Oj, svijetla majska zoro

Oj, svijetla majska zoro

English: Oh, Bright Dawn of May
Ој, свијетла мајска зоро
National anthem of Montenegro
Lyrics	National song, edited by Sekula Drljević
Music	Composer unknown
Audio sample
File:Oj svijetla majska zoro (Montenegrin anthem).ogg Oj svijetla majska zoro file help

"Oj, svijetla majska zoro" (Montenegrin/Serbian¹ Cyrillic: „Ој, свијетла мајска зоро”, trans. "Oh, Bright Dawn of May") is the official state anthem of Montenegro. Before becoming the anthem, it was a popular folk song of the Montenegrins, with many variations of its text, the oldest one dating to 1863. Its music was written down to notes for the first time by a Serb musician from Croatia by the name of Nikola Hercigonja shortly after World War II, who falsely assumed that Montenegrin WWII Nazi-fascist collaborator Sekula Drljević was the song's original author. It has had many variations and changes to find verses which were more suitable for both melodic and political purposes. Drljevic is the author of 3rd and 4th stanzas.

The current text of the official anthem is derived from the text written by Drljevic to be the Montenegrin national anthem in the early 1930s, but slightly amended, namely removing the references celebrating the slaughter of Muslims. It was proclaimed an anthem by the Parliament of Montenegro on July 13, 2004 – the Statehood day of the country. It was originally one of the main candidates for the official anthem when originally proposed in 1993, and same discussions were reopened regarding the lack of melodic value of the song, which was given in '93 as the definition as to why it cannot be an anthem. King Nicholas' Onamo, 'namo! ("There, o'er There!") was in 1993 officially proposed to be the national anthem, but it failed to receive a parliamentary majority, because many had considered it far too aggressive like the French anthem, precisely also why it was dubbed as "The Serbian Marseilleise", and because some pro-monarchists had wanted back the official anthem of the old Kingdom of Montenegro Ubavoj nam Crnoj Gori ("To Our Beautiful Montenegro").

The parliamentary session on which the Law on National Symbols was passed by DPS and SDP as a sign of reassertion of Montenegrin sovereignty on the path towards independence from its state union with Serbia was boycotted by the opposition in protest, both by the pro-Serbian mainstream political alliance and by the minor Liberals. The "Together for Change" SNP-led coalition considered the anthem a falsification of history and outrageous to introduce the text written by a Nazi collaborator. The Liberal Alliance of Montenegro's masses had originally gathered around chants while opposing DPS' unquestionable reign during the 1990s, which is the source of popularization of the song as the national anthem of Montenegro and a symbol of desire for independence, although they boycotted the parliament with accusations of no true desire for secession. DPS had originally wanted "To Our Beautiful Montenegro" back, but it accepted SDP CG's explicit demands for "Oh, Bright Dawn of May". The Albanians objected the anthem because they demanded the verse "our mother Montenegro" replaced by "our house Montenegro" for the Albanian populations' sake.

The anthem entered the Constitution of Montenegro during the draft of the new one in 2007, by a two-third parliamentary supermajority, of the government (DPS&HGI - SDP) and the Movement for Changes and the coalition of the Liberal Party of Montenegro and the Bosniak Party of Montenegro from the opposition. In order to change the anthem (or more precisely, its official name), a two-third parliamentary majority is needed to pass the motion, after which at least 50% of Montenegro's electorate must confirm the change in a referendum. SNP CG did not object the anthem and concurred with the DPS and PZP that its text should be changed, with Nebojša Medojević satirically noting that the smaller the country the bigger the anthem, but disliked other parts of the constitution. People's Party-Democratic Serb Party had wanted the return of "To Our Beautiful Montenegro", while the Serb List political alliance wanted "There, o'er There!". The Albanian minority parties (DUA, DSCG and AA) had abstained, noting the failure of the authorities to convince also SDP to sign the treaty on the constitution, which would guarantee them certain provisions, with DUA repeating their demand for changing "mother" to "house".

Currently, there is an ongoing dispute as to whether the Law on National Symbols should receive amendments which would change its text due to the highly controversial character of its alleged author and lack of melodic value.

Lyrics

Montenegrin/Serbian - Cyrillic	Montenegrin/Serbian - Latin	English
Ој свијетла мајска зоро Мајко наша Црна Горо Синови смо твог стијења И чувари твог поштења Волимо вас, брда тврда, И стравичне ваше кланце Који никад не познаше Срамотнога ропства ланце. Док ловћенској нашој мисли Наша слога даје крила, Биће горда, биће славна Домовина наша мила. Ријека ће наших вала, Ускачући у два мора, Глас носити океану, Да је вјечна Црна Гора.	Oj svijetla majska zoro, Majko naša Crna Goro, Sinovi smo tvog stijenja I čuvari tvog poštenja. Volimo vas, brda tvrda, I stravične vaše klance Koji nikad ne poznaše Sramotnoga ropstva lance. Dok lovćenskoj našoj misli Naša sloga daje krila, Biće gorda, biće slavna Domovina naša mila. Rijeka će naših vala, Uskačući u dva mora, Glas nositi okeanu, Da je vječna Crna Gora!	Oh, bright dawn of May Our mother Montenegro We are sons of your rocks and keepers of your honesty We love you, the rocky hills And your awesome gorges That never came to know The chains of shameful slavery. While our unity gives wings to our Lovćen cause Proud shall be, celebrated will be Our dear homeland. A river of our waves, Jumping into two seas, Will bear voice to the ocean, That Montenegro is eternal.

As sung

Although those are the official lyrics, a lot of verses are repeated in order to follow the rhythmic composition. To sing the anthem properly, one must follow the text like this:

Montenegrin - Cyrillic

Montenegrin - Latin

1. Ој свијетла мајска зоро Ој свијетла мајска зоро Мајко наша Црна Горо Мајко наша Црна Горо Синови смо твог стијења Синови смо твог стијења И чувари твог поштења И чувари твог поштења Волимо вас, брда тврда И стравичне ваше кланце Који никад не познаше Срамотнога ропства ланце Мајко наша Црна Горо Мајко наша Црна Горо 2. Ој свијетла мајска зоро Ој свијетла мајска зоро Мајко наша Црна Горо Мајко наша Црна Горо Док ловћенској нашој мисли Наша слога даје крила, Биће горда, биће славна Домовина наша мила. Ријека ће наших вала Ускачући у два мора Глас носити океану Да је вјечна Црна Гора Глас носити океану Да је вјечна Црна Гора Да је вјечна Црна Гора

1. Oj svijetla majska zoro Oj svijetla majska zoro Majko naša Crna Goro Majko naša Crna Goro Sinovi smo tvog stijenja Sinovi smo tvog stijenja I čuvari tvog poštenja I čuvari tvog poštenja Volimo vas, brda tvrda, I stravične vaše klance Koji nikad ne poznaše Sramotnoga ropstva lance Majko naša Crna Goro Majko naša Crna Goro 2. Oj svijetla majska zoro Oj svijetla majska zoro Majko naša Crna Goro Majko naša Crna Goro Dok lovćenskoj našoj misli Naša sloga daje krila Biće gorda, biće slavna Domovina naša mila Rijeka će naših vala Uskačući u dva mora Glas nositi okeanu Da je vječna Crna Gora Glas nositi okeanu Da je vječna Crna Gora Da je vječna Crna Gora

History

Original version

The following is the oldest known version of the anthem, known as: "Oh, Bright Dawn of Heroism, oh!" ("Oj, Junaštva Svjetla Zoro, oj!"). It was played in public for the first time in 1863 in the national theater in Belgrade. It was a component song of the "Battle of Grahovo or blood feud in Montenegro" (Бој на Грахову или крвна освета у Црној Гори) heroic play in three parts. It is unknown if the text's authors are also the play's, namely the following Montenegrin composer/writers: the father of Marko Car Jovan Car and an unknown Obrad Vitković. The play and the Montenegrin folk song was also played/sung in the National Theater again in 1870 and 1876.

Serbian - Cyrillic	Serbian - Latin	English
Ој, јунаштва свјетла зоро, Мајко наша Црна Горо! На твојим се врлетима, Разби сила душманима. Једина си за слободу Ти остала српском роду. Да т' ће Бог и света мати Да се једном све поврати.	Oj, junaštva svjetla zoro, Majko naša Crna Goro! Na tvojim se vrletima, Razbi sila dušmanima. Jedina si za slobodu Ti ostala srpskom rodu. Da t' će Bog i sveta Mati Da se jednom sve povrati.	Oh, bright dawn of bravery, Our mother Montenegro! On your hills, enemy force was broken. Only you have left for the freedom of the Serbian people Lord will give and Holy Mother to get everything one day back.

World War II

Sekule Drljević, party strongman of a minor political party which was active in the Yugoslavian Kingdom in Montenegro known as the Montenegrin Federalist Party, rewrote the text and published it in 1937 in the book of then's Croatian writer of Montenegrin origins Savić Marković "Štedimlija" known as "Crvena Hrvatska" (Red Croatia), which confounded the thesis not of a Serb ethnic origin of the Montenegrins, which was the dominant one back then, but rather from the Croats. Its name was "Eternal Ours..." (Vječna naša). When Nikola Hercigonja wrote down Oh, Bright Dawn of May shortly after WWII ended after 1945, he erroneously concluded that Drljevic was the original wholesale author of this song, which also led to its considerable decline in popularity as a Montenegrin folk song altogether.

Drljevic later on became the leader of the Montenegrin Fascist collaborationist group, but after maintaining power for a single day, he was banished from Montenegro by the anti-fascist uprising. He joined the Ustashi in the Independent State of Croatia and headed a pro-Nazi Montenegrin National Council as well as a Montenegrin National Army composed out of collaborationist Montenegrin Chetniks. Montenegro was taken over by pro-collaborationist Chetniks and was engulfed in a civil war with the Communist Partisans. In 1944 he published in Zagreb a political analysis called "Balkan Conflicts 1905 - 1941" (Balkanski sukobi 1905 - 1941). In it he presented the final version of what should be the official anthem of an independent Montenegrin state which should be realized after Adolf Hitler's victory in his vision of a New Europe.

This song was attacked by Unionists for supposedly purposely removing any references of the Serbian identity of Montenegro, and also intentionally not mentioning the most famous Montenegrin ruler, Petar II Petrović Njegoš, the author of The Mountain Wreath. The song celebrates Montenegro and its peasants' heroism, as well as a controversial event in Montenegrin history known as "The Inquisition of the Turkicized" in which all Montenegrin converts to Islam were killed or expelled in a secret and organized operation by the order of Prince-Bishop Danilo Petrović in 1707 in two parts of Old Montenegro. It was arguably written in a more Croatian version of the Serbo-Croatian speech, with the part "bit će" and "domovina" instead of "biće" and "otadžbina" as croatisms.

Montenegrin/Croatian

English

Vječna naša Crna Goro, Tvoj Lovćen je car Jadrana, Ka seljaka tvojih djela, Kad su čija opjevana? Volimo vas, brda tvrda, I stravične vaše klance Koji nikad ne poznaše Sramotnoga ropstva lance. Lovćen nam je oltar sveti, Vazda smo mu vjerni bili, U njega smo vjerovali I njime se ponosili. Otkada je Badnje Veče Našu vjeru očistilo, Među nama, seljacima, Nevjernika nije bilo. Dok lovćenskoj našoj misli Naša sloga daje krila, Bit će gorda, bit će slavna Domovina naša mila. Slobode će čuvar biti Naša brda, naše gore, Dokle zemlju sunce grije I dokle se ljudi bore. Rijeka će naših vala, Uskačući u dva mora, Glas nositi oceanu, Da je vječna Crna Gora.

Eternal Our Montenegro, Your Lovcen is the Emperor of the Adriatic, Like the peasants of your rocks, When where they sang?' We love you, the rocky hills, And your awesome gorges That never came to know The shameful slavery chains. Lovcen is our Saint Oltar, Forever were we to him faithful, In him we have believed An with him we were proud. Ever since Christmas Eve. Our faith cleansed, Among us peasants, No infidel there was. As long as our Lovcen thought Our concord strength gives, It shall be proud, it shall be famous Our dear homeland. Freedom's keeper shall be Our hills, our highlands, As long as the earth receives warmth from the sun And as long as men are fighting. Rivers ours shall oh yes, Jumping into two seas Bring the voice to the ocean Eternal be our Montenegro.

Popular Song

The song survived till today under various names as a popular Montenegrin folk song under the name "Oh, Bright Dawn of May" (Oj svijetla majska zoro). This version of the song has been one of the several versions proposed in 1993 during the first discussion on the official anthem, however, on which there was no consensus because of the disputed melodic value. While discussing on the Montenegrin national anthem in 2004 and a joint anthem of the Serbo-Montenegrin state union, the Serbian Orthodox Church has promoted this version as the more authentic text of the song. It was rejected because references to Montenegro's Serbdom are considered anachronistic.

Serbian - Cyrillic	Serbian - Latin	English
Ој свијетла мајска зоро, Мајко наша Црна Горо, Синови смо твог стијења И чувари твог поштења. Ловћен нам је олтар свети, У њега смо сви заклети. На Ловћену Његош спава Најмудрија српска глава. Ловћен красе Петровићи А Косово Обилићи. Ловћен краси гроб Његошев А Косово гроб Милошев. Дурмиторе је л' ти жао Што се Ловћен опјевао? -Не, нека га, нек' се пјева Заслуга је Његошева.	Oj svijetla majska zoro, Majko naša Crna Goro, Sinovi smo tvog stijena I čuvari tvog poštenja Lovćen nam je oltar sveti, U njega smo svi zakleti. Na Lovćenu Njegoš spava Najmudrija srpska glava. Lovćen krase Petrovići A Kosovo Obilići. Lovćen krasi grob Njegošev A Kosovo grob Milošev. Durmitore je l' ti žao Što se Lovćen opjevao? -Ne, neka ga, nek' se pjeva Zasluga je Njegoševa.	Oh bright dawn of May, Mother ours Montenegro, Sons we are of your rocks And keepers of your honesty Lovcen is our Altar of Sainthood, In him we're all sworn. On Lovcen Nyegos sleeps The wisest Serb head. Lovcen is decorated by the Petrovics And Kosovo by the Obilics. Lovcen is decorated by the grave of Njegos And Kosovo by the grave of Milos. Durmitor are you sorry That Lovćen became famous? -No, let it be, let it sing Thankful for that is Njegos.

Serbo-Montenegrin hybrid

In August of 2004 after both Member States adopted their own national anthems, a common anthem was proposed by federal parliamentary speaker Zoran Šami. It was made by composer Slobodan Marković as a combination of the Montenegrin national anthem, and the Serbian national anthem Lord, Give Us Justice. The hybrid was difficult to make because of the unmelodic musical streams of Oh, Bright Dawn of May and the end result was sharply criticized by the public, especially also by the Serbian Orthodox Church, for including the words of Sekule Drljevic. In the end the official deadline presented by the 2002 Belgrade Agreement and the Constitutional Charter passed so Union President Svetozar Marović had declared Hey, Slavs! of the old Yugoslavia would still continue to be used, which it did until the union's dissolution in 2006.

Serbian - Cyrillic	Serbian - Latin	English
Боже правде, ти што спасе од пропасти досад нас, чуј и одсад наше гласе и одсад нам буди спас. Ој, свијетла мајска зоро, Мајко наша Црна Горо, Синови смо твог стијења и Чувари твог поштења. Моћном руком брани, води Кроз олује српски брод, Боже спаси, Боже храни, Моли ти се сав наш род. Док ловћенској нашој мисли Наша слога даје крила, Биће горда, биће славна Домовина наша мила.	Bože pravde, ti što spase od propasti dosad nas, čuj i odsad naše glase i odsad nam budi spas. Oj, svijetla majska zoro, Majko naša Crna Goro, Sinovi smo tvog stijenja i Čuvari tvog poštenja. Moćnom rukom brani, vodi Kroz oluje srpski brod, Bože spasi, Bože hrani, Moli ti se sav naš rod. Dok lovćenskoj našoj misli Naša sloga daje krila, Biće gorda, biće slavna Domovina naša mila.	God of Justice; Thou who saved us when in deepest bondage cast, Hear Thy Serbian children's voices, Be our help as in the past. Oh bright dawn of May, Mother ours Montenegro, Sons we are of your rocks And keepers of your honesty With Thy mighty hand sustain us, Through storms the Serbian vessel trace; God, our hope; protect and cherish Thus entreats our race! While our unity gives wings to our Lovćen cause Proud shall be, celebrated will be Our dear homeland.

Controversy

The song is controversial in two views - contextual and melodical:

Although the Montenegrin Serbs object the song and favor older versions mainly because it does not mention the Serbian national identity, favoring There, o'er There! as their national anthem, the main controversy in its text lies in its alleged authorship of a WWII Nazi collaborator. That was pointed during its adoption in 2004 and during the constitutional discussion of 2007, with various extreme accusations of Montenegro rejuvenating its fascist heritage occasionally heard including from the SOC and Serbia when the official centaur-anthem proposal was made for the State Union which would include half of the anthems of both member-states.

Because of its controversy, there are municipalities in which the opposition is in power in which the Montenegrin national anthem was never ever played since its adoption. In others with the opposition in power, it is played either shortened by removing the verses traditionally contributed to Drljevic, all just as an instrumental, on the proposal of President Filip Vujanović. The common proposal of the opposition was presented by the leader of the Socialist People's Party of Montenegro Srđan Milić, which is to amend the law on national symbols and remove the controversial verses. The Montenegrin president has supported this initiative, noting that the current version is not in the anti-fascist character of Montenegro, which is in its basis, also considering the text historically unfounded and rightful. President Vujanovic, vice-president of the ruling DPS CG, also has noted that he has expressed the opinion numerous times before, ever since its adoption in 2004. This was followed by the President's clash with the coalition Socialdemocratic Party of Montenegro over the process of changing the anthem's text, clarifying that the Constitution only defines the anthem's name, and not its content, which is defined by the Law on National Symbols, and for which's change a simple majority is needed. President Vujanovic personally favors precisely because of these reasons the instrumental, which plays on his official website.

The other main point of the controversy was exposed for the first time in 1993, during the first proposal to make the song the official anthem of the Republic of Montenegro, then's constituent republic of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In the final round of choices it was excluded on the grounds of problematic melody which doesn't suite a national anthem. This was mentioned again during the draft of an official anthem of the Serbo-Montenegrin State Union. Federal Parliamentary speaker Zoran Šami had hired composer Slobodan Marković to create a centaur-anthem for the State Union, a project which ended in failure. Markovic had called the attempt very difficult because of the "lack of harmony" of the Montenegrin anthem. In early 2010 Head of DPS Executive Board Miodrag Vuković admitted that the DPS CG is officially open for discussion on changing the anthem, noting that even textual and musical experts are pointing out its flaws, in precise its length.

Opposition leader Milic and President Vujanovic have stated that the initiative to change the national symbols will come after the forthcoming local elections on 23 May 2010, possibly ending in the removal of the 3rd and 4th stanzas, which are considered to be the literary work of Drljevic, making it structurally more as an anthem, more acceptable to the population of Montenegro and its anti-fascist determination, the country which raised the very first Anti-fascist uprising in Europe during WWII against the aggressor and its collaborator Drljevic, after merely a single day of their reign.

External links and references

• A midi version of the anthem exists at the official websites of
  • the President of Montenegro
  • the Government of Montenegro
• Himnuszok - A vocal version of the Anthem, featured in "Himnuszok" website.
• The Songs section of the Italian language website "NewMontenegro.eu" features two alternative versions of the anthem.
• nationalanthems.info - The sheet music and lyrics are featured in the "nationalanthems.info" site.

¹an ongoing controversy exists ever since Montenegro officially adopted Montenegrin as its official language in 2007 and promoted its standardization in 2009, traditionally considered a part of the Serbian language