"People and Streets” from the cult Bulgarian classic "The Boy Goes Away"

published on 11/22/25 12:15 PM

Scene from the film "The Boy Goes Away"

Photo: Archive

Highlights of Bulgarian musical culture: The song ''People and Streets” from the cult Bulgarian film ''The Boy Goes Away''

Update Required To play the media you will need to either update your browser to a recent version or update your Flash plugin.

When on May 19, 1972 the Bulgarian audience first saw the hit film The Boy Goes Away, directed by Lyudmil Kirkov, the composer of its soundtrack - the respected and sought-after Boris Karadimchev - was 39 years old. His education was impressive: he had graduated from the Music Academy with the two most prestigious majors - orchestral conducting and composition - in the classes of the most renowned teachers, Prof. Asen Dimitrov and Prof. Pancho Vladigerov. His first creative attempts were in classical genres. He began working in popular music in the 1950s, when he collaborated with the ensemble “The Jazz of the Young”

Boris Karadimchev's first original song was created in 1962 and recorded by popular Bulgarian pop singer Emil Dimitrov. Karadimchev was among the leading composers who supported the beat bands emerging in Bulgaria at the end of the 1960s, such as Shturcite (The Crickets) and Srebarnite Grivni (The Silver Bracelets).

His song Byala Tishina (White Silence), with lyrics by Bogomil Gudev, performed by Georgi Minchev and Shturcite band won first prize at the Golden Orpheus song festival in 1967 and became an everlasting Bulgarian hit.

Among the singers for whom he wrote are Margret Nikolova, Boyan Ivanov, Boris Gudjunov, Maria Neykova, Bogdana Karadocheva, Margarita Hranova, and his collaborations with rock groups like Factor and Tangra produced true masterpieces in the style of melodic rock. In an interview for cinefish.bg, Boris Karadimchev shared that his serious path in cinema began with an invitation from film director Lyudmil Kirkov to write the music for the 1968 film The Swedish Kings. Before that, Karadimchev had worked only with Zako Heskiya on The Beginning of a Vacation. After two more joint films - Armando and Don’t Look Back - came one of the most sincere and delicate works in Bulgarian cinema: The Boy Goes Away.

Its clean and natural imagery, romantic atmosphere, Georgi Mishev’s masterful script, the touching performance of lead actor Filip Trifonov, and Karadimchev’s skillful score turned the film into a cult classic for generations of viewers.

About the wonderful lyrical miniature "People and Streets", the composer said:

“Valuable music is the deeper music - the one that carries different moods within itself. Even when the picture isn’t very heavy or dramatic. But it's the same with people. Whoever has it easy - the sea is knee-deep. A profound, thoughtful person doesn’t smile so easily.”

When asked which part of his work he likes the most, he replied:

“You could say that in film music I have more interesting achievements. But it's one thing what I personally like, and another is which music brought me greater popularity. Songs from the movies, for example, have brought me a lot of recognition. Yet for me, the more interesting, challenging, and complex work is the instrumental music for film.”

For more than half a century, the song "People and Streets" has also been a calling card for the celebrated Bulgarian singer Mimi Ivanova. In an interview for bTV, she shared that Boris Karadimchev offered her the song while she was working in the “Sofia” orchestra together with Pasha Hristova, Maria Neykova, and Boris Gudjunov. At that time, it wasn’t customary to include film songs in concert repertoires, and People and Streets was very short - just about two minutes - so:

“It stayed in the studio. It fit like a beautiful garment, tailored for that film, where those wonderful actors play - may they all rest in peace. The film is amazing! People love it - elegant, refined, intelligent. It had a different atmosphere, very unusual… Every time this song plays, I have felt - inside myself - as if I’m lifting off. There is something very pure in it, very childlike, very romantic. And that carries over to the audience… This song brings a kind of harmony, balance, a special, cleansing feeling. For me it’s a happiness and a huge fortune that it was me who got to sing it, together with a wonderful performer whom I miss greatly - Borko Gudjunov… And thank you to Boris Karadimchev. I consider it one of the emblems of my repertoire.”