Asย Yugoslaviaโs mainstream society grew increasingly patriarchal during the 1980s, some of the country’s rock bands would routinely perform songs that spoke about same-sex love. Bosnian rock starย Sejo Sexon, leader of the legendary Sarajevo bandย Zabranjeno puลกenje, recently reminded music lovers of this, explaining that the group’s 1989 hit songย โJavi miโย (โLet me knowโ) was about love between two men.
In an interview with music journalist Boro Kontiฤ, published in the bookย โPamtim to kao da je bilo danasโย (โI remember it as if it were todayโ), Sexon explained:
This is a cover. The original isย โTurn on me,โ from the 1984 albumย โNew Sensationsโย byย Lou Reed. It’s a love song about two men. Something that was normal in New York at the time. Or in Paris, London, Berlinโฆ But here, being LGBT still bears that element of conspiracy, secrecy, fear of being found out. Our gay people are not allowed to show themselves. Unlike Lou Reed, who describes it openly. His song is just like a male-female love song, only it’s between two men. Over there, both are normal, bro. That’s why such love songs are just as beautiful as those about women. However, our song has the element of conspiracy. Of hidingโฆ
To je obrada. U originalu je โTurn on me.โ Album โNew sensations,โ Loua Reeda. To je ljubavna pesma dva muลกkarca. Ono ลกto je u New Yorku normalno tih godina. Ili u Parizu, Londonu, Berlinuโฆ Ali kod nas oko LGBT joลก uvijek ima taj moment konspiracije, tajnovitosti, straha da se ne otkriju. Naลกi se gejevi ne smiju javno pokazati. Za razliku od Loua Reeda koji to otvoreno opisuje. Njegova pjesma je ista kao muลกko-ลพenska pjesma, samo ลกto je muลกko-muลกka. Tamo je brate, i jedno i drugo, normalno. Zato su ljubavne pjesme jednako lijepe kao i one o ลพenama. Naลกa ima conspiracy. Skrivenostโฆ
The text of the Bosnian version is similar toย Lou Reed’s lyrics, in the form of a message between two estranged men; however, it includes the notion that the second man is living in a mock marriage, camouflaging his sexuality under suspicion by the neighbors:
And when your wife asks you, โWell, whatโs wrong with me?
Why aren’t we ever making love?โ
When she goes away to cry her eyes out alone, when she slams the door
Know that I still love you, you can always call me
Let me know, let me know, Iโll be waiting
A ลพena kad te pita, โPa dobro, ลกta mi fali?
Zaลกto nikad ne radimo one stvari?โ
Kad ode da se isplaฤe sama, kad vrata zalupi
Znaj, ja te joลก uvijek volim, mene vazda moลพeลก nazvati
Javi mi, javi mi, ja ฤu ฤekati
โProof of the power of loveโ
Sexon noted that โ for over 30 years โ nobody seems to have noticed that the song is about two men, which he calls โproof of the power of love.โ Since the emotional element is universal, such nuances have been missed by many in their audiences.
Although the Yugoslav Communist Party’s authoritarian system was less repressive than the totalitarianism of the Soviet Blocย on the other side of the Iron Curtain, for most of its existence the state formallyย criminalized homosexual relations.ย During the 1970s and ’80s, however, there was a growing movement towards greater freedoms โ including LGBTQ rights โ most prominently inย Slovenia.
While still shunned in the mainstream, homosexuality was not a taboo topic in the music sphere. LGBTQ+-themed foreign music videos likeย โSmalltown Boyโย by Bronsky Beat regularly featured in music shows on public TV. Mentions of the alleged homosexuality or bisexuality of foreign celebrities like Freddie Mercury or David Bowie were also common in the music press. Sometimes, such articles had a dose of irony. On December 1, 1982, for instance, the No. 80 edition of the weekly music magazineย Rock 82, published in Belgrade, reported:
Elton John has big problems regarding the distribution of his new music videoย โElton’s songโย because it’s about a schoolboy who isโฆhmmโฆshowing sympathies for an elder male friend.
Elton Dลพon ima velike probleme oko distribucije svoj videa,ย โElton’s Songโย jer priฤa je o ลกkolskom deฤku kojiโฆhmmโฆsimpatiลกe svog starijeg druga.
โFree male loveโ
In their book, Sexon and Kontiฤ explained that while โJavi miโ may have been the first Bosnian ode to homosexual love, it was not the first Yugoslav rock song about it. That honour appears to to go the 1979 songย โNeki djeฤaciโ (โSome boysโ)ย by the Croatian bandย Prljavo Kazaliลกte. A feature of the band’s punk phase, the song describes the relationship between two young men, one of them being an occasionally spurned lover. It was famous for the chorus, โJa sam za slobodnu muลกku ljubavโ (โI’m all for free male loveโ):
I know you’re trying to make me jealous
’cause how many times have
you told me on the benches in the park
(Chorus)
I’m all for free male loveโฆ
Znam da me praviลก ljubomornim
Jer koliko si mi puta
Na klupi u parku znao reฤi
(Refren)
Ja sam za slobodnu muลกku ljubav
Soon after that, in 1980, the Serbian bandย Idoliย producedย what is possibly the most famous Yugoslav song alluding to homosexuality,ย โRetko te viฤam sa devojkamaโย (โI rarely see you with girlsโ). The lyrics take the form of dialogue between two friends, alluding to the need to hide oneโs sexual orientation:
I rarely see you with girls
But I see you every day
I rarely see you with girls
Still, you are never aloneBoys are always around you
They’re nice; however, you should know
Rumors spread very quickly
And once they break, it’s the end
Retko te viฤam sa devojkama
A viฤam te svaki dan
Retko te viฤam sa devojkama
Ipak nikad nisi samOko tebe su deฤaci
Fini su, alโ ipak znaj
Glasine se brzo ลกire
A kad puknu tu je kraj
Women not forgotten
Some songs also addressed the love between women. The songย โAna,โย released in 1984 by the Slovenian bandย Videosex, mentions the social restraints andย legal provisions that once criminalized homosexual relations in Yugoslavia, legislation that was gradually lifted from the 1970s onward:
Ana, you’re well aware
What you do to me is forbidden here
You’re well aware that
What you do to me is forbidden for usThe first time, in the ladiesโ restroom
I really didn’t want that
A secret made of stone was set free
Ana, ti dobro znaลก
To ลกto mi radiลก je zabranjeno kod nas
Ti dobro znaลก
To ลกto mi radiลก je zabranjeno za nasPrvi put, ลพenska toaleta
Stvarno nisam to htjela
Kamena je tajna dobila slobodu
Another song about lesbian love, released in 1983, isย โMoja prijateljicaโ (โMy female friendโ)ย by the Croatian bandย Xenia:
She is so pretty, my friendโฆ
I am so proud, she is so prettyโฆMen would like to touch her
Men would like to hide her from me, from me
Men would like to dream with her
Men would like to sleep with her, without me, without me
Ona je tako lijepa, moja prijateljicaโฆ
Ja sam tako ponosna, ona je tako lijepaโฆMuลกkarci bi da je diraju
Muลกkarci bi da je skrivaju od mene, od mene
Muลกkarci bi da sa njom sanjaju
Muลกkarci bi da sa njom spavaju, bez mene, bez mene
The pendulum swings
Despite progressive bands in 1980s Yugoslavia singing songs about homosexual love, the next decade saw a sort of reversal. As the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslaviaย broke up, the music industries of newly independent ex-Yugoslav countries turned to turbo-folk and other genres of commercial production that were compatible with rising nationalism and populism, promoting social conservatism through the 1990s.
Songs of that period often promoted homophobia under the guise of humor. The chorus of the 1994 regional hitย โMala, malaโ (โSmall, smallโ)ย by the Serbian bandย Familija, includes the line โSmall group of faggots was bothering us for too long.โ
The 1994 song โPedroโ byย Risto Bombata i Kuฤeลกka Tenija, a Macedonian band, ridiculed homosexuals with lyrics that bordered on vulgarity, complete with aย video clipย featuring one of the most popular comedy actors of the time. The Spanish name in the title alludes to a derogatory term for โfaggotโ โย โpederโ โ with the chorus concluding that Pedro should โrun away from us.โ
Various internet sources have since opined that many other well known songs from Yugoslavia had LGBTQ+ themes โ making song listsย based on inferences, individual perceptions, and interpretations. Many of these include songs about friends of the same gender that do not explicitly refer to sexuality, and do not have the benefit of their writers later revealing what they were really about, like Sejo Sexon did.
This article was written by Global Voices Central & Eastern Europe and originally published by Global Voices on 28 June 2025. It is republished here under the media partnership by Shouts and Global Voices.
