Chirayliq Eurovision: Regina

Bosnia-Herzegovina's entry to the Eurovision is the band Regina with their song "Bistra Voda" (clear water). ... Someone commented: "I think that Alexander Rybak's party is going to be spoiled by the manly Regina and their beautiful anthemic ballad."



From what I've been able to find out, the song is about mother's love, and touches the subject of the Bosnian war that took more than 200.000 lives.

Here is what the band said at their press conference in Moscow:

At the press conference, they stated that the message of the song was that of a love revolution. They thereby link the song to Russia, but the red is used as the color of love. When asked if their theme was inspired by communism, the band said that there are nostalgic aesthetics in the song, but that these are not related to communism but to love. In the end of the press conference, they performed their song Bistra Voda in Russian.

mundu-sammut from Australia has provided a translation of the second stanza in the comments:

I asked some people
In the neighborhood, where my soul resides
A secret from me, they say, you are hiding, dear

I asked that they return to me
That time, the old hours, the spring
That love is in the air, they say

Give birth to me at dawn in May
Bathe me in the clear water
I guard one flower, when all others leave
I guard you as long as I'm alive

Steal a bit of Sun for us
There's no tomorrow, there's no today
It's easy when the song finds your heart

Regina formed as a garage band in 1990, and after some initial problems finding the right vocalist, they met with great success all over Yugoslavia. The civil war broke up the band when the Serb members had to flee from Sarajevo to Belgrade. For a few years Regina continued in Belgrade with new replacements members, while some original members pursued solo careers. But in 2006 all the original members were happily reunited.