Marina Tucaković (Serbian Cyrillic: Марина Туцаковић; 4 November 1953 – 19 September 2021) was a Serbian lyricist and songwriter. Born and raised in Belgrade, Serbia, Tucaković had a degree from the Economic Faculty at the University of Belgrade. She first started writing songs at the age of 19. After the success of "Dodirni mi kolena" ("Touch my knees") by the Yugoslav rock group Zana and vocalist Zana Nimani, Tucaković continued working with numerous artists in then Yugoslavia.
Many of the songs she wrote are considered to be some of the greatest hits of all time in the Balkans. She was also widely regarded as one of the most influential and respected Serbian lyricists. Throughout her nearly 50-year-long career, she served as the primary author of more than 4,000 songs. [2]
Life
Tucaković was born on November 4, 1953, in Belgrade. She attended the 6th Belgrade gymnasium and went on to study economics at the University of Belgrade's Economic Faculty. Although Tucaković initially considered working as a tourist guide, a hairdresser, or a teacher, her interest in music and songwriting began to develop and intensify during her university years, even though she was not aware of her talent at the time.
After completing her studies, Tucaković worked as a secretary for a jazz union. She began writing songs at the age of 19, initially for the acoustic trio Dag.
In 1979, she wrote the lyrics to all songs of the soundtrack to the movie Nacionalna klasa (1979) whose main composer was Zoran Simjanović. Some of the most notable songs from that movie included "Flojd" by Dado Topić and "Zašto" by Oliver Dragojević. She also worked with Simjanović on music from the movie Sok od šljiva, which marked her first venture into folk music, and on the movie Balkan Ekspres.[2] Another immensely successful song Tucaković wrote was "Dodirni mi kolena" by rock band Zana and vocalist Zana Nimani released in 1982.[4] During the 1980s, she wrote several hit singles including "Ruška" by Zdravko Colic, "Stranac u noći" by Massimo Savić, "Što to bješe ljubav" (1988) by Oliver Dragojević, "Svi pjevaju, ja ne čujem" by Mišo Kovač and "Ti si želja mog života" by Magazin.[2]
Tucaković frequently collaborated with Serbian songwriter Ljiljana Jorgovanović, who has created the biggest hits alongside her for more than 30 years and during the final years of her career with her son Milan Laća Radulović.[6][2] During an interview Tucaković described her songwriting process, "To me the person I write for is key, but also her majesty, the melody - when it pulls me, then I am king and when it does not, there can also be a bit of routine and tension and that can really tire an artist".[2][transl. 1] She also added that she has never been ashamed of the lyrics she wrote although she regretted having written songs for collaborating with "bad singers".[2][transl. 2] During an interview in 2018, Tucaković revealed that the number of songs she wrote registered with her agency was around 4000 although she estimated that the actual number of songs written by her included between 4500 and 5000.[7]
Other ventures
In 2003, Tucaković served as the art and music director of the festival Beovizija together with Vlada Graić. In 2008, she served as one of the judges in the reality show Operacija trijumf which featured contestants from Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia.[4] In 2014, she became a member of the jury in the show Pinkove zvezde organized by Pink.[4]
Personal life
In the 1980s, Tucaković was in a relationship with Oliver Mandić for four years. Tucaković was married to producer and composer Aleksandar Futa Radulović. The couple had two sons, Milan "Laća" and Miloš. On 1 December 2008, Tucaković found Miloš dead in his room at the age of 24.[8] Following her son's death, she took a hiatus from the media and from writing songs for several months. Despite autopsy results being done to investigate the cause of death, Tucaković refused to look at them.[9] The song "Mišo moj" by Ana Nikolić, released in 2010, was dedicated to her deceased son.[4] Laća, who was a lyricist like his mother, was last seen alive on 12 December 2022. He was found dead on 13 December on the street in Israel and his identity confirmed on 20 December.[10]
In 2018, Tucaković was diagnosed with breast cancer for which she also soon underwent a surgery and received chemotherapy. On 14 September 2021, her son Milan Laća Radulović shared with the public that the disease became more advanced and metastasized to the liver, lungs, brain and bones and asked for urgent help due to his mother's worsening health. Tucaković was then transferred to the Dragiša Mišović hospital where she needed assistance for her breathing problems and COVID-19.[11] She died on 19 September 2021, at the age of 67.[12] After her death, many music artists and media outlets expressed their grief at the loss.[2]
In 1987, Dutch singer Piet Veerman (former member of the popular Dutch band the Cats) had a number one hit in the Netherlands with the single "Sailin' Home", which was a translation of one of Tucaković's songs, "Zora je" performed by Neda Ukraden.[13] It became the singer's biggest hit and the best selling single of the year in the Netherlands.[14]
Many of the songs Tucaković wrote are considered to be some of the greatest songs of all times on the Balkans.[15] She was considered to have the biggest merit in establishing the career of Džej Ramadanovski and Ceca.[2] Music critics were divided on the quality of the lyrics written by Tucaković; while some considered them to be very representative of the time she was living, others dismissed them as "saccharine" and "often on the verge of trash".[2][transl. 3]
Some quotes used in this article were originally in Serbian, and have been user-translated.
^Serbian: "Meni je ključna priča osoba za koju pišem, ali i njeno visočanstvo melodija - kad me povuče, onda sam tu car, a kad me ne vuče bude malo rutine i napinjanja i to ume umetnika baš da smori"
