- Original Artists: Boney M.
- Album: Nightflight to Venus
- Released: 1978-08-28
- Recorded: 2022-01-09
- Genres: Pop, Acoustic
- Artists: Pudenski Brothers
- Avatar:
The core of the song tells of Rasputin's rise to prominence in the court of Nicholas II, referencing the hope held by Tsaritsa Alexandra Fyodorovna that Grigori Rasputin would heal her haemophiliac son.
Rasputin gained tremendous influence from this position, particularly with Alexandra. This is also retold in the song: "For the queen, he was no wheeler-dealer". It also claims that Rasputin was Alexandra's paramour: "Ra Ra Rasputin, lover of the Russian queen, there was a cat that really was gone". This was a widespread rumour in Rasputin's time, with which his political enemies intended to discredit him. While the song accurately re-tells many of the unfavourable contemporary rumours that damaged Rasputin's reputation and led to his assassination, there is no verifiable evidence to suggest that he had an affair with Alexandra.
The end of the song recounts a modified version of a popular description of the events that culminated in Rasputin's assassination. The song accurately states that the conspirators asked him "Come to visit us", and then recounts a widely popular account of the assassination in Yusupov's estate: that Rasputin's assassins fatally shot him after he survived the poisoning of his wine.
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