As Good As It Gets (Andy Irvine) / The Blue Trouser Suit (Donal Lunny)
A song that refers back, nostalgically, to my attempted amorous exploits in Ljubljana,
Slovenia, Yugoslavia in 1968/69, while on the road. Such happy memories but, alas,
no romantic success!!
Ah! Figovec, a far cry from O”Donoghue’s but a wonderful ‘pub’ to be sitting outside
in the sunshine of the late sixties! Andy
It’s as good as it gets sitting outside Figovec
Gazing at the girls in Ljubljana
There is Cvetka and Slovenka, Živa and Alenka
But the girl to buy a beer is Marjana
On Sundays at the skating wishing only that I might be mating
Petja or Nevenka how divine or
Watching Maja floating round the ice blue trouser suit, very nice
Her yellow hair streaming out behind her
At the dance in Hala Tivoli on Saturdays great revelry
We dance to Mladi Levi – The Young Lions
O Milena she is supple and we make a handsome couple
But Ivanka is the girl I’ve got my eye on
It’s as good as it gets sitting outside Figovec
Gazing at the girls in Ljubljana
There is Cvetka and Slovenka Živa and Radenka
But the girl to buy ice cream is Jana
I was feeling kinda flukey as I played upon my Greek bouzouki
Trying to impress Anamarija
I was singing her a love song I might as well have been King Kong
She hadn’t the foggiest idea
But Čevapčiči will always be a happy memory for me
Washed down with a jug of černo vino
And fried potatoes, goulash sauce scarcely sexual intercourse
But Vlasta’s has the money for this beano
It’s as good as it gets sitting outside Figovec
Gazing at the girls in Ljubljana
There is Cvetka and Slovenka, Živa and Radenka
But I think I’ve got a crush on Tatjana
With Vida through the woods at night walking arm in arm by moonlight
She wears my ring upon her finger
But her mother leaning from the window shouting out in foreign lingo
Makes me think perhaps we should not linger
So my flimsy tent in the dark we pitched it there in Tivoli Park
And spent the night surrounded by the weather
O for miles around the storm’s affray with lightning and with thunder played
The rain lashed down in buckets hell for leather
We’re the only creatures in this world warm and dry me and my girl
As the storm the countryside does batter
But before the early dawn we rise to hide ourselves from prying eyes
Facing the new day’s another matter
On the Sunday I departed it was early in the morn I started
Heading for that road I knew so well
When I reached the outskirts of the town I scarcely even turned around
My future lay ahead, I broke the spell
But it’s as good as it gets sitting outside Figovec
With Dasha, Katarina and Ivana
In my memory you will always be a bevy of the greatest beauty
Bless the days I spent in Ljubljana
O Happy days I spent in Ljubljana
Andy Irvine Lyrics 