I remember when I first discovered EKV, it surprised me that music like this could exist, and that it could especially come from the balkan area!, because EKV was so different from anything that I had been exposed to up to that point and still are.
I found this excerpt from a post I made about them last year on a tumblr blog, from exactly one year ago. It is an accurate description of the band, so I’ll reuse it and let’s hear from 17 year old me from March 2014:
“This band… First, can I just say that this is my favorite band ever? Not going to lie, I am in love with them. Here is some brief info about them in order to understand the band better. Ekatarina Velika (abbreviated EKV) is named after Catherine the Great and falls in a more art rock, post punk, new wave genre of music from the 80s’. The band changed members often, but the 3 core members were Milan Mladenovic, Margita “Magi” Stefanovic, and Bojan Pecar. All three were such talented musicians and songwriters. Some of their lyrics are even studied in some schools in the Balkans. They all died at tragically young ages during and after the war due to cancer, drugs, etc. There is even a street named after the lead singer, Milan Mladenovic, in Croatia. Unlike a lot of music, they do not sing about love or romance much; their themes are often about the tougher aspects of life: Pain, addiction, tiredness, loneliness, death, society, greed. Now, do not get the impression that they are therefore a goth or emo band or something like that. They are not at all, they are simply really creative and real. When I feel frustrated or sad, about the rest of the world or myself even; I listen to some EKV to sort through my feelings and feel understood.”
🙂 They’re still my favorite band ever, by the way. I love my warning of “do not get the impression that they are a goth or emo band or something like that…they are simply really creative and real”, ahahahaha xD, how a year changes a person. I feel like now I’m more… sophisticated with my wording of things and interpretation. Like now I would comment on the melancholic tone of their music, coupled with the sheer emotional force of Milan Mladenovic’s voice. The themes and meaning of their lyrics are complicated often overlooked human emotion and states. They also use metaphors, imagery, and symbols in their lyrics, adding to the poetry of it. Overall, their music is powerful and engaging with a melancholic, subtle poetic meaning and sound. And they achieve all this using the standard band instruments such as guitar, bass, keyboard, and drums.
This song, “Siguran” (Secure) is from their 1991 album Dum Dum (Doom Doom). It is considered their darkest album and anti-war. This is around the time that ex-yu started descending into war and Milan Mladenovic’s health started declining as he had pancreatic cancer which he would eventually die from in 1994 at the age of 36. 😦 😦 😦 😦 😦 😦 😦 😦 😥 😥
Even the album cover of Dum Dum reflects the dark despair and hopelessness at the impending doom-
Translating lyrics of Siguran:
Siguran sam – I am secure
ili samo mislim da sam siguran – Or I just think that I am secure
staklenim nogama – With glass legs
ovo je hod po tankoj zici – This is a walk along a thin wire*
Maskiran sam – I am masked
ili samo mislim da sam maskiran – Or I think I am masked
pod ovim bojama – Under these colors
govorim samo reci sto me kriju – I speak only words that hide me
Sastavicu krajeve – I’ll put the ends together
iscepane poruke – The torn messages
tragove pod prozorom – Traces under the window
i obale pod jastukom – And the coasts under the pillow
kao u snu, kao u snu – Like in a dream, like in a dream
Oprezan sam – I am alert
tvoje oci gledaju u moj dlan – Your eyes are looking in my palm
ti ne znas ko sam ja – You do not know who I am
ja ne znam ko bih mogao biti – I do not know who I could be
Pokusaj saznati – Try to find out,
ni iz cega sklopiti – out of nothing to put together
podigni zavesu – Lift the curtain
pokazi sve sto mislis da krijem – Show everything that you think I am hiding
Sastavicu krajeve – I’ll put the ends together
iscepane poruke – The torn messages
tragove pod prozorom – Traces under the window
i obale pod jastukom – And the shores under the pillow
kao u snu, kao u snu – Like in a dream, like in a dream ❤
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In this song, there is a theme of losing a sense of security. Doubting one self’s and one’s surroundings. “I am secure..Or I just think I am secure.” reflecting the loss of security because of the descent into war, especially because citizens in Yugoslavia did not expect this to ever happen, they thought they were secure. It completely surprised most of them. And after that, comes nervousness as with “glass legs”, feeling insecure and vulnerable, they must walk a “thin wire”, a guaranteed impending fall into the darkness awaits them. Then I interpret the “masked.. under these colors” as meaning masked under flags, under ethnicity and sides; where nobody can be their true self. The words they speak under such masks further hides them, even hides from themselves as they start depersonalizing and acting in ways they never thought they would. Nobody recognizes the humanity under the masks, they don’t see each other as humans but as others- masked others to be suspicious of. They become insecure, vulnerable, nervous, suspicious – afraid- losing their sense of security, and self, and reality. When is a person is afraid, anxious, they paralyze- they do not act like themselves, but act out of survival, such as attacking the “others” to defend and protect oneself..
Then the chorus, expressing the desperate wish for everything to be whole and secure again, for the pieces to be back together again, for things to make sense, to be together and safe – “I’ll put the ends together..The torn messages.. Traces under the window”, the “coasts under the pillow” can symbolize the coasts of the dreamworld (“under the pillow” symbolizes the dreamworld, in other artists’ songs as well such as Bajaga’s “na druga strana jastuka” (on other side of the pillow), the coasts symbolize that in the distance, those sunny outlines out of reach, the unreachable coast of security that now only exists in the dreamworld. Yugoslavia was also known for its Adriatic coast, which fell apart as the countries split during the war. This notion of wishing for the unattainable that used to exist and remains in the unconscious is further reinforced by the key line “like in a dream”.
And this new gruesome reality of a war and falling into the darkness is like a dream because it doesn’t feel like it could be real, especially after feeling so secure in Yugoslavia and trusting those around you who now become “masked” or were they “masked” before even. It is a nightmare.
Then the alertness, “I am alert”, showing worry and anxiety. The eyes looking into the palm, somebody else reading your future, determining your future. Then “you don’t know who I am.. I don’t know who I could be” demonstrates being controlled by someone else even though they don’t know you, and you don’t know what can become of you either – what you’ll do or what your future will be, especially when controlled like this, by the conditions of the war and loss of security.
Then another stanza is “try to find out..out of nothing to put together..lift the curtain..show me everything that you think I’m hiding” is addressing peoples’ suspicions towards each other and fears, asking “why are we suspicious of each other? why do we hate each other? what are we afraid of?” , asking “what do you think I’m hiding just because I’m serb or croatian or muslim?” It is asking for open communication to clear this up, to “put the ends together” and see where things went wrong.. because many Yugoslavians have no clue how it got to this or why the war occurred. It was a complete surprise. There really was no point to it, no reason. No good came out of it.
Later, all those deaths, everything, for nothing. The region is in shambles now. Corruption, Mental Illness (from war and distressing conditions), and High Unemployment and Poverty (Last year, I read it as 66% unemployment for youth, I still can’t get over that! That means every 2/3 young capable people are unemployed. And it’s true too. My cousins barely can find work, and when they have it, often they won’t be paid for 3 or more months because the companies have nothing to pay them with 😦 ) Because of this, there is much crime happening! Every time I watch their news, I hear of so many robberies and murders, of fathers having to teach their sons to steal and kill to survive. It is crazy and heart-breaking, and all of it because of a useless, stupid war motivated by the personal political and economic interests of rich, greedy politicians. Mass murders, people’s lives screwed up and destroyed, everything people worked for destroyed, displacement, pain, poverty – Please, no more wars!!!!!!
Well, this post started as a casual music post of my favorite band and one of my favorite songs by them and has now turned into a rant – because this war and its consequences are personal and painful to me as I’ve grown up watching my family suffer because of it.
A second interpretation of the song (and my initial one before I learned more about the album) was a person feeling personal insecurity about themselves, a person doubting themselves and feeling socially unsure. I think this is an equally valid meaning as it has the similar feelings of nervousness, loss of security, feeling masked, worry, not knowing who you are because there is no social outlet to discover yourself through, etc. Most people have something they lack security about, so this song can have multiple interpretations depending on the person, as many of EKV’s songs do. 🙂
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Thanks for reading! Comments?
PS. The * in the lyrics next to “…thin wire” are because, I’m pretty sure that line “a walk on a thin wire” is a reference to the band Milan Mladenovic used to be part of as a teenager, Šarlo Akrobata (Charles the Acrobat) 😀 A really great band, by the way, we’ll probably look at that too. That would be ex-yu reggae-ish punk, so it will be interesting.. 😉
muziku na struyu 