Ne ver, ne boysya

The title of the song is based on a Russian prison saying, which entered Russian mainstream culture due to Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's book The Gulag Archipelago.{{cite web |title=Как относиться к принципу: не верь, не бойся, не проси! |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IM5ULP7PHVo |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/IM5ULP7PHVo |archive-date=22 December 2021 |url-status=live|website=YouTube | date=23 January 2018 |publisher=Hafetz Haim |access-date=4 August 2020|trans-title=How to relate to the principle: Don't Believe, Don't Fear and Don't Ask!|language=ru}}{{cbignore}} The term has also been interpreted as a reference to the repression faced by the LGBTQ community.

According to Australian-born Mars Lasar, the song was produced by him and Ivan Shapovalov by sending MP3s over the internet to each other, with Lasar in the U.S. and Shapovalov in Russia. There are several versions of the song, including the promotional version that was used for Eurovision promotions.

"Ne ver, ne boysya" was a promo-only release distributed for Eurovision. The song was first included on the UK maxi-CD single for "Not Gonna Get Us" on 19 May 2003. It was also released on the single for "How Soon Is Now?", and on the UK Deluxe Edition of 200 km/h in the Wrong Lane on 26 May 2003.{{Cite web|url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210420201703/https://eng.tatysite.net/news/archive.php?id=775_0_5_0|title = DVD «Screaming For More» Release Planned Earlier This Year Is Cancelled.|website = TatySite|date = 6 May 2003|access-date = 19 April 2025}} It was then released on 25 November 2003 in t.A.T.u. Remixes. The song reappeared in 2006 on The Best.

The song has a music video, directed by Alexei Akellov, that contains videos of wars, accidents, and other pictures of the real world, as well as videos of Lena Katina and Julia Volkova. The video is on both t.A.T.u.'s official MySpace and YouTube pages.

t.A.T.u represented Russia at the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 with this song. In his 2017 book Eurovision! A History of Modern Europe Through the World’s Greatest Song Contest, author Chris West suggested that the group's selection to represent Russia in the contest was partly intended to counter accusations of Russian cultural conservatism. Australian professor Bronwyn Winter suggested that the entry could be interpreted as "a mild protest song", in that the artists' lesbian image contrasted with Russia's gender norms.{{cite book |last1=Winter |first1=Bronwyn |editor1-last=Carniel |editor1-first=Jessica |editor2-last=Hay |editor2-first=Chris |title= Eurovision and Australia: Interdisciplinary Perspectives from Down Under |date=25 July 2019 |publisher=Springer |location=New York |isbn=9783030200589 |pages=84–85 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KT-lDwAAQBAJ |access-date=30 December 2021 |chapter= Gender-Bending or Gender-Straightening? Australia and the ESC at the Intersections of Gender, Sexual Orientation, and Ethnicity}} The song was initially considered a favorite to win the contest.{{cite web |title=UK act hits Eurovision low |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2935874.stm |website=BBC News |access-date=2 January 2022 |date=25 May 2003}}

It was the eleventh song performed on the night, following {{esccnty|Germany|y=2003}}'s Lou with "Let's Get Happy" and preceding {{esccnty|Spain|y=2003}}'s Beth with "Dime". The group reportedly arrived late to rehearsals in the lead-up to the show, and threatened to deliver their performance naked; they ultimately opted to perform in T-shirts with the number one on them and old jeans, while holding hands.{{cite book |last1=West |first1=Chris |title=Eurovision! A History of Modern Europe Through the World's Greatest Song Contest |date=2017 |publisher=Melville House UK |location=London |isbn=9781911545002 |pages=222–223}} Their live performance was booed by some audience members, while their outfit later earned them the annual Barbara Dex Award for worst-dressed Eurovision contestants.

At the close of the voting, the song had received 164 points, placing it 3rd in a field of 26. Five countries awarded Russia with the maximum 12 points: {{esccnty|Croatia|y=2003}}, {{esccnty|Estonia|y=2003}}, {{esccnty|Latvia|y=2003}}, {{esccnty|Slovenia|y=2003}} and {{esccnty|Ukraine|y=2003}}. The UK and Ireland were the only countries in the contest not to vote for the song.{{Cite web|url=http://www.diggiloo.net/?scoreboard.2003|title = Diggiloo Thrush - scoreboard 2003}} This led to complaints from the Russian officials which then led to the BBC and RTÉ revealing the full order of how the countries had voted (something which they had never done before or since). The Russian entry was in neither of their top ten lists. If this had not been the case, there would have been a good chance that the song could have won. The song was only one point behind the second-placed song from {{esccnty|Belgium|y=2003}} and three points behind the winning song from {{esccnty|Turkey|y=2003}}. West posited that the group's third-place finish "was a reward for pre-existing notoriety rather than for anything they brought to Latvia."

{{Reflist}}

• {{YouTube|pF1pKFiGXYw|Ne Ver Ne Boysia Ne Prosi}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070817201109/http://www.tatu.ru/text/t11.html Official lyrics] (in Cyrillic)
• [http://www.diggiloo.net/?2003ru.studio Studio version lyrics with English translation]
• [http://www.diggiloo.net/?2003ru Lyrics as sung at the Eurovision Song Contest 2003 with English translation]

{{Tatu}}

{{Russia in the Eurovision Song Contest}}

{{Eurovision Song Contest 2003}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:T.A.T.u. songs

Category:2003 singles

Category:2003 songs

Category:Eurovision songs of 2003

Category:Eurovision songs of Russia

Category:Songs in Russian

Category:Songs written by Ivan Shapovalov

Category:Songs written by Valery Polienko

Category:Universal Music Group singles