Daleko je Sunce (trans. Distant Is the Sun) is the sixth studio album from Serbian and Yugoslav rock band Galija, released in 1988. It is the first album in the band's album trilogy, comprising Daleko je Sunce, Korak do slobode (1989) and Istorija, ti i ja (1991).
Following the release of the 1986 album Digni ruku (Raise Your Hand), the band was joined by a new member, Bratislav "Bata" ZlatkoviÃÂ, a graduate from Sarajevo Music Academy and multi-instrumentalist, who took on the role of the band's keyboardist, flutist and second guitarist. Up to that point, Galija's principal composer was the band's frontman and leader Nenad MilosavljeviÃÂ, with only Digni ruku offering more space to compositions by guitarist Jean Jacques Roskam. With ZlatkoviÃÂ's arrival, the songwriting duties were shared among himself, Milosavljeviàand Roskam. Simultaneously, the band started to collaborate with lyricist Radoman Kanjevac, who would soon replace the group's second vocalist Predrag Milosavljeviàas the band's principla lyricist. Despite the fact that Zlatkoviàand Kanjevac had never before worked with a professional rock bandâÂÂprior to Galija, ZlatkoviÃÂ's had little experience in rock music, and Kanjevac, at the time a journalist for Radio Belgrade, had never written song lyricsâÂÂthe two brought fresh ideas to the group's work. Kanjevac brought up an idea of releasing an album trilogy which would deal with contemporary political turmoil in Yugoslavia, and Zlatkoviàintroduced folk music influences into the band's sound.
The songs for Daleko je Sunce were written in Makarska seaside resort (where the band had held regular summer performances since 1980) during the summer of 1987. The album was recorded during the winter of 1987âÂÂ1988. The album was produced by Duà ¡an "à  ane" PetroviÃÂ, and featured numerous guest appearances, including keyboardists Saà ¡a Lokner (of Bajaga i Instruktori) and Kornelije KovaÃÂ, bass guitarists Rade Bulatovià(of Jakarta) and Nenad Stefanovià"Japanac", drummer Ivan Vdovià"Vd" and Fejat SejdiàTrumpet Orchestra. The album was titled after a novel by renowned writer Dobrica ÃÂosiÃÂ, and the songs were titled after the works of Dobrica ÃÂosiÃÂ, Branko ÃÂopiÃÂ, Ivo AndriÃÂ, Laza Lazareviàand Aleksa à  antiÃÂ. The songs featured multi-layered lyrics, dealing with political topics through form of love songs. The spoken intro to "à ½ena koje nema" ("A Woman That Is Not There") features the last line from ÃÂosiÃÂ's Distant Is the Sun red by three different actors, Branislav "Ciga" JeriniÃÂ, Miloà ¡ à ½utiàand Mihajlo ViktoroviÃÂ. The song "Zebre i bizoni" ("Zebras and Buffalos") featured provocative lyrics dealing with Josip Broz Tito's residence at Brijuni. On the insistent of the record label, "Zebre i bizoni" lyrics were omitted from the inner sleeve. The track "Orlovi rano leto" ("Eagles Start Flying Early") includes a verse from the poem "Wait for Me" by Russian poet Konstantin Simonov, and the song "Mi znamo sudbu" ("We Know Our Destiny") includes motifs from the lyrics of Serbian World War I song "Tamo daleko" ("There, Far Away").
Daleko je sunce was the band's fifth and last album recorded with long-time bass guitarist Zoran "ÃÂupa" RadosavljeviÃÂ. After the album release, he left the band, and was replaced by Predrag MilanoviÃÂ.
The album cover was designed by Slobodan Kaà ¡tavarac and features a photograph of sunset at Mount Athos, Greece, taken by Danko ÃÂuriÃÂ. The back cover features ÃÂuriÃÂ's photograph of sky taken from inside the walls of Hilandar Monastery.
Daleko je Sunce was a commercial success, bringing to the band new attention of the media and of the younger audience. The album's biggest hits were the ballad "Da li si spavala" and folk-oriented "Mi znamo sudbu", both co-written by ZlatkoviÃÂ and Kanjevac. Minor hits included "Intimni odnosi", "Orlovi rano lete" and "Kao i obiÃÂno".
Due to lyrics perceived as politically provocative, the editors of Radio Belgrade and Radio Zagreb marked two songs from Daleko je sunce as unsuitable for broadcasting, while the editors of Radio Sarajevo decided not to broadcast four songs from the album. Commenting on censorship in an interview following the album release, Nenad MilosavljeviÃÂ stated:
Kanjevac commented in an interview:
One part of Yugoslav public perceived the song "Mi znamo sudbu", featuring a Balkan brass band and motifs from Serbian World War I patriotic song "Tamo daleko", as nationalistic. In an interview following the album release, Kanjevac commented: