The novel begins in the late 1960s, when jazz and rock were still secretly allowed. In the wake of beatlemania, Leningrad students create the band "Green Ants", play Western rock and gain success. The thaw turns into stagnation, Russian rock begins to dominate, the influence of traditions and official prohibitions manifests itself in various spheres of life, and the guys choose a compromise, adding songs by Soviet authors popular in those years to the repertoire. Studies, rehearsals, construction teams, tours. A carefree student's life, highlighted by the love story of one of the characters in the novel. Cholera Astrakhan and the northern construction sites, the Mangyshlak steppe and the camp of difficult-to-educate teenagers, the resort seasons in Sochi and concerts at Leningrad universities - all this and many more songs create a vivid sketch of our recent past.