Translation of the song Berba '59 artist Đorđe Balašević

Kad pijem ne preterivam,

When I drink I don't overdo it,

nit volem nit preferiram

I don't love it or prefer it,

al' mi se desi

But it happens.

Svega se tako nakupi

Everything gets harder

pa tamburama mangupi,

And rowdies get on the way

prepreće put

With their tamburitzas.

Krenu duboki uzdasi,

When deep breaths

i plitke filozofije

And shallow philosophies begin,

do kraja onaj bicikli u svakoj strofi je

In every stanza there is that bike,

par bulki medju žarama

A few poppies among the nettles

i jedna žoržet marama

And one crȇpe georgette scarf.

Tih dana sve se svodilo

Those days every talk

na priče dal' je rodilo

Was about abundance of harvest,

bolje neg' lane?

And was it better than last year?

Sretni su ljudi ratari,

Farmers are happy people,

njima su neki atari

Their shires are

nebo i svet

Heaven and earth.

Beše to carska godina,

That was a royal year,

prava se moba probrala

Great men gathered to help

da ne bi jutra ta banda bi zvezde obrala

And if there was no dawn they would have harvested the tars,

A medju svim tim šarama

And among all those bootlegs

i bela žoržet marama

One white crȇpe georgette scarf.

Sva vina sad su opora

All wines are now tart,

Bez slasti i bez otrova

Without venom and delight

U njima Istina je puna klevete

In them. The truth is full of slander

A pelin, tamjanika,

And wormwood, muscadine,

Taj spokoj, ta panika

That peace, that panic,

Tek digod u berbi pedesetdevete

Just somewhere in the harvest of '59.

Geni su staro čokoće

Genes are old vines,

U meni slutnja cvokoće

And in me the hunch

pred svakom srećom

Before every happiness.

Vrag ume Boga spopasti

Sometimes the Devil takes a hold of God

Pa časom grad upropasti

And in a minute hail undoes

onol'ki trud

All that effort.

Kog čaša prvog rampaša

Who is by young wine

na mladi mesec opije

Drunk during young moon,

Taj posle spadne na loše i gore kopije

That one will hit rock bottom

Al sve se kupi parama

But all those can be bought

Jedino ne Ta Marama

Except that scarf

Sva vina sad su opora

All wines are now tart

Bez slasti i bez otrova

Without venom and delight

U njima istina je puna klevete

In them. The truth is full of slander

A pelin, tamjanika,

And wormwood, muscadine.

Taj spokoj, ta panika

That peace, that panic,

Tek digod u berbi pedesetdevete

Just somewhere in the harvest of '59.

Sva vina sad su opora

All wines are now tart

Bez slasti i bez otrova

Without venom and delight

U njima istina je puna klevete

In them. The truth is full of slander

A pelin, tamjanika,

And wormwood, muscadine.

Taj spokoj, ta panika

That peace, that panic,

Tek digod u berbi pedesetdevete

Just somewhere in the harvest of '59.

Teki digod u berbi te i te

Just somewhere in one or two harvests,

Tek digod, ih

Just somewhere, ah.