Translation of the song 1987. artist Đorđe Balašević

Serbian

1987.

English translation

1987

Juče sam slušao vesti na radiju,

Yesterday I listened to the news on the radio

poseban osvrt na pucnjavu u Persiji.

A special look at the shooting in Persia

Sve ređe spominju drug' Hamdiju,

They rarely mention comrade Hamdija1 anymore

suviše njih je na veresiji.

Too many are living on credit

Nesreća jedna,

Pure misery,

jadna i bedna osamdeset sedma!

Vile and wretched, 1987

Na svetskoj berzi laju kerovi,

In global stock markets dogs are barking

nek dolar propadne, tu su naše menice.

Let the dollar sink, there are still our promissory notes

Ne plaše mene krupni zverovi

It's not the big beasts that scare me

nego krvopije i stenice.

It's bloodsuckers and bedbugs

Nesreća jedna,

Pure misery,

jadna i bedna osamdeset sedma!

Vile and wretched, 1987

Decu ubijaju na spavanju,

Children are getting killed in their sleep

plaši me da se ne podigne

I'm worried by the rise

vampir četnički,

Of the Chetnik vampire

šta vampir zna o iseljavanju,

What does the vampire know about emigration

i on sve vidi čisto etnički.

He sees everything purely ethnically

Nesreća jedna,

Pure misery,

jadna i bedna osamdeset sedma!

Vile and wretched, 1987

I negde sasvim u dnu novina

And somewhere at the very bottom of the newspaper

mala i beznačajna vest,

A small and insignificant piece of news

da jedan peva deset godina,

That some guy has been singing for ten years

otpev'o je i on svoje,

He's sung his due

gotovo, gotovo je!

Over, it's all over!

Juče sam gled'o televiziju,

Yesterday I watched TV

neshvaćen genij,

A misunderstood genius

drug Fadilj na teškoj muci je:

Comrade Fadilj2 is in dire straits

ne shvata niko moćnu viziju,

Nobody understands his powerful vision

ne dižu javne institucije.

Public institutions are not breathing

Nesreća jedna,

Pure misery,

jadna i bedna osamdeset sedma!

Vile and wretched, 1987

'Ajmo deco...

Let's go, kids ...

U Novom Sadu demonstracije,

In Novi Sad there are demonstrations3

poznata priča, i ovde je kriva menza.

A well-known story, it's again because of the canteen

Na ulicama mladost nacije,

The youth of the nation is in the streets

e sad nam jedino fali još Lech Valensa.

All we are missing is Lech Walesa

Tuga jedna, jadna i bedna osamdeset sedma!

Pure misery, vile and wretched, 1987

I negde sasvim u dnu novina

And somewhere at the very bottom of the newspaper

mala i beznačajna vest,

A small and insignificant piece of news

da jedan peva deset godina,

That some guy has been singing for ten years

otpev'o i on svoje, gotovo, gotovo je!

He's sung his due, over, it's all over!

I neki drug je opet digao glas,

And some comrade raised his voice again4

drug nam je ponovo zbog svega drž'o govor.

The comrade again gave us a speech about everything

Da, on je opet malo vik'o na nas,

And yes, he shouted at us a bit

do kraja govor je postao čisti horor!

By the end, the speech was pure horror

Tuga jedna, jadna i bedna osamdeset sedma!

Pure misery, vile and wretched, 1987

Slučaj tih građana je zamršen,

The case of these citizens is complicated

niko im još ne sme reći da štede snagu,

Nobody dares tell them to save their strength

i da je rat nedavno završen

And that the war was recently finished

i da su Rusi već na Reichstag-u.

And that Russians are already at the Reichstag

Nesreća jedna,

Pure misery,

jadna i bedna osamdeset sedma!

Vile and wretched, 1987

La, la, la, la, la...

Oleo! La, la, la, la, la, la, la...

jadna i bedna osamdeset sedma!

Vile and wretched, 1987!