Обезьянка Ноль (Obez’yanka Nol’ / Monkey Zero)
Никому никто не виноват / Nobody is at fault for anyone
Каждой луже по своей луне / Each puddle to it’s own moon
Только больше нет координат / Except there are no more coordinates
На которых ты найдешься мне / On which I can find you
Я уже не там, а ты не здесь / I’m already not there, and you’r e not here
Разминулись глупо облака / The clouds missed each other foolishly
Обезьянка, ты пока что есть / Monkey, you’re what’s here now
Обезьянка, я жива пока / Monkey, I am alive for now
Моя веселая / My happy
Моя смешная боль / My funny pain
Я обезьянка ноль / I am monkey zero
Ты обезьянка ноль / You are monkey zero
Честных психов можно не лечить / Honest psychos don’t nee to be healed
Не отпустит ни тебе, ни мне / It won’t let go for you or me
С этой грусти нам не соскочить / With this sadness we cannot jump
Обезьянки будут жить в тюрьме / Monkeys will live in jail
Обезьянки будут жить в тюрьме / Monkeys will live in jail
Всем любовь, а обезьянкам грусть / Love for everyone, but sadness for the monkeys
Обезьянка, ты приснишься мне / Monkey, I will dream of you
Обезьянка, я тебе приснюсь / Monkey, you will dream of me
Моя веселая / My happy
Моя смешная боль / My funny pain
Я обезьянка ноль / I am monkey zero
Ты обезьянка ноль / You are monkey zero
Моя веселая / My happy
Моя смешная боль / My funny pain
Я обезьянка ноль / I am monkey zero
Ты обезьянка ноль / You are monkey zero
Моя веселая / My happy
Моя смешная боль / My funny pain
Я обезьянка ноль / I am monkey zero
Ты обезьянка ноль / You are monkey zero
In his Instagram livestream on September 3rd, 2022, Sergio Galoyan shared details about the meaning of “Obezyanka Nol’”:
“I honestly don’t know because I am not the author of the lyrics, but the author of the music. The meaning of the music which I added to the track is a very deep helplessness. A state when no one in the world can help you and everything around you is freezing. And you want to scream, and you cannot leave this state, and everything is becoming colder and colder…I love the music from this song so much that ‘I re-listen to it. It starts in this my heart skipped a beat’ [way]. And it is such a discovery, I remember how I was jumping when I created that beat. It is so emotional.”
Although many people believe this song is about Ivan and his “control” over Lena and Julia, “Obezyanka Nol’” seems to be about two people longing for each other, the kind of longing you feel in a long-distance relationship.
Никому никто не виноват / Nobody is at fault for anyone
Каждой луже по своей луне / Each puddle to it’s own moon
Только больше нет координат / Except there are no more coordinates
На которых ты найдешься мне / On which I can find you
The two people are not together, in different places, but it is no one’s fault. One may have moved away and left the other because they had to, perhaps by force, not because they wanted to. Either way, that person is gone and the other person misses them.
Я уже не там, а ты не здесь / I’m already not there, and you’r e not here
Разминулись глупо облака / The clouds missed each other foolishly
Обезьянка, ты пока что есть / Monkey, you’re what’s here now
Обезьянка, я жива пока / Monkey, I am alive for now
The first person is already gone, moved away, but the second person is still there, they stayed behind. They are in two different places. However, they still have each other, even though they are not together physically, they are together emotionally, they love one another.
Моя веселая / My happy
Моя смешная боль / My funny pain
Я обезьянка ноль / I am monkey zero
Ты обезьянка ноль / You are monkey zero
The person being sung about is a “happy/funny pain”- this person makes the other one happy, they both love one another and bring each other joy…but because the two are separated, they miss each other and it is causing them great pain. They have so much love for one another and because they can’t be together it is causing them tourment. They are both “monkey zeros”, which are nicknames for these two people, these two creatures, who are meant for one another and are being kept apart.
Честных психов можно не лечить / Honest psychos don’t nee to be healed
Не отпустит ни тебе, ни мне / It won’t let go for you or me
С этой грусти нам не соскочить / With this sadness we cannot jump
Обезьянки будут жить в тюрьме / Monkeys will live in jail
Perhaps “psychos” can be interpreted as the people who split the two apart because they did not like or understand their relationship. These “psychos” cannot be “healed”, they’re minds won’t open up to accept the love between the two, so there is no point in trying to explain it to them. This causes the two people great pain, they feel trapped, wanting to break free and run to each other, but cannot.
Обезьянки будут жить в тюрьме / Monkeys will live in jail
Всем любовь, а обезьянкам грусть / Love for everyone, but sadness for the monkeys
Обезьянка, ты приснишься мне / Monkey, I will dream of you
Обезьянка, я тебе приснюсь / Monkey, you will dream of me
Everyone else gets to love, gets to have a relationship and be close with their significant others, but these two people, these two “monkey zeros” cannot and therefore are sad. The only thing they can do is think and dream of each other, it is the only way for them to stay connected.
Моя веселая / My happy
Моя смешная боль / My funny pain
Я обезьянка ноль / I am monkey zero
Ты обезьянка ноль / You are monkey zero
On July 11th, 2005, t.A.T.u.’s creative teams posted their interpretation of “Obezyanka Nol’”:
What you paid for is what you sold it for.
As promised to the fans at the album presentation in SOYUZ, we are sharing our interpretation of “Obezyanka Nol’”. t.A.T.u. has not had, does not have, and will not have pointless or dumb lyrics. All comments about the lyrics not having meaning is the result of intellectual laziness from the commentators (in fact, amongst those commenting are professionals who write for respected publications and even get paid for it). Guys, you can’t just write everything as it is. Where are the layers of art, where is the mystique?…We ask that no one get upset, but turn on their brains and think before judging the meaning of the lyrics.
No one has to answer to anyone for anything, everyone is on their own. Everything that we believed in has died under the weight of vulgarity and cynicism. There is no more room where you and I can meet like before and be happy…Even we ourselves are different. We have lost our connection and do not understand each other. But, we still remain, so that means there is still a change…
“Happy and funny pain” – a metaphor with a simple and deep meaning: this is a sad memory of someone who was happy and funny, but in the past…
“Monkey Zero” – a helpless, sincere, and honest person who has been crushed by the cruelty of reality….
“Honest psychos” – these are people who do not pretend, but are psychos, only from the point of view of the dangerous and moving/ludi invalidi. They “do not need to be healed” because they are actually not psychos. Sincerity and honesty will not be forgiven to them. They cannot escape prosecution. They will live in jail – they will be thrown out and isolated.
Everyone going with the flow has dishonest love, but monkeys have sadness…
The two last lines of the second verse are quite literal and do not need interpreting.