Željko Vasić
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Jan. 9th, 2014 | 08:09 pm
Last night I was looking at a YouTube video of music by one of the Balkan pop singers I've been listening to lately and a video in the sidebar caught my eye. I clicked on it and was totally drawn in by the singer's rich baritone and romantic delivery. His name is Željko Vasić and he's from Beograd. He's in his mid-30s and has released two albums, one in 2008 and the other last year. With my limited knowledge of Slavic languages I was able to glean some info from his Serbian Wikipedia page, including the fact that he's married and has two children. He doesn't quite fit the pretty playboy image of some pop singers, but I find that he casts quite a romantic spell.
Here's a still from the time of his first album:
He knows how to look into the camera with puppy-dog eyes when he wants to. At other times he seems to laugh off any romantic pretensions as just a game, as a kind of skillful weaving of illusions.
This first video is from the first album. The title means "Without Mercy." It's about someone who can't get over his ex, spends sleepless nights alone, etc.
The second and third videos are from the recent album. In this one, "She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not," the video connects a longing for love in youth, in young adulthood, and in old age in a dreamlike series of scenarios:
In this last one, "My Only Wish [is for you and me to be together]," each verse is done as a take in a different set within the same studio complex. The romantic spell is broken at the end in a humorous way.
Ever since I stumbled upon pop music from Bosnia and other Balkan countries, I've been struck by the persistence the images of unattainable love that it presents, reminding me of the feelings that were evoked by some Sufi poetry when I first began to explore that.
Peace,
KH
Here's a still from the time of his first album:
He knows how to look into the camera with puppy-dog eyes when he wants to. At other times he seems to laugh off any romantic pretensions as just a game, as a kind of skillful weaving of illusions.
This first video is from the first album. The title means "Without Mercy." It's about someone who can't get over his ex, spends sleepless nights alone, etc.
The second and third videos are from the recent album. In this one, "She Loves Me, She Loves Me Not," the video connects a longing for love in youth, in young adulthood, and in old age in a dreamlike series of scenarios:
In this last one, "My Only Wish [is for you and me to be together]," each verse is done as a take in a different set within the same studio complex. The romantic spell is broken at the end in a humorous way.
Ever since I stumbled upon pop music from Bosnia and other Balkan countries, I've been struck by the persistence the images of unattainable love that it presents, reminding me of the feelings that were evoked by some Sufi poetry when I first began to explore that.
Peace,
KH
