not allowed outside of the barracks
unless we were in large armoured groups

During our brief stay in Afghanistan
We had discovered some of the very few pleasures open
to visitors to this desolate place
A local concoction called "hashish" was being
increasingly used by our troops
And many of the helicopter gunship and tank crews,
moreover
Would smoke large chillums and joints before embarking
on missions around the mountains, surrounding Kabul

Every week comrades who had fallen into the hands of
the rebels
would be found in various states of dismemberment
around the camp
Those unlucky enough to be still alive
Were sent from rehabilitation
to the German democratic republics
Since this would prevent any undue alarm by our loved
ones back home
The wisdom of this policy is evidence of our leaders'
great care for their people

Apart from hashish there was not much to divert or
endure the cold mountain nights
And increasingly there were signs of the troops
acquiring the illness of which I had previously been
cured
And therefore, my attention was focused more on looking
at the few animals that were kept within the military
compound.
As is often the case between human beings and animals
A close bond of affection can develop
And I became increasingly close to a camel I named
Dimitri
Ah, dear Dimitri

No one can really understand the relationship between a
man and his camel
As was the case with the army doctors and my superiors
Who sent me to convalesce in the German democratic
republic