Translation of the song lyrics Requiem - Đorđe Balašević

Requiem (original)

Kad god prođem ulicom, sa tvojim imenom
Pomislim na onu pesmu…
Već je godinama ne pevam
Stari refren nikom ne treba
A ljudi pesme, kratko pamte
Komandante…
Ostaće u knjigama i priča o nama:
Balkan krajem jednog veka
Svako pleme crta granicu
Svi bi hteli svoju stranicu…
Tope se snovi kao sante
Ej Komandante…
Na barikadama, su opet zastave
Svet ide, k’o na praznike
I decu izvode, s' jutarnje nastave
Da vide, gladne radnike…
A gde smo mi, naivni
Što smo se dizali na «Hej Sloveni»?
Kao da smo uz tu priču izmišljeni (i prevareni…)
Vremena su nezgodna, za momka kao ja
Koji gleda svoja posla…
Nisam lutak da me naviju
Imam samo Jugoslaviju…
Sve druge baklje, bez mene plamte
E Komandante…
I svi su tu, da dobiju na toj lutriji…
Na barikadama, su uvek najbrži
Al' nikad i najmudriji
I kad god prođem ulicom, sa tvojim imenom
Pomislim na Panta rei…
Baciće se, tako, neki lik
Kamenom i na tvoj spomenik
Jer sve se menja
I sve teče… Čoveče

Requiem (translation)

Whenever I walk down the street, with your name on it
I think of that song…
I haven't sung it in years
Nobody needs an old chorus
And people remember the song for a short time
Commander…
Stories about us will remain in the books:
The Balkans at the end of a century
Each tribe draws a line
Everyone would like their page…
Dreams melt like snowdrops
Hey Commander…
At the barricades, there are flags again
The world is going on like a holiday
They also take the children out of the morning classes
To see, hungry workers…
And where are we, naive
What did we get on "Hey Slavs"?
It's as if we were made up (and deceived uz) with that story
Times are awkward, for a guy like me
Who looks after his business…
I'm not a puppet to be cheered on
I only have Yugoslavia…
All the other torches, without me, are burning
E Commander…
And everyone is there to win the lottery…
At the barricades, they are always the fastest
But never the wisest
And whenever I walk down the street, with your name on it
I think of Panta rei…
That's how a character will be cast
With a stone and on your monument
Because everything is changing
And everything flows… Man