O jednoj mladosti .....About one youth (lyrics translated to English)

Hello readers and fellow bloggers! In this post, I'll share my translation of one legendary Croatian rock song titled About One Youth (or About One's Youth) and sang by amazing Josipa Lisac. 

I have updated this post in 2024 to add a link to Josipa Lisac official site and more information about here. Below you can read the chorus of the song, and if you scroll down, you can read the full translation done by yours truly. What is more, I added a newer translation. Enjoy!

     Tko zna, možda na me čeka neki drugi svijet                       

Who knows, maybe there is another world waiting for me

Tko zna i u mraku katkad nikne divan cvijet

Who knows, even in the dark sometimes a wonderful flower springs

Možda, tko zna, jedna od sretnijih

Maybe, who can tell, one of the more fortunates one

Jedna od tisuću

One in a thousand

Bit ću baš ja

 Shall be just me

   Tko to zna

 Who knows

                                               

CITED FROM JOSIPA LISAC OFFICIAL SITE:

J O S I P A

 L I S A C 

A unique personality on the Croatian music scene. A singer with a career of over 40 years, vocally superior, with specific interpretations and an unconventional style. She developed her characteristic vocal and fashion style with a distinctive identity. 

She was born in Zagreb, on Valentine’s Day 1950. She showed significant musical talent very early on in life, and at the age of ten began singing a classical repertoire in the Zagreb Radio Television Children’s Choir under the direction of Dinko Fio. 

At around the age of 18 she became interested in rock music and became the lead singer in the O’Hara band, and later on in Zlatni Akordi (The Golden Chords). Soon afterwards she was given the opportunity to perform solo at the then most prestigious pop festival in Opatija in 1968, where she won numerous awards with Arsen Dedić’s song Što me čini sretnom (What Makes Me Happy). In the early 1970s she met Karlo Metikoš (alias Matt Collins), a well-known rock musician, who was very popular amongst Yugoslavia’s youth after returning from France where he gained recognition and success. Their relationship and shared passion for music led to some ten of Josipa’s albums with Karlo as composer, most notable amongst these being their first album, Dnevnik jedne ljubavi (Diary of a Love)(music Metikoš, lyrics Krajač). 

This was the first conceptual album in the former Yugoslavia and is now an essential part of any domestic rock anthology. In 2015, Josipa Lisac, Karlo Metikoš and Ivica Krajač were awarded the Porin for exceptional achievement in Croatian music. 

After this they spent several years working on the first Croatian rock opera Gubec Beg (Metikoš – Krajač – Prohaska) in which Josipa played the demanding role of Jana. The opera premiered in 1975. It includes the popular aria Ave Maria which Josipa still sings at the start of every concert. Josipa recorded a jazz album in the same year, in collaboration with greats such as Ernie Wilkins, Clark Terry, Albert Mangelsdorff and Johnny Basso, under the watchful eyes of producers Boško Petrović and Karlo Metikoš.

CITED FROM JOSIPA LISAC OFFICIAL SITE: 

The result of her three-year stay in the USA in the second half of the 1970s was an album entitled Made in USA, recorded in Studio 55 in Los Angeles in 1979. It includes Ira Newborn (who also arranged the songs), Paulinho da Costa, Joel Peskin, Steve Schaeffer and others. 

After returning home, Josipa remained active in the 1980s both in the studio and on the concert scene. She participated in two American films, and recorded several albums which brought her closer to the pop sound, and the highlight of this decade in her work was the very successful album Boginja (Goddess). 

The sudden death of Karlo Metikoš at the end of 1991, as well as a turbulent start to the 1990s brought significant changes to the context of her work. In the following years she prepared a series of concerts specially dedicated to the love of her life, and has maintained this tradition for the past twenty years. 

A recording of one of these concerts from December 1994, arranged and conducted by the maestro Igor Kuljerić, was made into a CD entitled Koncert u čast Karla Metikoša (Concert in Honour of Karlo Metikoš). The second half of the 1990s and the 2000s were marked by numerous collaborations with pop, funk rap, ethno, latino, jazz and classical musicians, as well as guest performances in several theatrical productions.

 Josipa explains her versatility in one sentence: It’s all music; and the music is either there, or it isn’t. Through her dedication, creative sets and costumes, and above all her distinctive voice she remains a unique personality in our public life who could never be mistaken for another singer. 

Many generations grew up with her songs and her name appears in music textbooks in the chapter on the voice. She is also prone to aestheticism and has for decades been a synonym for style and fashion consciousness. 

She has won the Vocal of the Year award and Porin music awards on several occasions, as well as the Fashion Oscar and numerous other awards. The songs she performs constantly evolve and are proof of her musical playfulness and openness, with musical quality as her main constant. She is an experienced, formed artist with clearly defined standards. 

At the same time, she is an idealist and a dreamer, with eyes wide open. She frequently emphasizes how horrified she is by the average and the banal, and how she dedicates her life to constantly looking for new, original and often shocking solutions that will always make her attractive, interesting and provocative. In short: Josipa Lisac is like no other! 

POST UPDATE ONE YOUTH, ONE WORLD OF HOPE!

I DECIDED TO DO ANOTHER VERSION, THAT IS ANOTHER TRANSLATION! 

I'LL POST IT HERE AND YOU CAN READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION BELOW

MY NEW TRANSLATION OF ABOUT ONE YOUTH 

Jedna mladost, jedan svijet nade

One youth, one world of hope

Raste tiho u srcu tvom

grows quietly in that heart of yours

Drugi za te ovaj svijet grade

Others are building this world for you

S malo prave istine u tom

With only a hint of real truth in it

Pričaju ti priče te

They are spinning those tales to you

I svaka ima svoj sretan kraj

And each story has its own happy end 

Al' prešućuju da taj svijet krade

But they withhold that this world steals

Baš tvog sunca sjaj

exactly your Sun's shine 

Jedna mladost, jedan san sreće

One youth, one dream of happiness

Al' do nje još dalek, dug put

but towards it still a distant, long way

I dok srce na svoj put kreće

and while the heart starts its journey

U taj svijet ocvao i žut

In this world decadent and yellow

Odjednom ćeš shvatit' sve

Suddenly you shall understand everything

Kako nigdje nema plamena tvog

How nowhere your flame is to be found

Poput mrtve rijeke svijet teče

Like a dead river the world flows

Bez cilja svog

Without its purpuse

Tko zna, možda na me čeka neki drugi svijet

Who knows, maybe there is another world waiting for me

Tko zna, i u mraku kadkad nikne divan cvijet

Who knows, even in darkness sometimes a beautiful flower blossoms

Možda, tko zna, jedna od sretnih

Maybe, who knows, one of the more fortunate ones

Jedna od tisuću bit' ću baš ja

One in a thousand, shall be exactly I

Tko da zna

Who can tell.

Today I'm sharing (and translating) one of my all the favourite songs that came to life in 1973. Sang by a woman, who is not one in a thousand, but one in a billion. One and only, Josipa Lisac.

Danas sa vama dijelim jednu od svojih najdražih pjesama. Pjeva je pjevačica koja je za mene , ne jedna u tisuću, nego jedna u milijun. Jedna i jedina, Josipa Lisac.

                                   O jednoj mladosti .....About one youth 




Jedna mladost, jedan svijet nade                                             One youth, one world of hope
Raste tiho u srcu tvom                                                              Grows quietly in your heart
Drugi  za  ovaj svijet grade                                                      Others build this world for you
S malo prave istine u tom                                                         With only a bit of truth in it

Pričaju ti priče te                                                                     They tell you these stories
I svaka ima svoj sretan kraj                                                      And each of them has its happy ending
Al prešućuju da taj svijet krade                                                But they withheld that this world steals
Baš tvoga sunca sjaj                                                                 Your very own sun's shine

Jedna mladost, jedan san sreće                                                One youth, one dream of happiness
Al do nje još dalek, dug put                                                   But to it leads a distant and far away path
I dok srce na taj put kreće                                                       And while the heart takes that path
U svijet ocvao i žut                                                                 In the world decaying and yellow


Odjednom ćeš shvatiti sve                                                   Suddenly, you'll comprehend everything
Kako nigdje nema plamena tvog                                         How your flame is nowhere to be found
Poput mrtve rijeke svijet teče                                              Like a dead river the world flows
Bez cilja svoga                                                                     Without its purpose

             Tko zna, možda na me čeka neki drugi svijet                       

Who knows, maybe there is another world waiting for me

Tko zna i u mraku katkad nikne divan cvijet

Who knows, even in the dark sometimes a wonderful flower springs

Možda, tko zna, jedna od sretnijih

Maybe, who can tell, one of the more fortunates ones

Jedna od tisuću

One in a thousand

Bit ću baš ja

                                                                       Shall be just me

                                                                       Tko to zna

                                                                      Who knows
                                               


Thank you for visiting!