“Ljeta koja dolaze” (1988) – Crvena Jabuka * Written by Zlatko Arslanagić * LP: Sanjati * Producer: Nikša Bratoš * Label: JugotonTucked away on the second and third albums by the Bosnian pop group Crvena Jabuka (red apple) were three acoustic ballads that ached with old world melancholy. These were “Tugo, Nesrećo” (sorrow, unhappiness) and “Uzmi me kad hoćeš ti” (take me when you will) from their 1987 Za sve ove godine (for all these years) album, and also “Ljeta koja dolaze” (the coming summer) from 1988’s Sanjati (to dream).
These songs connected the band to Bosnian soil and its many centuries of vitality, hurt and survival, and excused them for their eighties teen idol orientation. The chorus of “Ljeta koja dolaze” translates as follows: “Summer is coming, does it bring me anything new? Will I find paths that lead me to you?” Listening to these simple words in their historical Dawn-of-the-Yugoslav-collapse context gives them more ominous meaning.