Thursday Doors, October 29

Three Doors Down is a band that I don’t know at all but every time I see this name somewhere I chuckle, because it sounds like somebody is counting off the original The Doors members. And now when I hear it I’ll be thinking of Thursdays too. Today I have three doors, three songs with own translation and one band down. The Party Breakers Serbian-style.

Serbians usually use Cyrillic alphabet when they write, and even when they don’t, they spell foreign names in the manner of “write as you speak” (piši kao što govoriš). Keith Richards thus becomes Kit Ričards, Washington turns into Vašington, and Kate Winslet is written down as Kejt Vinslet.

In this manner the band I wish to highlight today answers to the name of Partibrejkers (in Cyrillic that would be Партибрејкерс). They come from Belgrade, Serbia. And they have been known to rock’n’roll.

Before the first song I wish to show you a door that made me think Serbian thoughts. This shop is in Ljubljana, Slovenia, where “write as you speak” was never a thing. So I don’t know if this is an official shop or a rip-off or what. Somehow I can’t believe that Apple would make such an error of judgement. 😀 And yet, I want to know.

I want to know / Hoću da znam

Translated by Manja Maksimovič

I want to know
where this road is leading
me and my life

Whose is the beginning
whose is the end
who is the man
who knows the eternal secret

Where there is heart
there the sun shines
Where there is fear
there lives the darkness

To be same, to be special
to be free, to be your own
same, special
free, your own

Mary, mother of God
do you see
what they are doing to your children

Hoću da znam
kuda vodi ovaj put
mene, i život moj

Čiji je početak
čiji je kraj
koji to čovek
večnu tajnu zna

Tamo gde je srce
tamo sija Sunce
tamo gde je strah
tamo živi mrak

Biti isti, biti poseban
biti slobodan
biti samo svoj
isti, poseban
slobodan, biti samo svoj

Marijo, majko Božija
da li vidiš
šta rade sa tvojom decom

Speaking of which, this is the door of a spiritual centre in Rome. And a window.

Hypnotised mass / Hipnotisana gomila

Translated by Manja Maksimovič

We aren’t going anywhere
we aren’t doing anything
we are one huge
hypnotised mass

But I’ve got the key
and I know the lock
I’ll unlock it
and plant stuff in your head

I can entertain you
I can make you crazy
I can put you to sleep
I can wake you up

Do you believe me
or do you think with your own head?

Mi ne idemo nikud
i ne radimo ništa
mi smo jedna velika
hipnotisana gomila

Al’ ja znam ključ
ja poznajem tu bravu
odključaću i staviću
ti svašta u glavu

Ja mogu da te zabavim
ja mogu da te sludim
ja mogu da te uspavam
ja mogu da te budim

Da li veruješ meni
Ili misliš tvojom glavom

This is a building in Roma’s Monteverde district with three doors up. And the song below is from a concert in 1991 when Slovenia said goodbye to Serbia, then still in Yugoslavia which was starting to break at the seams, with heartbreaking results. And in eight years’ time this led to NATO bombing Belgrade, which is something that you would NEVER EVER EVER believe if somebody told you when you were 16.

It is Germans who bomb Belgrade.

What I attempt now / Ono što pokušavam sad

Translated by Manja Maksimovič

I was never young
I’ve been old since forever
I spend angry days alone
alone I’m licking my wounds

Do you want me to be alive
do you want me to be happy
give me faith
protect me from everything

What I attempt to do now
you won’t till the end of your life

Do you want me to be alive
do you want me to be happy
offer me faith
protect me from everything

Nikad nisam bio mlad
bio sam uvek star
ljute dane provodim sam
sam, ližem svoje rane

Želiš li da sam živ
želiš li da sam srećan
daj mi veru
zaštiti me od svega

Ono što pokušavam sad
ti nećes za ceo svoj život

Želiš li da sam živ
želiš li da sam srećan
pruži mi veru
zaštiti me od svega

Photo: MM

For Norm Frampton’s Thursday Doors challenge.