An aromantic autistic reading of Joker Out's "Bluza"/"the Blouse"
I have a few words about Bluza. The Blouse.
When I first heard the title, I felt a connection to this song yet in a very tongue-in-cheek way. Because I read the working title was a nod to the white holed sweater blouse (the slut shirt) Bojan forgot at Jere’s place last autumn. But then thanks to JokerOutSubs I realized that this song really speaks to me in another way.
Disclaimer: I am speaking about this from an autistic aroace point of view and as a person who has masked most their lives and doesn’t drink. I hope to explain why this matters in the post below.
The lines that especially spoke to me are these:
Ja ko pijana budala
Ali čaše nisam popio
Jamislim da sam se zaljubio u tebe
I’m acting like a drunk idiot
But I haven’t had a single glass
I think I’ve fallen in love with you
As a person who has spend most my life being critical about what to say, do, and how I show of myself to people I see the drunkenness described here not as literal but as a form of unmasking. When you find that one person you feel so comfortable around that you know that they won’t leave you or care if you stop being presentable in the eyes of society.
The result is that you may seem drunk and out of character when you are close to them. Drunk as in unlike yourself but also much more yourself. You dare to be authentic and to be silly and vulnerable because this person next to you gets you. No alcohol you could consume would fill you with as much giddiness as being with this person does. There is something about this one person that just speaks to you and let you know that you are safe.
While not having been drunk myself this is what I expect is the feeling most drunk people are searching for: the experience of not caring about what other people might think about them anymore. They just exist outside time and space in a bubble of bliss.
The person in the song is that for Bojan. His bubble of bliss – his safe space.
I’ve been lucky enough to have people like that too for small periods of time. And just like the next line I have felt very strongly connected to the person in those moments thinking “is this was love feels like?”. And here I don’t necessarily mean romantic attraction/love. I mean love as in a deeper, more profound level. The love that is outside of bodily desire. It is two spirits – two beings finding a home in the other person. A home where you can be giddy and drunk without having touch a single drink.
It is no secret that I love the idea of queer platonic love. When I read this, I read it as queer platonic. I read it as beautifully strange, brotherly, romantic, and platonic all at once.
The chorus kind of develops this feeling and adds and aromantic layer to it:
Baš ja
Koji nisam verovao
Da za nekim biću lud
Yes, me who didn’t believe
I would be crazy about someone
I read this as a very much an aspec experience.
You may have gone most of your life feeling othered for not experiencing those feelings of romantic attraction the world around you constantly tell you that you should.
Then this person comes along. This person that is your haven, that you can fool around with and open up around. There’s something that seems different, seems honest and so it brings you that feeling of bliss I mentioned earlier. That feeling the world around you have tried to tell you exists for years, yet you never believed would happen to you.
You may have believed yourself to be broken or maybe the world around you too much for seemingly being crazy about love. But now in this moment of bliss, drunk without having drunk, you get it. You want to be with this person, do all the silly things the media tells you are romantic. Not because you are forced to but because it would mean spending more time with your person. And every little second you can spend with your person feels like a blessing.
That is my take on the song at least. Thank you for reading.
In Bluza we have the lyric "Baš ja, koji nisam verovao da za nekim bit ću lud / Yeah, me, who didn't believe I could ever be crazy about someone"
I wanna point out one word here: "nekim"
Yes, it does translate to "someone", BUT it can also translate to "some guy", bc it's both a masculine and gender neutral term
The feminine term would be "nekom" / "some girl"
Basically what i'm saying is that mr. Cvjetićanin could have easily made it about a girl but didn't
HUH INTERESTING I SEE I SEE
Thank you for this bit anon, I am looking forward to in depth analysis of these songs (only for them to completely change the lyrics for the album ☠️)!
I don't know if there has been a poll about this already, but I'm curious. Now that we have heard all three of their unreleased new songs quite many times already, which one you like the most?
I realise I have had most of my breakdowns over this IRL instead of on here, so -- y'all, I fucking love Bluza. New favourite song. Jfc. It's so, so good 😭 Šta bih ja this and Schlager that, but Bluza my beloved...
On this day - my 16th week on testosterone- I decided to make a danish version of a serbian song who hasnt event released yet (Bluza by Joker Out). It just hit the right spot for me and even more learning about what it is about. Another reason why I am happy still to be able to sing so here's to being grateful for my "puberty" being late I guess. This will probably be ironic if I scream the voice out in the weekend again.
Bluza, Joker Out (translation by @grnpurplgrmln) // Lighthousekeeping, Jeanette Winterson // Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit, Jeanette Winterson // Maurice, E.M. Forster // The Price of Salt, Patricia Highsmith // Under the Udala Trees, Chinelo Okparanta