"Life has become better" (Russian: Жить Cта́ло Лу́чше, romanized: zhit stálo lúchshe, IPA: [ʐɨtʲ ˈstalə ˈlut͡ʂʂɨ]) is a widespread version of a phrase uttered by former Soviet Communist Party General Secretary Joseph Stalin at the First All-Union Meeting of the Stakhanovites on November 17, 1935. The full quote from Joseph Stalin was, when translated into English,
Living has become better, comrades. Living has become happier. And when life becomes happier, work becomes more effective. ... If we lived badly, unattractive, unhappy, then there would be no Stakhanov movement in our country.[1]
In approximately 1936 the words were used in the chorus of a song of the same name, with music by Alexander Alexandrov and words by Vasily Lebedev-Kumach. The opening bars of the song and some sequences share a notable resemblance to those of the State Anthem of the Soviet Union, as the two songs had the same composer. Alexandrov apparently liked the opening bars of this piece. He used them again, with only minor alterations, just a few years later in the tune for the State Anthem (1944–1991).[citation needed] The Russian Duma officially readopted the Alexandrov's Soviet anthem as the State Anthem of the Russian Federation in December 2000, as part of a political compromise.[2] New words were written by Sergey Mikhalkov.
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