Miss Sarajevo

Album: Miss Sarajevo (1995)
Charted: 6
Play Video
  • Is there a time for keeping your distance
    A time to turn your eyes away
    Is there a time for keeping your head down
    For getting on with your day

    Is there a time for kohl and lipstick
    A time for cutting hair
    Is there a time for high street shopping
    To find the right dress to wear

    Here she comes
    Heads turn around
    Here she comes
    To take her crown

    Is there a time to run for cover
    A time for kiss and tell
    Is there a time for different colours
    Different names you find it hard to spell

    Is there a time for first communion
    A time for East 17
    Is there a time to turn to Mecca
    Is there time to be a beauty queen

    Here she comes
    Beauty plays the clown
    Here she comes
    Surreal in her crown

    Dici che il fiume
    Trova la via al mare
    E come il fiume
    Giungerai a me
    Oltre i confini
    E le terre assetate
    Dici che come fiume
    Come fiume...
    L'amore giunger
    L'amore...
    E non so piû¿ pregare
    E nell'amore non so piû¿ sperare
    E quell'amore non so piû¿ aspettare

    [Translation of the above]
    It's said that a river
    Finds the way to the sea
    And like the river
    You shall come to me
    Beyond the borders
    And the thirsty lands
    You say that as a river
    Like a river...
    Love shall come
    Love...
    And I'm not able to pray anymore
    And I cannot hope in love anymore
    And I cannot wait for love anymore
    [End of Translation]

    Is there a time for tying ribbons
    A time for Christmas trees
    Is there a time for laying tables
    And the night is set to freeze

    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 10

  • P from AbFrank of Brampton,

    I don't get you. I don't want to get you. I think your comment is very sad.
  • Daniel from Sydney, AustraliaI assume you're joking, Frank of Brampton with your comments about Pavarotti. His contribution to this song is incredible. it would not be the same song without him. The hairs on my neck stand on end when his powerful voice erupts into the song.
  • Frank from Brampton, Ontario, CanadaThis is such a mesmerizing tune. I just love it! But I will say that opera had no place at all in a song like this and that Pavarotti literally ruined it! I blame him for trying to ruin the song and I blame U2 for allowing him to sing in it!

    But.... ANYWAYS.....this one's about ppl trying to hold a fashion show right in the middle of a war, and even during the show, the organizers still contemplate whether they can finish the show without getting hurt or killed.

    For example.. "Is there a time to run for cover,
    A time for kiss and tell,
    Is there a time for different
    colours,
    Different names you find it hard
    to spell"
  • Przemek from Warsaw, PolandEast 17 (for those too young to remember) was a popular boyband of the early 1990s
  • Dawson from Draper, UtI saw this song performed in Salt Lake and Milan, and I think Bono sounds terrific! At the Salt Lake concert, before the song began, Bono said that he had been taking Italian lessons, and understood the words very well. He also said that the song was about a place where it was always happy (Sarajevo) and then war began. As they were being bombed, they began sending out women in bikinis for a contest called Miss Sarajevo, similar to our Miss America. They used the pretty women to comicly say "How can you hurt us with such pretty ladies?" It was a great song and a great show.
  • Brad from Magalia, CaI was in my English class after coming back from an extended Germany trip and My teacher plops this movie into the dvd player. The movie has the same name. She said that her friend from college went to Europe for some reason and ended up in Bosnia while this civil war was happening. He lived with the people for a long time and learned that Bono was performing in Italy or France. He left the city of Sarajevo to go talk with Bono and finally he convinced him to enlighten the world about what was happening in Bosnia. Bono wrote this song apparently as a wake-up call to the Bosnian civil war.
  • Leon from Waterbury, CtI saw U2 in concert December 7th (2005), and they played this...I cannot believe Bono attempted to do Pavarotti's part! And he did it amazingly well!
  • Racine from Truro, MaI saw them play "Miss Sarajevo" last night in Boston! Shame that Pavarotti wasn't there (I kind of knew he wouldn't be) but Bono's voice was amazing! That song brought me to tears.
  • Jim from Lakeland, FlTo whom it may concern: Last night I saw U2 in Tampa, Fla. for the third time in my life. I heard people talking about how they performed "Miss Sarajevo" in Miami the night before. It was much to my pleasure that they performed in Tampa. And when they performed it I was in tears as well as the dude sitting next to me. What an awesome story and song. Thank you, Jim Hasenzahl
  • Ishhod from Colorado Springs, CoDuring the Bosnian conflict the people of Sarajevo put on an underground fashion show(thus the name "Miss Sarajevo". This show was happening while buildings in the surrounding area were being bombed. Later during the Popmart tour, U2 came to Sarajevo to play a benifit concert they had promised to play during the Zoo TV era.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Benny Mardones

Benny MardonesSongwriter Interviews

His song "Into The Night" is one of the most-played of all time. For Benny, it took him to hell and back.

Bob Daisley

Bob DaisleySongwriter Interviews

Bob was the bass player and lyricist for the first two Ozzy Osbourne albums. Here's how he wrote songs like "Crazy Train" and "Mr. Crowley" with Ozzy and Randy Rhoads.

Peter Lord

Peter LordSongwriter Interviews

You may not recognize his name, but you will certainly recognize Peter Lord's songs. He wrote the bevy of hits from Paula Abdul's second album, Spellbound.

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The Kingdom

Gavin Rossdale On Lyric Inspirations and Bush's Album The KingdomSongwriter Interviews

The Bush frontman on where he finds inspiration for lyrics, if his "machine head" is a guitar tuner, and the stories behind songs from the album The Kingdom.

Spot The Real Red Hot Chili Peppers Song Titles

Spot The Real Red Hot Chili Peppers Song TitlesMusic Quiz

The Red Hot Chili Peppers have some rather unusual song titles - see if you can spot the real ones.

Hardy

HardySongwriter Interviews

The country hitmaker talks about his debut album, A Rock, and how a nursery rhyme inspired his hit single "One Beer."