The Counterplan Song

The Counterplan Song is a Soviet song created for the 1932 propaganda drama film Counterplan, which rose to great popularity and became a popular melody in the Soviet Union. The song was composed by Dmitri Shostakovich and the lyrics written by Boris Kornilov, who would be killed as part of the Great Terror in 1938.
Beyond the movie, the song was adapted for various purposes and in different languages.

History

The song stems from and is featured prominently in Counterplan, a propaganda drama film about workers at a metal plan in Leningrad during the First [five-year plan (Soviet Union)|first five-year plan] originally released on 7 November 1932.
The music for the film was composed by Dmitri Shostakovich. The lyrics came from Boris Kornilov.
On 19 March 1937, less than five years after the film's release, Kornilov was arrested as part of the Great Purge and executed on 20 February 1938. Despite this, the song would be used as part of morning radio broadcast for years after his death. Kornilov was officially rehabilitated on 5 January 1957.

Other usage

The song would later become popular abroad. The music or the song was used in the following:

"Au-devant de la vie", a song of the French socialist movement, with new lyrics by Jeanne Perret.
"United Nations on the March", with new lyrics by Harold Rome. That song was also used in the 1943 American film Thousands Cheer.
"Dmitri Shostakovich - Into the Cold Dawn", a 2008 documentary on Shostakovich by German filmmaker Armin Mueller-Stahl, referenced the song in the title.
"Two Prosecutors", a 2025 historical drama film about the Great Purge by Ukrainian filmmaker Sergei Loznitsa used the song both in the third act and in the end credits.