Life has become better

"Life has become better, life has become joyous" is a widespread version of a phrase uttered by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin at the First All-Union Conference of Stakhanovites on 17 November 1935. The full quote from Joseph Stalin was, when translated into English, is:
In modern Russian the phrase is used in an ironical sense.

Song

In 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.

Song lyrics sample