The title of this song is ‘Istanbul brags to Sarajevo’. The story depicts a dialogue between the city of Sarajevo and the city of Istanbul. Istanbul talks in the first verse, while Sarajevo replies in the second verse.
This is not traditional Sevdalinka, but a song written by Edo Kenovic.
Original Bosnian lyrics
Carigrad se Sarajevu hvali
ja sam ljepši i bolji od tebe
Imam Bosfor i Mramorno more,
perivoje i divne munare.
Carske dvore sve od suha zlata.
Sarajevo pjesmom odgovara:
Svega imaš ali Bosne nemaš,
Sve je Bosna od bora zelena,
u šeheru stotine mahala,
Grad tabija sa dva bezistana,
Tašlihana do Morića hana.
English translation
Istanbul brags to Sarajevo:
‘I am prettier and better than you.
I have Bosphorus and the Marble Sea,
Clocktowers and ancient palaces,
wide parks and lovely mosques,
Sultan’s palaces built of pure gold’.
Sarajevo answers through a song:
‘You have everything, but you don’t have Bosnia,
Entire Bosnia is made of green pine trees,
town has hundreds of neighbourhoods,
two big castles and two covered markets,
from Tašlihan to the Morić caravansary’.
Published on 11th October 2009