Siege of Sarajevo Series Part 3 'You Stay Here' by Richard Shindell

Hello everyone! This is the third and final part of my 3 part series about songs based on the Siege of Sarajevo. Here are my previous articles Part 1 and Part 2. 

In this article I will mostly be using 'Zlata's Diary' by Zlata Filipić and 'My Childhood Under Fire' by Nadja Halilbegović for my reference as these 2 book talk about how they and their families got through the siege.

Today we will be seeing the siege from the view of a father and his family. This song was written in the 2000's by Richard Shindell. It was written about the Siege of Sarajevo. This is actually one of my most favourite songs I have ever heard. Not only because it's about something I'm interested in, but because the music is just as powerful as the lyrics. It gradually builds with new sounds being introduced each verse.

In this song we hear what it was like to raise a family during the siege. What they did to get by and how they tried to make it easier for the kids. He also talks about how he plans to protect his family if he has to. He starts questioning God towards the end.

Notable lines from the song:

"You stay here

And I'll go look for wood

Do not fear

I'll be back soon enough

Do not let the fire die

Neither let it burn too bright"

During the siege there was a shortage of both fuel and firewood. People would look for wood wherever they could. Towards the end of the siege people were cutting down trees and chopping furniture to get wood to burn as this was the only source of heat because of the fuel shortage.

"You stay here

And I'll go look for bread

And if I can

Some sugar for the kids"

Along with fuel shortages there was also a shortage on food. Certain foods became "luxury goods" such as simple candies and chocolate.

"Dry your eyes - I'll be alright

I know where they've laid the mines"

Along with bombing by Republika Srpska, they also planted mines in certain areas. Even to this day there are still mines in certain areas of Bosnia. The former Olympic village from the 1984 Olympics is a good example of a place that still has mines.

"You stay here

And I'll go look for coats

There may still be

Some out on the road

We'll wash them clean with melted snow

The kids don't ever have to know"

Here he is talking about getting winter coats for the kids from bodies of people shot by snipers. He says he'll wash the blood and dirt off of the coat because he doesn't want his children to know where he got the coats.

" You stay here

And I'll go look for guns

I think I know

Where they've hidden some

Cause if the Tiger comes one night

We won't go without a fight"

In this verse he talks about what he'll do if Republika Srpska tries to kill his family. He'd rather go down in a fight with honour than have his family slaughtered before him.

"You stay here

And I'll go look for God

Not so hard

Cause I know where he's not

I will bring him back with me

Make him listen - make him see" 

The father starts to question his religion. He doesn't think that God or Allah would allow the city to become a battleground because it feels like Hell. He wants God/Allah to know how his people are suffering under this war.

I pretty much quoted the whole song, but here is the video for you to listen.

Thank you so much for reading this series. I have been wanting to do this series for a few years but never had much motivation, but now that I have lots of time and energy, I decided to finally make it. I hope you enjoyed this look into a piece of history that fascinates me and that you learned a little bit about the Bosnian war and the Yugoslav civil wars.

-Amy Katrina

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Siege of Sarajevo Series Part 2 'Song for Sarajevo' Judy Collins

Hello everyone! This is the second part of my 3 part series about songs based on the Siege of Sarajevo. If you missed the first article, here it is here. I explained the history of the Siege of Sarajevo in the first article.

Today we will be viewing the siege from the view of a child. This song is called 'Song For Sarajevo' by Judy Collins. This song was actually written in 1994, around the time NATO intervened and the world came to know about the Siege of Sarajevo.

 In this song she writes the lyrics from the point of view of a small child who is orphaned by the war. The child is seeing everything she loved destroyed by the war. All this child wants is to have peace in her life because she is surrounded by war. She feels as if her childhood was stolen from her.

Notable lines from the song:

"There's nowhere to hide, no where that I can go"

As I mentioned in my previous article Sarajevo was blockaded and the city became a battle ground. There was no getting out. The whole city was the battle ground, you couldn't hide from it. To a child this would have been very frightening and beyond their concept of safety and danger. 

"I can hear my heart, pounding like a clock

Hiding from the planes and from the bombing"

Here Judy Collins is talking about how the child is scared because there is war all around her. There is constant bombings from Republika Srpska and airplanes overhead from NATO.

"Fire from the sky, burning down my life

There is no more love and no more longing"

This child's whole world is gone because of the war. She feels like there is no more love where she is.

(Chorus)

"But when I close my eyes:

I dream of peace

I dream of flowers on the hill

I dream I see my mother smiling

When I close my eyes I dream of peace"

Here the child talks about how she saw Sarajevo before the war and how she now dreams about seeing all the little beautiful things that she saw before the war.

"Once I had a home, once my life was good

Once my mother sang to me and held me

Then the fire came, falling from the sky

There is no one left who can protect me"

This is the part of the song we find out that the girl was orphaned by the war. Her mother was killed in a bombing. She used to have a home, but now it's all gone. She feels alone and scared.

"War's a wicked bird that never comes to rest

Feeding on the dreams of all the children"

To a child war takes everything from them. Their home, their school, family, friends. Everything in a child's perception of life.

"Can't you stop the war, bring it to a close

You are tall and strong and I am just a child

Can't we live in peace, stop the flowing blood

Make a blessed world where I can be a child"

Here the child begs for peace. Peace would mean that she would get to be a child again. She knows she can't physically stop the war herself because she is a child, so she asks whoever is listening to bring peace.

Here is the song for you to listen to:

Thank you for reading this second article! I hope you come back next week to see the third article. 

-Amy Katrina 

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