1971 - Yugoslavia
Performed by: Kruno Slabinac
Music by: Ivan Krajač
Lyrics by: Zvonimir Golob
Conductor: Miljenko Prohaska
Language: Croatian
Placing: 14th (68 points)
Other versions: English
Krunoslav "Kićo" Slabinac (1944 – 2020) was a Croatian pop singer. His specialties were the songs nowadays inspired by folk music of Slavonia region of Croatia, and the uses of traditional instruments such as the tamburica.
In the 1960s Slabinac was a member of several rock'n'roll bands. He then opted for a solo career as a pop singer and moved to Zagreb. While performing in a club, he was noticed by Nikica Kalogjera who gave him a chance to appear as a newcomer at the 1969 Split Festival. A year later, in 1970, Slabinac won the first prize at the Opatija Festival. He represented Yugoslavia at the Eurovision Song Contest 1971 with "Tvoj dječak je tužan", placing 14th.
Slabinac's song "Zbog jedne divne crne žene" was a huge hit which solidified his status as a singer. However, in the 1970s, legal troubles and time spent abroad set back his career. After his return from the United States, Slabinac focused on folk music, although he remained active in the pop music scene.
In 2006, Croatia Records released a double album entitled Zlatna kolekcija, which contains his biggest hits, from fun to original folk songs such as "Kad čícum tambure", "Hey, bećari", "Vesela je šokadija", "Seoska sam lola ", "If the dawn does not break", "He left with the smells of the morning", "Inati se Slavonia", "Slavonijo, ja sam tvoje dijete" (Slavonia, I am your child) and many others.
His song "Letaj mi" became an evergreen in Macedonia, particularly because it was sung in Macedonian on the festival "MakFest" in 1989. He died on 13 November 2020 in Zagreb, following a long and complicated illness. He was posthumously awarded the Porin Award for Lifetime Achievement.
LYRICS:
Tvoj dječak je tužan
Još uvjek mislim na onu koja tu
Kraj mene već dugo ne spava
A noć je duga i tamna kao bol
A postelja prazna i prazan je stol
Ja ne znam gdje živi i da li još zna
Da negdje bez nje još sanjam i ja
Jer drugi je vodi na daleki put
Do zvijezda i dalje, bez mene
U nekom vrtu i ti si sada ruža
Dok bdijem u noći, ti znaš da sam tužan
Ne zovi me više, ti znaš da je kraj
Mom putu do zvijezda bez tebe
U drugom vrtu i ti si sada ruža
Tvoj dječak te sanja, tvoj dječak je tužan
TRANSLATION:
Your boy is sad
I still think of the one who
Doesn't sleep beside me anymore
The night is long and dark like pain
The bed is empty, and so is the table
I don't know where she lives and whether she knows
That I still dream of her, somewhere without her
Because someone else is with her on a faraway journey
To the stars and beyond, without me
In some garden, you're still a rose
While I can't sleep, you know I'm feeling sad
Don't call me anymore, you know that
My journey is over without you
In another garden, you're still a rose
Your boy dreams of you, your boy is sad
