Dnevnik starog momka

Ne znam da li postoji bolji trenutak za recenziranje Dnevnika starog momka od ovog, kada je u Srbiji pala jedna autokratska vlada, 26 godina nakon što je pala prethodna. Za priču oko albuma: već ste upoznati da je Balašević bio strogi kritičar vlasti koja je naslijedila Jugoslaviju i koja je povela ovo područje u krvavi pir, što je očito u albumima s kraja 80-ih pa do 2001. godine, jer su svi imali ili političke ili duboko melankolične pjesme. Pa tako je pad Miloševića kod Balaševića donio jednu suprotnu, uzlaznu trajektoriju, pa smo dobili album od 12 pjesama, koje su sve ljubavne. Jel to zbog novopronađene zrelosti, zbog pada Miloševica koji je dao Đorđu novu energiju, ili kako se šuška, zbog problema u njegovom dugogodišnjem braku, to nikada nećemo saznati, ali se da naslutiti.

I nekako su najdublje odavno, i najteže za shvatiti. Meni je lično Balašević najdraži kad istražuje ili političku scenu, ili melankolični vihor, a te ljubavne pjesme su mu bile dosta mlakaste za moj ukus, ali Dnevnik starog momka predstavlja ljubav kao ono što ona u stvari jeste: niz pobjeda i poraza koji se završavaju nekad kao zbunjujući rastanak, a nekad kao trijumfalna pobjeda. "Eleonora" i "Nevena" lijepo predstavljaju taj jaz i konfuziju u ljubavi gdje je ljubav prekinuta i nedovršena, ali vrijedi pomenuti da, iako su pjesme ljubavne, kroz strofe imamo dodire na druge teme, subtilnije, kao na narkomaniju u pjesmi "Branislava".

Ali da... većina pjesama su ljubavne, urađene na različite načine. Često je to klasični njegov pristup, nekad vuče na bluz, a nekad i na dixieland. Iako nema direktnog političkog zbora, cijeli album s jedne strane signalizira buđenje iz tog začaranog sna.

Još jedna stvar: dvanaest pjesama, dvanaest ženskih imena, čija prva slova daju jednu rečenicu "Olja je Najbolja". Poslije svih tih pobjeda i poraza, poslije dvanaest portreta dvanaest žena, poruka je jedna, i upućena je Olji, njegovoj supruzi. Ljubav kao niz pobjeda i poraza, a to je ta trijumfalna pobjeda, i poruka ovog albuma. E svaka mu čast!
____________________________________________
I don't know if there's a better moment to review Dnevnik starog momka than this one, with an autocratic government having just fallen in Serbia, 26 years after the last one fell. For the story around the album: you're already familiar with the fact that Balašević was a strict critic of the government that inherited Yugoslavia and led this region into a bloody feast, which is obvious on the albums from the late 80s up to 2001, because they all had either political or deeply melancholic songs. So Milošević's fall brought something opposite in Balašević, an upward trajectory, and so we got an album of 12 songs, all of them love songs. Was it newfound maturity, was it Milošević's fall giving Đorđe a new energy, or, as the rumour goes, problems in his long marriage — we'll never know, but you can sense it.

And somehow they're the deepest in a long time, and the hardest to grasp. Personally, I like Balašević best when he's exploring either the political scene or a melancholic whirlwind, and those love songs of his were always pretty lukewarm for my taste — but Dnevnik starog momka presents love as what it actually is: a series of victories and defeats that end sometimes as a bewildering breakup and sometimes as a triumphant win. "Eleonora" and "Nevena" capture that gap and confusion in love nicely, where the love is cut off and unfinished, but it's worth mentioning that although the songs are love songs, through the verses we get touches of other themes, more subtly — like drug addiction on "Branislava".

But yeah... most of the songs are love songs, done in different ways. Often it's his classic approach, sometimes it pulls toward the blues, and sometimes toward dixieland. Even though there's no direct political chorus, the whole album on one hand signals a waking up from that enchanted dream.

One more thing: twelve songs, twelve female names, whose first letters give one sentence — "Olja je najbolja." After all those victories and defeats, after twelve portraits of twelve women, the message is one, and it's addressed to Olja, his wife. Love as a series of victories and defeats, and this is that triumphant win, and the message of this album. Hats off to him, honestly!