Complete History Of The Soviet Union, Arranged To The Melody Of Tetris 

wow, that worker had such a long lifespan

"I promise I won't get political." Not even three drinks later:

I like how he goes from a socialist revolutionary, to a high ranking official, to an anticommunist, to a communist again

I love how it starts off as a funny and relatable parody and slowly gets more and more psychopathic and terrifying.

The tetris lore was deeper than I remembered it

Me: “Don’t worry, I won’t get all political.” *three drinks later* “THE FOOD ON YOUR PLATE IS NOW OWNED BY THE STATE!”

To Moscow I came seeking fortune But they’re making me work til I’m dead The bourgeoisie have it so easy The Tsar’s putting gold on his bread The people of Moscow are hungry But think what a feast there could be If we could create a socialist state That cared for the people like me: I am the man who arranges the blocks That descend upon me from up above. They come down and I spin them around Til they fit in the ground like hand in glove. Sometimes it seems that to move blocks is fine And the lines will be formed as they fall - Then I see that I have misjudged it! I should not have nudged it after all. Can I have a long one please? Why must these infernal blocks tease? I am the man who arranges the blocks That continue to fall from up above. Come Muscovite! Let the workers unite! A collective regime of peace and love. I work so hard in arranging the blocks But the landlord and taxman bleed me dry But the workers will rise! We will not compromise For we know that the old regime must die. Long live Lenin, kill the tsar! We salute the sickle and star! I am the man who arranges the blocks That continue to fall from up above. The food on your plate now belongs to the state A collective regime of peace and love. I have no choice in arranging the blocks Under Bolshevik rule, what they say goes. The rule of the game is we all are the same And my blocks must create unbroken rows. Long live Stalin! He loves you! Sing these words, or you know what he’ll do... I am the man who arranges the blocks That are made by the men in Kazakhstan. They come two weeks late and they don’t tessellate But we’re working to Stalin’s five year plan. I am the man who arranges the tanks That will make all the Nazis keep away The Fuhrer is dead, and Europe is Red! Let us point all our guns at the USA. We shall live forever more! We can start a nuclear war! I am the man who arranges the blocks That are building a highly secret base. Hip hip hurrah for the USSR! We are sending our men to outer space. I work so hard in arranging the blocks But each night I go home to my wife in tears - What’s the point of it all, when you’re building a wall And in front of your eyes it disappears? Pointless work for pointless pay This is one game I shall not play. I am the man who arranges the blocks! But tomorrow I think I’ll stay in bed. The winter is cold, I’ve got plenty of gold And I’m standing in line for a loaf of bread Maybe we’d be better off If we brought down Gorbachev I am the man who arranges the blocks That continue to fall from up above. The markets are free! So much money for me! Tell me, why should I care for peace and love? The markets are free! So much money for me! Tell me, why should I care for peace and love? Peace and love, peace and love! And now the wall is down, the Marxists frown There’s foreign shops all over town When in Red Square, well don’t despair There’s Levi’s and McDonald’s there The US gave us crystal meth And Yeltsin drank himself to death But now that Putin’s put the boot in, Who’ll get in our way? So we reject free enterprise And once again the left will rise. Prepare the flags to be unfurled For we’re seceding from the world: We shall regain the Georgian soil We shall obtain the Arctic oil We shall arrange the blocks and toil Forever and a day. Game over.

Assuming he is 20 years old at the overthrow of Nicholas II, he was born in 1897. Yeltsin died in 2007 and Putins first term ended in 2008. The ending must take place between 4/27/2007 and 5/7/2008. He is between 110 and 111 years old in the final segment.

When you work at a store: "I am the man who arranges the crocs"

Man I got to say that Tetris has some of the most interesting lore out of all games

This has lived rent-free in my brain for over a decade.

i love the way there was a grand total of 2 actors

GF: "what's your fav music genre?" Me: "History"

"Pointless work for pointless pay" really feeling that

Ive listened to this for 5 years and have only realised the tetris relation is referring to how the leaders of Russia have all tried to create something that is impossible: They want even full lines, but whenever you get one in it disappears.

me: *Buys a snack* the entire class: *THE FOOD ON YOUR PLATE NOW BELONGS TO THE STATE*

This is the story of a bricklayer who became a labor leader during the Revolution, became a Party apparatchik during the Civil War and its aftermath, overseeing construction and industry. He rose to prominence as a Party man experienced in logistics and construction, and as a result oversaw a large part of Stalin's First Five Year Plan. Poor supplies from Kazakh factories resulted in poor-quality buildings that were notoriously unstable, which almost led to this bricklayer's death in the Stalinist purges later in the decade. When WWII broke out, he was soon to be on Beria's list, but an old friend in the government from the Revolution days bailed him out and got him a position in the Army as a logistics officer. When the disaster of Barbarossa and its aftermath gutted the Red Army, the bricklayer saw himself catapulted to higher and higher offices - where he excelled as a logistical wizard. He would rise to the rank of Major General, and participated in the famous battle of Kursk. He took command of a tank detachment during the clash at Prokhorovka and helped blunt the German advance, later earning him a medal as a Hero of the Soviet Union. He would remain in the Soviet Army in the aftermath, seeing the start of the Cold War and the division of Germany. As a general in the logistical corps, he would go on to oversee the construction of missile bases and rocket test sites like Plokštinė, Kapustin Yar, and the Baikonur Cosmodrome. He would later record disillusionment with the Soviet regime throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, and was one of the first Soviet officials to embrace the free market - leading to him becoming exceedingly wealthy in the real estate, construction, and oil businesses.

I showed this to my students years ago... it turned out to be amazingly prophetic. I had to show them Tetris for them to understand the theme. One of the most talented music videos ever.

The way the last verse has remained relevant for the past 13 years 💀💀💀

"What's the point of it all, when your building a wall and in front of your eyes it disappears?" That is probably one of the most insightful statements I've ever heard.

"When in Red Square, well don’t despair There’s Levi’s and McDonald’s there" Who would've thought that was gonna be the first line to become outdated?

13 years ago?!?! AND the song is good

3:58 "what's the point of it all when you're building a wall but in front of your eyes it disappears" this line has so much meaning not just for the soviet union but as a metaphor for life. I just basically got completely alienated from everyone I had ever loved and cared about apart from a couple family members, and that this was planned all along just to poke fun at me, and tonight I came back to this because I can now truly understand what is meant by this. You are building up, putting so much care into and just putting all of your time, energy, joy, personality into everything just for it to get torn down almost instantly.

This was so good that I did not even realize I was watching a 10 year old video with a max resolution of 480p.

I love how his facial expressions fluctuate back and forth between being a humble, friendly worker.... and a complete psychopath.

This was so ahead of its time in terms of production quality and lyrical writing!

2:17 when the slide shows a ship firing a shell, it was the first shell being shot at the provisional government after the Tsar left, also the start of the Soviet era

complete history of fascist italy to the theme song of mario bros pls

developers when explaining the lore "there's no lore, just a fun game" theorists when explaining the lore

This aged like milk and fine wine at the same time.

Anybody remember those rumors about a possible Tetris movie being made? Now I don't know if it's true or even if they are thinking of making one, but I think I already found a Tetris movie. A musical about the history of Russia using the long lived arcade video game Tetris as imagery to tell the story. This in my opinion is all we need for our Tetris movie.

The fact that the camera quality changes throughout it was a great detail.

Did anyone else come here expecting a shitpost but was surprised by how good this sounds? Like the tetris theme fits PERFECTLY.

Been rewatching this every year for the past five at least, and this is the first time I noticed the dude at 2:04 dropping his hammer.

Looking back on this as an adult and 13 years of video-making advancement later: this was an insane amount of work. Great job, and thank you for an earworm that persists well over a decade later.

I just realized that that complete history of the soviet union video also describes a game of tetris as well as its on the surface story. The video starts off with the player being completely new to playing tetris, he's making mistakes and getting used to the gameplay, wondering why he cant "have a long one" to fit into that area. As Russia becomes communist, the player is getting more used to how to fit the blocks in perfectly, the game starts to get more intense as the pace increases, because the player is getting better overall and is able to fit the pieces in as he becomes more, like, autonomous with himself. As it get towards the 60s and 80s the player is getting more tired of it, it doesnt change much at all, and he doesnt feel theres a point to it. He has "plenty of gold" (high score), he decides to say "fuck it" and just goes apeshit (around 90s), as Russia gets more towards its greedy part the player is just laying down blocks haphazardly, leading to a game over.

Wall Street be like “I am the man who arranges the stocks”

0:00 1914 0:52 1917-1922 2:25 1922-1924 2:55 1944 3:20 1945 3:26 1945-1948 3:29 1949 3:43 1953 3:51 1961-1984

Updated line for Feb 2022: "I am the man who arranges the blocks that continue to fall from up above, we're marching today into eastern ukraine, and somehow the west will take the blame!"

I love how the artstyle is based on the ussr camera technology available at the time. For example it starts off with a grainy colourless video and ends with a colour tv.

6 year old me at the park: I am the man who arranges the rocks

Watching this in honor of the kid who finally broke this legendary game.

Coming back to this after the Tetris trailer.

When he said “I am the man who arranges the blocks” I really felt that

Can we simply point out that this still isn't dated, despite it being almost 10 years old already, as Putin still holds office in Russia? It's... impressive

"What's the point of it all when your building a wall and in front of your eyes it dis-a-pears" that hit different

That last part - it's amazing how prophetic a song from 13 years ago is.

Woah woah woah woah wait. This came out *_-NINE-_**_ TEN YEARS AGO???_*

"Prepare the flags to be unfurled 'cause we're seceding from the world..." Aged a bit too well.

one of the best pieces of music created by humanity. i find myself 13 years after it's creation still coming back to listen joyfully

Okay, but the shot of the Game Boy version's Buran launch, leading into the Vostok? I feel like more people should be talking about that, because it's magnificent.

When you work at a clothing store “I am the man who arranges the socks.”

So when the Soviet Union collapsed everyone got British accents?

This has aged really well considering that it's over 13 years old.

I am the man who arranges the blocks But our leaders still bring hardships and pain You’d think that we’d learn, taken a better turn, But we’re sending our tanks into Ukraine

Playing Tetris99, still hearing these lyrics, even after years.

I don't know if you guys heard, but he's the man who arranges the blocks.

3:24 why does these moments keep playing in my head.

Guys I think this is the man who arranges the blocks

My history teacher actually showed us this while we were learning about the Russian Revolution, it was great

When you work in a gun store: I am the man who arranges the glocks

seems the game ain't over yet

*COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE SOVIET UNION, ARRANGED TO THE MELODY OF TETRIS* 0:01 Prologue | 1893 0:46 Title | *A COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE SOVIET UNION THROUGH THE EYES OF A HUMBLE WORKER* 0:51 Before the Russian Revolution | 1894 - 1917 1:42 The Russian Revolution | 1917 - 1923 2:26 After the Russian Revolution | 1923 - 1924 2:52 The Stalin Era | 1924 - 1939 3:17 World War 2 | 1939 - 1945 3:26 The beginning of the Cold War | 1945 - 1949 3:29 Arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union | 1949 - 1955 3:47 Space Race | 1955 - 1975 3:52 The beginning of the fall of the Soviet Union | 1975 - 1989 4:17 Intermission | 1990 4:44 The Rise of Capitalism in the Soviet Union | 1991 5:09 The Dissolution of the Soviet Union | December 26, 1991 5:17 Russian Federation in 2008 | 2008 - 2012 5:39 The Putin Era | 2012 5:47 The Russian Federation Onwards | 2012 - 2024 6:18 *GAME OVER* | Somewhere in the Future Credits: @GabrielPerez-br5mm Historical Stuff I should mention in this video: 2:12 Vladimir Lenin 2:15 Emperor Nicholas the 2nd 2:26 That says Lenin in Russian 2:52 Joseph Stalin 2:56 Joseph Stalin doesn't love you 3:23 Fuhrer means leader in German and it mentions Adolf Hitler If you pause it at 3:47 at the right time you'll see a hammer and a sickle. 3:57 Iron Curtain 5:17 The collapse of the Berlin Wall 5:22 Western shops in Russian 5:33 Rise of Drugs and Meth in Russia 5:36 Boris Yeltsin 5:39 Vladimir Putin 6:02 Russo-Georgian War

Lyrics To Moscow I came seeking fortune But they’re making me work til I’m dead The bourgeoisie have it so easy The Tsar’s putting gold on his bread The people of Moscow are hungry But think what a feast there could be If we could create a socialist state That cared for the people like me: I am the man who arranges the blocks That descend upon me from up above. They come down and I spin them around Til they fit in the ground like hand in glove. Sometimes it seems that to move blocks is fine And the lines will be formed as they fall - Then I see that I have misjudged it! I should not have nudged it after all. Can I have a long one please? Why must these infernal blocks tease? I am the man who arranges the blocks That continue to fall from up above. Come Muscovite! Let the workers unite! A collective regime of peace and love. I work so hard in arranging the blocks But the landlord and taxman bleed me dry But the workers will rise! We will not compromise For we know that the old regime must die. Long live Lenin, kill the tsar! We salute the sickle and star! I am the man who arranges the blocks That continue to fall from up above. The food on your plate now belongs to the state A collective regime of peace and love. I have no choice in arranging the blocks Under Bolshevik rule, what they say goes. The rule of the game is we all are the same And my blocks must create unbroken rows. Long live Stalin! He loves you! Sing these words, or you know what he’ll do... I am the man who arranges the blocks That are made by the men in Kazakhstan. They come two weeks late and they don’t tessellate But we’re working to Stalin’s five year plan. I am the man who arranges the tanks That will make all the Nazis keep away The Fuhrer is dead, and Europe is Red! Let us point all our guns at the USA. We shall live forever more! We can start a nuclear war! I am the man who arranges the blocks That are building a highly secret base. Hip hip hurrah for the USSR! We are sending our men to outer space. I work so hard in arranging the blocks But each night I go home to my wife in tears - What’s the point of it all, when you’re building a wall And in front of your eyes it disappears? Pointless work for pointless pay This is one game I shall not play. I am the man who arranges the blocks! But tomorrow I think I’ll stay in bed. The winter is cold, I’ve got plenty of gold And I’m standing in line for a loaf of bread Maybe we’d be better off If we brought down Gorbachev I am the man who arranges the blocks That continue to fall from up above. The markets are free! So much money for me! Tell me, why should I care for peace and love? The markets are free! So much money for me! Tell me, why should I care for peace and love? Peace and love, peace and love! And now the wall is down, the Marxists frown There’s foreign shops all over town When in Red Square, well don’t despair There’s Levi’s and McDonald’s there The US gave us crystal meth And Yeltsin drank himself to death But now that Putin’s put the boot in, Who’ll get in our way? So we reject free enterprise And once again the left will rise. Prepare the flags to be unfurled For we’re seceding from the world: We shall regain the Georgian soil We shall obtain the Arctic oil We shall arrange the blocks and toil Forever and a day

So, the story is as follows: a young peasant comes to Moscow and becomes a worker to make some money; however, horrible work conditions make him a supporter of Lenin, so he welcomes the Revolution. Under the Soviet rule, he keeps his old job and works extremely hard; he has second thoughts about Stalin's methods, but he keeps his doubts to himself, joins the Party and (at some point before WWII) becomes a Red Army senior officer in the Tank Troops. After the war he continues to hold high authority positions with access to secret bases and the space program, but, by 1970s, his faith in the Party is completely lost. In the 80s, the coming crisis assures him that Gorbachev's Perestroika can't give the country the much--needed change, so he (apparently) decides to use his Old Bolshevik influence to help Yeltsin's career. In the 90s, despite being very old, he uses his government position to make huge money and become an oligarch. However, his... grandson, I suppose, rejects his legacy during Putin's rule and becomes a communist once again.

Thirteen years and this still lives in my brain. What a great piece of art!

Now I am ready for the Tetris movie.

I like the detail that the guy gets better at English during the video. Possibly showing the switch to globalization.

Should have been "I am the man who arranges the stocks" 4:55

He is the man that arranges the blocks

“We shall live forever more” sounds like something thst expired in 1991 💀

He's slowly going insane over the course of the song.

The production values here are really amazing. I mean today they're quite impressive, but when you consider the fact that this video is almost exactly 10 years old, it's truly impressive. I'll bet you didn't even notice that the maximum quality is 480p until someone pointed it out. That's because of the excellent work done to ensure that the video quality wasn't an issue even at exceedingly low resolutions.

"So we reject free enterprise, and once again, the left will rise. Prepare the flags to be unfurled, cause we're seceding from the world. We shall regain the Georgian soil, we shall obtain the arctic oil, we shall arrange the blocks that fall, forever and a day." What haunting and prophetic words these turned out to be...

Hollywood missed the opportunity to use your song as closing credits for the TETRIS movie.

Woke up this morning, read the news, and have had this song caught in my head ever since. Time to add another verse, I guess.

The guy who was playing the accordion needs a raise. Absolutely perfect.

12 years later and this still slaps

Words fail me. I honestly don't know how to describe my infinite admiration for this... masterpiece. Lyrics, melody, vocals, the video itself, the SYMBOLISM OH MY GOD. THIS IS GENUINELY FLAWLESS. Thank you so much for this work of art. It really means a lot to me.

*_The blocks were paid actors_*

The lyric to this song: To Moscow I came seeking fortune But they’re making me work til I’m dead The bourgeoisie have it so easy The Tsar’s putting gold on his bread The people of Moscow are hungry But think what a feast there could be If we could create a socialist state That cared for the people like me: I am the man who arranges the blocks That descend upon me from up above. They come down and I spin them around Til they fit in the ground like hand in glove. Sometimes it seems that to move blocks is fine And the lines will be formed as they fall - Then I see that I have misjudged it! I should not have nudged it after all. Can I have a long one please? Why must these infernal blocks tease? I am the man who arranges the blocks That continue to fall from up above. Come Muscovite! Let the workers unite! A collective regime of peace and love. I work so hard in arranging the blocks But the landlord and taxman bleed me dry But the workers will rise! We will not compromise For we know that the old regime must die. Long live Lenin, kill the tsar! We salute the sickle and star! I am the man who arranges the blocks That continue to fall from up above. The food on your plate now belongs to the state A collective regime of peace and love. I have no choice in arranging the blocks Under Bolshevik rule, what they say goes. The rule of the game is we all are the same And my blocks must create unbroken rows. Long live Stalin! He loves you! Sing these words, or you know what he’ll do... I am the man who arranges the blocks That are made by the men in Kazakhstan. They come two weeks late and they don’t tessellate But we’re working to Stalin’s five year plan. I am the man who arranges the tanks That will make all the Nazis keep away The Fuhrer is dead, and Europe is Red! Let us point all our guns at the USA. We shall live forever more! We can start a nuclear war! I am the man who arranges the blocks That are building a highly secret base. Hip hip hurrah for the USSR! We are sending our men to outer space. I work so hard in arranging the blocks But each night I go home to my wife in tears - What’s the point of it all, when you’re building a wall And in front of your eyes it disappears? Pointless work for pointless pay This is one game I shall not play. I am the man who arranges the blocks! But tomorrow I think I’ll stay in bed. The winter is cold, I’ve got plenty of gold And I’m standing in line for a loaf of bread Maybe we’d be better off If we brought down Gorbachev I am the man who arranges the blocks That continue to fall from up above. The markets are free! So much money for me! Tell me, why should I care for peace and love? The markets are free! So much money for me! Tell me, why should I care for peace and love? Peace and love, peace and love! And now the wall is down, the Marxists frown There’s foreign shops all over town When in Red Square, well don’t despair There’s Levi’s and McDonald’s there The US gave us crystal meth And Yeltsin drank himself to death But now that Putin’s put the boot in, Who’ll get in our way? So we reject free enterprise And once again the left will rise. Prepare the flags to be unfurled For we’re seceding from the world: We shall regain the Georgian soil We shall obtain the Arctic oil We shall arrange the blocks and toil Forever and a day.

Time periods: Sometime before 1917: 0:00-0:52 1917: 0:52-2:12 1917-1924 2:12-2:53 1924-1941 2:53-3:18 1941-1949 3:18-3:30 1949-c.1961 3:30-3:47 1961-1970s 3:47-4:17 1970s- late 1980s 4:17-4:54 Late 1980s 4:54-5:16 1989-1991 5:16-5:33 1991 and after 5:33-6:48

This needs way more recognition after the release of the Tetris 2023 movie

When you’re a gym teacher “I am the man who arranges the jocks”

To everyone saying this song is prophetic, it's worth nothing that Putin's invasion streak began before this video was made. Russia invaded Georgia in 2008, which may be what is being referenced by "we shall regain the Georgian soil" in the post-USSR part of the song.

it's been a hot minute since i watched this. the trombone part was so much more impressive than i ever noticed before. incredible arrangement.

When in Red Square, don't despair, there's Lev's and Tasty Period there

It's odd to me to think that there are a few people left today who were alive during tsar Nicholas' reign, and were working age when Lenin rose to power. Like, there are some people who outlived the Soviet Union, just something odd to think about

This is bloody incredible. The facial expressions of the singing worker compared to the stoicism of the other, uniform workers show the private face behind the public one, the anxiety and stress during the Stalinist years, while pretending to be part of the uniform majority. Great song and tune and focus matter. Bloody great.

12 years later and still a banger

Dates: 0:00 likely early 1910's 0:38 likely around 1915 0:55 likely mid 1916 1:43 1917, just before revolution 1:52 1917, during revolution 2:35 likely 1920's 2:55 1928, stalin enters power in the ussr 3:20 1941, operation Barbarossa 3:24 1945, Adolf Hitler kills himself in his bunker 3:28 1948, start of the Cold War 3:38 1949, first soviet atom bomb 3:51 1961, first soviet man in space 3:58 and 4:02 1961, build of the Berlin wall, and 1989, fall of the Berlin Wall 4:37 likely around 1990 4:44 1991, leading up to fall of the USSR 5:20 1992, post-ussr fall 5:40 1999, putin enters power in russia

I just realized this is almost 10 years old. Dang the quality looked like it was made in 2016

Berlin wall: exists An "I" piece: i'm about to end this man's whole career.

13 years and this still gets stuck in my head all the time

This is one of the top results on YT with "tetris" lol. GOOD WORK COMRADES

"The Fuhrer is dead, and Europe is *RED!* Let us point all out guns at the USA!" best part imo

This dude hasn't aged since 1900.

Every so often i come back to this video for my late night existential wonderings. Coming back to it now the last section hits especially hard

0:52 is where the melody begins