Translation of the song Ljubav ne pobeđuje artist Đorđe Balašević

Ljubav ne pobeđuje, nijedna od stotine.

Love does not conquer, not one among hundreds.

To su samo drevne zablude, više izmišljotine,

That’s just an ancient fallacy, a renowned fabrication,

Maslo ludih pesnika, prevejanih lisaca,

The workings of mad poets, those cunning foxes,

raznih muzikanata, glumatala i pisaca.

Shifty musicians, posers and authors.

Znam, ljubav ruši zidine ponosa i taštine,

I know, love destroys the walls of pride and vanity,

ali bajke da pobeđuje to su budalaštine.

But the tales in which it conquers all are simply foolishness.

Lako je izigraju, kao trsku slome je,

It is easily tricked, like a reed broken,

nikoga ne porazi sem onoga u kome je.

It does not conquer anyone except the one it resides in.

Romeo i Julija pravila su kršili, sitnim slovom počeli

Romeo and Juliet broke all the rules, started off in lower-case

pa krupnom tačkom tu priču završili.

But ended their story with a capital full-stop.

Na vernost se zakleli, samo srca sledili,

Swore to be faithful, only followed their hearts,

da je tužno tužno je al' nisam ubeđen da su pobedili.

That it's sad, sure it is, but I’m not convinced that they conquered anything.

Ljubav je tek akrostih, refren stare arije,

Love is just an acrostic, the chorus of an old aria,

takvi nikad ne pobeđuju to su koještarije.

Such things never conquer, that’s mere trumpery.

Utvrda bez stražare, poharama krunjena,

A fort without a guardhouse, ransacked and crumbling,

naivna i ranjiva, zanesena i zbunjena.

Naïve and wounded, enthralled and confused.

Orfej se oglušio o pretnje i pridike,

Orpheus ignored the threats and sermons,

tamni hades prošao pa opet ostao bez Euridike.

Passed through dark Hades, but nevertheless lost his Eurydice.

Nesretna Karenjina, crni žar na auri

Unhappy Karenina, black embers on her aura,

inicijal Puškina zorom ugraviran na kobnoj čauri.

Pushkin’s initial engraved by dawn upon the fatal cartridge.

Eeej, u kraj oka tinjaju mali zlatni grumeni,

Heeey, in the corner of an eye little golden nuggets smolder,

daj mi Bože stih da utešim jedan nosić rumeni.

Give me a verse, dear Lord, to comfort one ruddy little nose.

Pa da, ljubav nosi dolamu od vilinskog prediva

That’s right, love carries a cloak made from fairy thread,

i možda ne pobeđuje al' je zato nepobediva.

And perhaps it may not conquer, but it is unconquerable.