Croatia’s most renowned lyricist passes away 

(Photo credit: Sandra Tralić)

Bratislav Zlatanović, one of Croatia’s most renowned and prolific lyricists, has passed away in Pula, daily Slobodna Dalmacija reported today. 

He leaves behind a legacy of several hundred hits for some of Croatia’s most famous singers. Zlatanović penned lyrics for the likes of Oliver Dragojević, Mišo Kovač, Milo Hrnić, Doris Dragović, Zdravko Škender, Duško Kuliš, Zlatko Pejaković, Meri Cetinić, Dražen Zečić, Magazin, and many others. 

At one point, he claimed to have written around two thousand songs.

“He was an exceptionally good person, a bohemian, who moved from Split to Pula in the 1990s. A top lyricist and individual, I must say that the news of his death deeply affected me,” musician Tonči Huljić told Slobodna Dalmacija.  

Ivica Bubalo, one of Croatia’s most famous entertainment managers, was shocked by the news Zlatanović’s death, stating that the lyricist has left a “tremendous mark on Croatian music.”

One of Zlatanović’s most enduring collaborators was singer Dražen Zečić.

“We worked together for over twenty years; he contributed to all of my albums, and people don’t realise how many hits he wrote for numerous Croatian singers…”Neka se drugi raduju”, “Nesretnik sam od rođenja”, “Ovo je naša krv”, “Goodbye, Australijo, goodbye”, “Pokidat ću lance sve”, “Nitko nema dva života”…are just some of his hits that are sung daily, yet people don’t know that Bratislav wrote the lyrics for them. He lived like a bohemian, with a heart of great magnitude, and it’s difficult to put into words how much we will miss Bratislav,” said Zečić.

Many are bidding farewell to Zlatanović, including Alen Vitasović, who wrote on social media that he was ‘one of our best lyricists in pop and entertainment music.’

After his move to Pula, Zlatanović refrained from giving interviews for 20 years and withdrew from public life.