Translation of the song lyrics Olivera - Đorđe Balašević

Olivera (original)

Na pragu svojih dvadesetih
Bio sam laka roba
Bile su moderne barabe onih dana
Ne želim svega ni da se setim
Hteo sam, eto, sve da probam
Zvalo me zabranjeno voće s raznih grana
Sad žalim, da
Al` šta sam znao ja?
Ti si bila još devojčica
Leteo je kao leptir, tvoj čuperak…
Drugi bi sve
Imalo smisao
Drukčije bih život disao
Da sam znao da postojiš Olivera…
Možda sam, a da nisam znao
Pred isti izlog s` tobom stao
Možda smo zajedno iz voza negde sišli?
Možda si sasvim blizu bila
Ulicom mojom prolazila
I možda smo se na trenutak mimoišli?
Sad žalim, da
Al` šta sam znao ja?
Ti si bila još devojčica …
Daleko od mog oka i mog pera
Drugi bi sve
Imalo smisao
Ne bih svakoj pesme pisao
Da sam znao da postojiš Olivera…
Drugi bi sve
Imalo smisao
Ja bih iz te gužve zbrisao
I nikom ne bi bilo jasno šta ja to smeram
Znao bih gde
Da sebi nađem mir
Skrio se u tajni manastir
I čekao da ti odrasteš Olivera…

Olivera (translation)

Upon the threshold of my twenties’ gate,
I was a coin easily spent, a windblown leaf.
Those days, the fashion was for clever knaves—
Some things I would not wish to summon back.
Desire was my compass: I longed to taste the world entire.
Forbidden fruit from every bough called out my name,
Now sorrow pools within me, yes,
But truly, what could I have known?
You were still a girl, the dawn just in your hair.
Your loosened lock—how it fluttered, a butterfly in flight…
Another’s life might bear the stamp of wholeness,
And all would find its reason, its inner thread.
I would have breathed the world in a different measure,
Had I but known you walked this earth, Olivera…
Perhaps I did, all unknowing,
Stand before the very pane of glass as you,
Perhaps we stepped from the train as kin, side by side?
Perhaps you hovered near, unseen,
Strolled down my street, a shadow grazing by,
And perhaps, for a heartbeat, our paths brushed, then parted?
Now sorrow pools within me, yes,
But truly, what could I have known?
You were still a girl, untouched by time…
Far from my eye, far from my pen’s reach,
Another’s life might bear the stamp of wholeness,
And all would find its reason, its inner thread.
I would not have scattered verses at every threshold,
Had I but known you walked this earth, Olivera…
Another’s life might bear the stamp of wholeness,
And all would find its reason, its inner thread.
I would have slipped away from that teeming throng,
And none would have guessed what silent fate I wove,
I would have known the place—
Where peace awaited my restless soul,
I would have hidden in a cloistered, secret monastery,
And waited for your womanhood, Olivera…