The Story of One Song

In August 1992, Ace of Base released “All That She Wants,” and it tore through the world charts like a whirlwind. A year earlier the USSR had collapsed, and the new country was soaking up Western culture and new economic models like a sponge. The song played on every radio station, the Ace of Base album sold out on cassette, and everyone seemed to be playing it non-stop.

That fall I started third grade at a gymnasium with an intensive English program. Back then English had barely seeped into society, and although we’d been studying the language since first grade, we couldn’t exactly claim to speak it fluently either.

What stirred our curiosity most of all? Wanting to understand what the song was about, of course! There was no internet — there was nowhere to find the lyrics, and the only way to share any piece of information was in person or over the phone.

This looked like a fully formed demand! And the new laws of capitalism said: where there’s demand, there must be supply. And then it hit me! I grabbed the tape player and started transcribing the lyrics by ear. It took almost the whole day and an uncountable number of rewinds.

Years later I learned that quite a few of the words were wrong, but the gist was right. The funniest part is that I still know that song by heart to this day — not the original version, but my own interpretation, mistakes and all.

In the end I had a sheet with the song’s lyrics in English and a translation into Russian. I made a few copies by hand and went off to school to try myself in a new role — that of an entrepreneur. I don’t remember exactly how much I was charging for the fruits of my labor — five rubles, maybe fifteen — but I sold every copy and earned my first money ever, a sum that felt impressive for the time. I felt so inspired it was as if I’d grown wings!

The story of the girl in “All That She Wants,” leading a messy sex life and feeling lonely all the while, had exactly zero moral or ethical influence on us ten-year-olds. That subject was still far away for us, but the teachers and parents did notice the story. And the fact that childhood capitalism had taken root at school — and by a route no one expected — didn’t go unnoticed either.

My parents were called in. We were dressed down quite sternly; there was even talk of expelling me. I still remember the deep sense of injustice from that conversation. And this was happening in one of the most progressive schools of the time! What on earth was going on in the others?

That was the first time someone wanted to expel me for violating the traditional foundations of school life, but far from the last… After all, Pandora’s box was already open!

The next year I decided to organize my own lottery and sell tickets… But that’s a whole other story.

Here’s to supporting ourselves and our children in any venture — even the ones that look the most ridiculous! 😎