Yugoslav, Serbian Croatian Songs, Song Texts and Lyric

Who is Djordje Balasevic?

Djordje Balasevic, the most prominent Serbian songwriter, born in Novi Sad in 1953. A high school dropout, he scored his first major success in 1977 with a tango single "U razdeljak te ljubim" sold in 180,000 copies, a big success by Yugoslav standards. The next major success came in 1978 with a song celebrating the communist revolution, "Racunajte na nas", popular with both authorities and people, and widely promoted as a generation hymn. After that, all the doors were opened and Balasevic has been a major figure in Yugoslav pop-music scene ever since. His political views have shifted in the last few decades, always condescending his public and following the general mood in the volatile Balkans, and managing to remain popular across all ex-Yu countries (despite his flirting with Serbian nationalism and populism in the early 1990s). But his style has been constant and very distinctive, marked with nostalgia and rich narrative saturated with gentle moods. He was influenced by the poet Mika Antic[?] and songwriter Arsen Dedic[?], although Balasevic is shy in acknowledging his creative debt.

Balasevic was born in Novi Sad Novi Sad, a city in northern Serbia. East on the banks of Danube river, capital of the province Vojvodina and big industrial and cultural center. Its name means "New Planting" (noun) in Serbian language. Novi Sad is also known as Serbian Athens, in Serbian Srpska Atina.

Djordje Balasevic je rodjen 13. maja 1953. godine u Novom Sadu. Gimnaziju je napustio u trecem razredu pa je ispite polagao vanredno. Upisao je geografiju, jer, po sopstvenom priznanju, na diferencijalnim ispitima nije bilo matematike. Osnovna ambicija u srednjoj skoli bila mu je da postane fudbaler. Ali kada je kao sedamnaestogodisnjak lezao bolestan, pojava jedne muve u sobi ga je inspirisala da komponuje svoju prvu pesmu "Otkud muva". Zatim je poceo da pise prepeve stranih hitova za emisiju "Muzicki klub", a sa drugarom koji se snalazio na gitari, otpoceo je i zajednicki rad. Godine 1977. pristupio je akusticarskoj grupi Zetva sa kojom je septembra te godine snimio neobavezan tango "U razdeljak te ljubim". Pesma je preko noci postigla ogromnu popularnost tako da je singl prodat u oko 180000 primeraka.

Biografija - Djordje Balasevic je rodjen13. maja 1953

Djordje`s parents noticed his talent in the primary school when he started writing poetry and in high school he published it. When they asked him who was he trying to imitate he got angry because nobody noticed his originality and he stopped writing. It took a long period of time while he started doing it again. Another surprise was the proclamation of "Racunajte na nas" (You can count on us) to a generation anthem. Balasevic`s parents were so proud when their son was called to sing in a program that the president was going to watch in live. Djordje wasn`t glad because he thought that the president Tito wasn`t going to like his childish songs so he made new ones. Djordje was proud because he sang in front of the president and because he wantedto hear him.

The song "Urazdeljak te ljubim" (I`m in love with the part in your hair) was already famous in their house for five years before it exploded in the ether. The song "Prva ljubav" (First love) was passed on as a true story - of a love disappointment. Jovan Balasevic once mentioned that after a long confession about that love Djordje cut his connections with the females and dedicated himself to the photography and the sport. That passed, too, and the boy finally grew up. He didn`t want to talk about his new girls in public so he was only writing it down in his song and keeping it all in his dreams. Jovan Balasevic wasn`t really musical but he used to sing with his friends sometimes. But when Djordje became famous his prize went down and people started presenting him as Djordje Balasevic`s father. He can`t forget the feelings he had when a group of tourists he was giuding started singing "Neki novi klinci" (Some new kids). After that he was sure that his son really succeded. His wife -Vera is glad because his son always loved the poetry of Arsen Dedic and Djordje Marijanovic. She was glad because Djordje made his career without any protections and she was sure that their son is always going to be the same no matter what happens. Vera Balasevic was only sorry that she wasn`t seeing her son as often as before. Djordje in one interview said that in the concert halls there are always going to be two empty seats for his parents and he is realy sorry that they didn`t see his concerts in live.

Biografija (kako ju je sam napisao) : 

Ime mi je Djordje Balasevic... Prijatelji me uglavnom zovu Djole ... 
Rodjen sam 1953. (Bik), u Novom Sadu, u gradu kroz koji protice Dunav... 
U Evropi, formalno... 
Isao sam u gimnaziju, ali nisam maturirao. Studirao sam geografiju, ali nisam diplomirao... 
Vojnu obavezu sam regulisao, u celosti, nisam osudjivan, ni krivicno gonjen, 
i nisam bio clan Saveza komunista. 
Nosilac sam najvecih drustvenih priznanja, od kojih nemam ni najmanje koristi. 
Snimio sam deset singl i devet LP-ploca. 
Pozlatile se, dao Bog ... 
Profesionalnih uspeha imao sam, hvala na pitanju, a jedan od tih, na samom domaku istorije,
 je i Poslednja jugoslovenska turneja, u maju 1990. 
Poslednja jugoslovenska, ne moja ... 
Jedva cekam da vidim ko ce sledeci 'napuniti' Skoplje, Nis, Beograd, Sarajevo, Zagreb i Split, 
o istom trosku ... 
Pred narodnjackom najezdom, povukao sam se u utvrdjene gradove. 
Zivim, jos uvek, u Novom Sadu, gde sam za sebe placam socijalno i penzijsko osiguranje ... 
O porezu da i ne govorimo ... 
Ozenjen sam, sretno, devojkom po imenu Olivera, ponosni sam otac dve lepe devojcice. 
I gotovo ... 
Oni koji su me zavoleli po muzickoj liniji, znaju stosta o meni. 
Oni koji me dosad nisu zavoleli, i nece, bojim se ... 

( 1991)