Seagull and me

Out of twelve chansons according to the votes of the audience, "Galeb" was eighth and was left without a prize. But the real story with Oliver started from him. A few months later, the director of the festival, Tomislav Kuljiš, admitted to Zdenka: - You know that those letters are yours with those raspberry - lipa letters. It took time for them to understand and experience it. –

How was Runjić's eternal "Seagull" created? Zdenko Firulama was walking with his son Boris, who was then seven or eight years old. It was autumn, in the south, the seagulls gathered on the beach. And the little one said to him: - Dad, why don't you write a poem about a seagull? -.

Zdenko then began to think what kind of song it should be... Maybe a philosophical conversation between a man and a seagull? He flies freely above, he has no natural enemies, man is below, bound by his worries...

When he came home, he immediately called Šjor Slavko (Tomislav Zuppa) and told him how he imagined the song. He asked him what he could write on the subject. Zuppa liked the idea.

After three days, Zdenko came home from "Jugoplastika", and an envelope with a text was waiting for him on the table. It was called "My Seagull". Zdenko read the text, but he didn't like it in the least. He didn't find what he wanted in it and, somewhat angry, left it on the piano.

More than a month passed when Zdenko got a call from Omiš. They told him that the competition for the festival was closing soon and asked him if he wanted to send anything. Then Zdenko sat down at the piano...

He read Zuppa's text again two or three times and then, without being burdened by the original idea, he suddenly concluded that it was excellent. And he started writing according to the text, but as an homage to the clapper. This is how he recounted his creative process: – The first tenor: "I like it, I like it...", and then everyone chimes in: "A-a-a... my seagull!". Then I go to the B part and not even 20 minutes have passed - the song was finished! –

He then went to Oliver, he played the song and asked Zdenko: - Who is this for? – - For Omiš! - he answered him. - Fuck, what an Omiš! This is me singing! –

"Galeb" was performed at "Split" in the Dalmatian chanson evening, which was introduced in 1975. In fact, the festival was international for the last time in 1974, and now something new had to be thought of. Just as, when writing "The Seagull", Runjić was not thinking about any "chanson", so the division of the compositions into Dalmatian chansons and fun ones was an artificial division, he later claimed.

He said: – I have not changed a single note of the original score. I can only explain this by an attack of inspiration, a special state of mind. As if in a moment I saw some light... –

"Galeb" was heard in the club of one of Zdenko's schoolmates in Los Angeles by Neil Diamond, who had just written the music for the movie "Galeb Jonathan Livingston". He delighted him. Zdenko never wanted to reveal how much money Neil offered him to sign the song because he didn't want to mess with the copyright of someone from the other side of the world. - If it was a new song, I would have bought it right away. - later claimed Zdenko. But everyone here already knew that it was his song, and it was supposed to be the title song in the film, so he didn't want to do it.

And so the most famous Dalmatian letters of all time were born. From one walk, with my little son and because of one seagull...

The source of the story is Skalinada.hr.