Kad nas jednom godine odnesu
Kemal Monteno · Other Songs - Kemal Monteno
i kad mladi ne budemo vise
napisi tada na moju adresu
ono sto ti se danas pise
Kad nas jednom prodju sva ljeta
kad nas jednom i ljubav prodje
nek' bar tada sa kraja svijeta
to tvoje njezno pismo dodje
Ref.
Napisi tada, moja mila
svu svoju radost i moju sjetu
sjeti se da si nekad bila
najveca radost i bol na svijetu
Napisi tada, moja mila
sve sto si znala, sve sto si smjela
sve sto si dala i sto si krila
sve sto si htjela i nisi htjela
Kad nas jednom godine odnesu
u neka jutra tiha i plava
vrati se i ti na onu adresu
gdje nasa mladost danas spava
Ref.
A love remembered as years pass
“Kada nas jednom godine odnesu” (“When the Years Carry Us Away”) is a Kemal Monteno ballad about time's power to transform a once-defining love into memory. The song looks ahead to a future in which two people may be far from their younger selves, asking what feelings and memories will survive. Monteno's thoughtful delivery gives the story a nostalgic weight, but the melody remains warm rather than despairing.
Released in 1976, the recording belongs to the formative period of Monteno's career as one of the former Yugoslavia's most distinctive singer-songwriters. His work combined accessible pop with a lyrical sensibility shaped by Sarajevo and the region's ballad traditions. The song's direct language and memorable melody helped make it a natural fit for the broad audience that followed Monteno's music through records, radio and live performances.
There is no robust chart record available, but the song has continued to circulate through Monteno's recorded catalogue and later streaming services. Its lasting quality comes from its ability to make aging and memory feel personal without becoming sentimental. “Kada nas jednom godine odnesu” asks listeners to imagine the future from the viewpoint of a love that has already become part of the past. That perspective gives the song its quiet emotional reach and makes it one of Monteno's enduring reflections on time.