Priča o Vasi Ladačkom [English translation]

Do you know the story of Vasa Ladacki?

It hasn't been long since I first heard it, either;

Once, he didn't leave the pub for 9 days straight...

People say he was an odd sort.

His father was a meager farmer

Who had seven hungry mouths to feed;

His mother was blond, quiet and gentle; she suffered from tuberculosis.

She died when she was thirty-something.

They had a couple of acres of land

And a small house at the end of a narrow road;

There was always bread on the table,

Exactly as much as was needed,

But Vasa, he wanted so much more:

He wanted black horses running wild on a vast meadow,

A pocket watch on a golden chain and a lavish country house;

He wanted fertile fields, fruitful vineyards

And a horse-drawn carriage;

But he couldn't have any of it...

He was in love with a girl - beautiful, but poor -

He would have married her if only he had known

That you can only truly love once in your life,

And whether it will be someone rich or someone poor

Isn't for the mind to decide, but for the heart...

Hoping that the love would fade, he left the village forever,

Never writing a word to anybody;

Soon, he married an heiress,

The only daughter of a rich landowner.

He got his black horses running wild on a vast meadow,

A pocket watch on a golden chain and a lavish country house;

He got his fertile fields, his fruitful vineyards

And his horse-drawn carriage;

He had everything... and yet, he had nothing.

It wasn't long until he started drinking,

He sold his soul to the devil;

All of the pub regulars knew him,

He searched for deliverance at the bottoms of glasses,

But somehow, he never seemed to find it...

They say he was young when he died

Of a heart attack in the middle of the pub,

They just saw his head drop, as if he were napping, as if he were sleeping,

And they still remember the last thing he said:

"Worthless are the black horses running wild on a vast meadow,

Worthless are the pocket watch and the country house;

Worthless are the fertile fields, the fruitful vineyards,

Worthless is the horse-drawn carriage

When I'm not with the one I love,

When I'm not with the one I love,

When I'm not with the one I love,

When I'm not with the one I love...

Do you know the story of Vasa Ladacki?

It hasn't been long since I first heard it, either...

Even those like him, thinking back on everything,

Say that he was an odd sort...

• Artist:Đorđe Balašević
• Album:Priča o Vasi Ladačkom (1980) -Singl i Odlazi cirkus (1980)