Confession - Rodion Raskolnikov inspired song | "Crime and Punishment" by F. M. Dostoevsky

“Am I a trembling creature or do I have the right?”
“Am I a louse or a human being?”

This is a confession song, a song of admission by Rodion Raskolnikov from Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, in which the novel’s protagonist reveals to us his journey from the adoption of an idea to his spiritual rebirth through love.

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Lyrics and theme by "College of Lore Bard" (Alisa AI assisted)
Music and vocals: Suno
Image: Midjourney
Thumbnail: Google Drawings
Edit: Microsoft Clipchamp
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Rodion Raskolnikov - Confession

The city breathes with granite lungs, the alleys choke on greed.
I forged my theory in the dark — a blade, a twisted creed.
«Extraordinary men», I said, may step across the line.
To lift the weight of all the world — just one act, just one crime.

Three lives extinguished, blood is spilled — no prayer, no time to plead:
A withered hag, a gentle soul, a child who never dreamed.
The clock struck three and lamp went out, the axe rang loud and clear,
Now every dawn recalls their end, the shadows are still here.

The mirror cracks, the image splits — two selves I cannot mend,
One screams for justice, one for power — which one will I defend?

Am I a trembling creature, or do I have the right?
The question hammered in my skull, a curse in the night.
My mother waits for letters, my sister sacrificed.
Their «Dear Rodya» lies in ash, ensnared by blood‑bought lies.

Sonya's candle in the black, her eyes - a silent plea,
She reads of Lazarus and light, she reads this... for me?
She begs: «Confess, come back to life», but how can I confess?
When every step is burdened by the chains I can’t erase.

Porfiriy chose me as his prey and circling like a hawk,
He knows the scent of guilt, he waits — a patient, smiling stalk.
He doesn’t need the evidence: he reads my fevered mind.
«You’re caught not by the law»: he grins - «but by the truth you hide».

The walls close in, the air turns thick — no space to catch my breath,
Each memory - a razor‑edge, each thought - a step to death.

A louse that crawls, or man who stands? — the echoes never cease.
They coil around my soul like snakes, a slow and cold disease.
My sister’s pride, my mother’s tears — the price I’ve made them pay,
A noose that tightens with each breath — a doom I can’t delay.

We share the same dark sky, though different wings we spread —
He soars on vice, I crawl on thought, yet both are bound to dread.
His cry is cold, my cry is hushed, but echoes blend as one,
For in the end, the same black net awaits us — lost, undone.

I took the cypress cross — its wood was rough against my skin,
A weight to wear, a mark to bear: the truth I couldn’t hide within.

No shadow hides what I have done, no lie can wash the stain,
The weight of lives I swept away, the echo of my name.
But Sonya whispers: «Say the words, and let them set you free»,
And all the masks I’ve worn are shattered…
It was me

Siberia
Endless white
Can her convictions not be mine now? Her feelings, her aspirations at least...
We are renewed by love