Hey, I lit many fires
and stirred many waters,
carried by luck and misfortune.
Just so you know, I spent three decades, 1
without even suspecting
that all this goes with the wind.
Once and forever...
Hey, where are those marbles now,
cherries from the outskirts,
notebooks from the class 6B? 2
Where are all those high school trendy boys 3 now,
first student vacations
and longing letters from the military?
And you see I'm already here, halfway - it's all smoke!
And the photos faded with time.
And you see, I'm already here, halfway, now I need you,
be my guide through the misty landscapes.
Hey, weird paths to success,
firm faith in friends,
it's all a deceptive thing.
And now, if there is consolation,
I did not forgive debts
and I gave back to everyone, at least, as they deserved.
And you see, I'm already here, halfway...
Hey, now I know where I went wrong
and where, unfortunately, I was a bastard,
and where, unfortunately, I wasn't.
Just so you know, I solved all the rebuses,
but sometimes
I still run into windmills.
1. Interestingly, this song was published in 1982, when Balasevic was almost 30 years old, and here three decades probably has autobiographical meaning.2. In Serbia, class in elementary and high school usually are referenced with two numbers or number and a letter, like here. First number represents the year (here 6 means 6th year of elementary school), and the second number or letter represents the class. Usually in same school, there are more than one class in the same year so they are noted as A, B, C... or 1, 2, 3...3. In Serbian slang, "sminker" (literal meaning "make up artist") is a term used for guys who follow fashion, who always have trendy and expensive clothes, who take care of their appearance (cloths, hair, body...), but who are not usually gay and who are often very popular among girls. I translated this term as "trendy boys".