Ya Soshla S Uma

Background and composition

t.A.T.u. members Yulia Volkova and Elena Katina had originally worked for Russian children's music group Neposedi, but Volkova was dismissed due to volatile behavior. Katina was also accused by Russian journalism of erratic behavior, and left not long after. Subsequently, Russian music manager Ivan Shapovalov held a casting call for a solo singer to be managed by him, and selected Katina out of several other girls. He and his ex-wife, Elena Kiper, then decided to create and manage a duo, and selected Volkova as the second member for the group. According to Kiper, she had attended a dentist appointed and was put under anesthesia for further surgical procedures, which resulted in recalling a dreaming about a woman kissing and waking up saying the phrase "Ya Soshla s Uma", which translates as "I've lost my mind" in Russian.

Kiper had told Shapovalov about the dream, and wrote the second phrase of the song, "Mne nuzhna ona", which means "I need her"; this led to Shapovalov conveying the theme of lesbianism through the track and its English language counterpart, "All The Things She Said". Shapovalov had been accused by Russian media for taking the idea of Kiper and conveying it as his own, whilst Kiper stated that the idea was all thought by herself. "Ya Soshla S Uma" was written by Sergio Galoyan, Kiper and Valeriy Polienko, whilst production was handled by the group's manager, Shapovalov. He also composed the track, and it was recorded by him at the Neformat Studios, Russia in 1999. Two versions of the single were released—the original version and an edited version that used the backing track of "All The Things She Said"; this version appeared on 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane (2002).

Release

After the completion of the song, the co-manager of the group, Boris Renski, decided to pull the release as he felt the final result would become a failure for the Russian public. Shapovalov persuaded Renski in allowing the continuation of the band, and offered to pay the music video himself; Renski accepted the offer. The recording premiered on 19 December 2000 as the lead single from the album. It was released as a CD single which included the original version, four remix versions, and two enhanced videos (the visual and behind-the-scenes footage). A cassette tape was also issued in Russia, and featured the five tracks from the CD single. After the group signed a contract with Universal Music Russia in 2001, "Ya Soshla S Uma" was re-distributed as a double A-side single with their song, "Nas Ne Dagonyat" (2001), in Poland. That same year, it was sent to radio stations in Germany and Europe. In January 2003, it appeared as a second B-side track on the physical release of "All The Things She Said".

Controversy

In February 2011, American recording artist Katy Perry released her single "E.T." from her third studio album, Teenage Dream (2010). According to several music publications, the composition and rhythm bar of Perry's single was similar to the sound of "Ya Soshla s Uma"; Matthew Cole from Slant Magazine disliked Perry's song for being "inscrutability" and said that its backing track was reminiscent of t.A.T.u.'s song. Similarly, The A.V. Club editor Genevieve Koski felt "E.T." "bears more than a passing resemblance" of t.A.T.u.'s single, and a reporter from Sound Magazine posted a mash-up version of the songs to distinguish the comparisons; the website labelled it one of the most "annoyingly addictive" songs. In May 2011, Galoyan responded to the comparisons and criticized Perry's track, considering legal action against the singer, West, and her labels Capitol Records and Universal Music Group, but not responding since his comments.

Reception

"Ya Soshla S Uma" received positive reviews from music critics. Writing for AllMusic, Drago Bonacich selected the track as one of the group's best work. Michael Osborn from MusicOMH discussed the girls' vocal abilities, and noted their vocal performance in both English and Russian were incomprehensible; he quoted, "But you try getting your tongue around Ya Soshla S Uma." Sean Bertiger from Popdirt.com preferred the Russian version over the English adaption, citing the band's vocals and emotions as factors to his opinion. Since its release, the song has achieved accolades and awards. In early 2001, Universal Music Group hosted a poll for the audience to vote on which song was the best from 200 Po Vstrechnoy; as a result, "Ya Soshla s Uma" came first place. That same year, "Ya Soshla S Uma" won the 100 Pound Hit awarded by Hit FM Russia, with t.A.T.u. as well performing the track the same night. On 29 November 2005, Kiper was presented the Songwriting Award at the BMI Honors Top European Songwriters And Publishers; this was her first win at the ceremony, and went on winning the second time with "Not Gonna Get Us" (2002), t.A.T.u.'s second international single. Commercially, the single reached number one on the Russian Singles Chart, charting there for eighteen consecutive weeks. By January 2010, "Ya Soshla s Uma" sold over 50,000 units and over 200,000 illegal copies.

Music video

The accompanying music video to "Ya Soshla S Uma" was directed by Shapovalov, and was shot at the Khodynka Field in Moscow between 4–7 September 2000. Preparation for the visual consisted of both Volkova and Katina covering themselves in dark-tanning lotion and getting haircuts. Over 90 people were present on set, including extra actors, whilst some members had designed a large brick wall by painting abstract patterns and colors to it. According to Shapovalov, the wall itself cost approximately $3000 USD. After shooting the majority of the scenes in Khodynka Field, Shapovalov moved the wall and iron fence to Kutuzov Avenue, Moscow, in order to shot frames of traffic until the camera changed its focus on the girls again. Shapovalov stated that he wanted the viewers to know that there was a "world behind the crowd of people." The video was broadcast in Russia and Europe in early December 2000 on MTV.

The music video opens with a panning view of a fence and people with umbrellas on the left, eventually zooming out on an audience looking through it in the rain. Both Volkova and Katina are then shown singing to the track in Catholic school uniforms. Throughout the majority of the visual, the girls are featured performing erratic behaviour, which includes them banging against a fence, yelling for help towards the audience, and occasionally laughing at them. While continuing to sing to each other during the second chorus, they subsequently start to kiss, and the audience slightly stares at their actions. Following this, several members of the public start to talk to each other, whilst a shot with the camera looking up Volkova's skirt and exposing her underwear is shown during the process.

The bridge section has the girls laying in water while snow starts to fall. At the last portion of the chorus, t.A.T.u. are portrayed pointing in different directions, until they both walk around corner and see a vast field, where the sun is breaking out of the clouds; they clasp hands and walk off into the distance. The people on the other side of the fence are left in an eerie green light with rain falling steadily; it is also revealed that they are the ones isolated behind the fence. The video's final scene shows the girls walking further in the distance. Several frames from "Ya Soshla S Uma" did not appear in the visual for "All the Things She Said" due to lip-syncing issues. Like "All the Things She Said", the video generated controversy for having the duo kissing, with critics particularly believing that it prompted paedophilia and lesbianism. An editor from The Age commented that the impact of the video for "Ya Soshla s Uma" was generally lukewarm.

The music video won the MTV Video Music Award among the Russian nominees of 2000, marking the group's first nomination and win at the ceremony. Despite this, it caused controversy in Russia similarly to the cultural impact of "All The Things She Said". This resulted in the clip being banned on MTV Russia due to its propaganda-approach on lesbianism and gay rights; a censored version was edited by Shapovalov, omitting any sexual references. According to Jon Kutner, writing in his book 1000 UK Number One Hits, the idea of school girls behind an iron fence courted controversy nevertheless. A member of The Advocate labelled the girls in the videos as "underage porn-quality lolitas", and noted it garnered huge media coverage in Russia alongside commercial sales.

Remix versions

An official video for the remix version produced by HarDrum was included on the CD format of the single; it included unreleased footage that did not appear on the original version, featuring different angle shots of the girls, expressions from the public's faces and the band performing erratically. It also included various scenes of people on-set helping with the music video's production, and one holding the wired fence. In July and September 2015, the group uploaded two teaser videos of a remix version produced by Fly Dream in order to commemorate the single's 15th anniversary on 19 December that same year; by then, it still remained unreleased. On 7 August 2016, one year since the two trailers, t.A.T.u. uploaded an HD version of the video with new unreleased scenes and extended footage. Lasting five minutes and 37 seconds, it showed an extended cut of the girls arguing next to the brick wall and walking around the corner to find the vast Khodynka Field with a clearer cityscape in the distance by the fourth minute. The ending of the video portrays t.A.T.u. in the distance, similar to the original video.

Promotion

"Ya Soshla S Uma" was included on the group's 200 Po Vstrechnoy concert tour, where they performed in Russia and Ukraine; they extended the tour in 2002 and traveled to Germany, Czech Republic,and Poland among others. Parts of "Ya Soshla S Uma" were used during t.A.T.u.'s Truth Tour in St. Petersburg, were it served as the concert's closing number. The single was additionally included on the group's greatest hits compilation album The Best (2006), while the music video and HarDrum remix and video version were included on the former album and their 2003 t.A.T.u. Remixes album. Russian singer Elena Temnikova performed a version of the track with another female artist for a Russian television show while impersonating band member Volkova.

Credits and personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of 200 Po Vstrechnoy;