| English: Hey, Slavs | |
|---|---|
 A Serbo-Croatian language version print of the poem that would become the national anthem of Yugoslavia. | |
Former national anthem of Yugoslavia Serbia and Montenegro Slovak State | |
| Also known as | "Hej, Slovenci" "Hej, Słowianie" |
| Lyrics | Samo Tomášik, 1834 |
| Music | Polish composer unknown, 18th century (arranged byOskar Danon)[1] |
| Adopted | 1939 (by Slovak State) 1945 (by Yugoslavia, de facto) 1977 (by Yugoslavia, de jure provisionally) 1988 (by Yugoslavia, de jure constitutionally) 1992 (by Serbia and Montenegro) |
| Relinquished | 1945 (by Slovak State) 1992 (by Yugoslavia) 2006 (by Serbia and Montenegro) |
| Audio sample | |
"Hey, Slavs" (instrumental, both verses) | |
"Hey, Slavs" is a patriotic song dedicated to theSlavs and widely considered to be thePan-Slavic anthem. It was adapted and adopted as the national anthem of various Slavic-speaking nations, movements and organizations during the late 19th and 20th century.
Its lyrics were first written in 1834 under the title "Hey, Slovaks" ("Hej, Slováci") bySamo Tomášik and it has since served as the anthem of thePan-Slavic movement, the organizational anthem of theSokol movement, and the national anthems of theFirst Slovak Republic,SFR Yugoslavia, andSerbia and Montenegro.[2][3] It was composed to the tune of "Mazurek Dąbrowskiego" from 1797,[4][2] which was adopted as the national anthem ofPoland in 1926, but the Yugoslav variation has a slower tempo, is more accentuated, and does not repeat the last four lines as it repeats the last two lines.[5] The composer is unknown, although modern renditions of the song often used aWorld War II-era arrangement byOskar Danon.[1]
InSerbo-Croatian, which uses both theLatin and theCyrillic alphabets, the song had been titled as (inCroatian and inSerbian standard, respectively):
InMacedonian the song's title is "Ej, Sloveni" (Cyrillic:Еј, Словени), and inSlovene, it is "Hej, Slovani". The original title inSlovak was "Hej, Slováci".
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The song was written initially inCzech by the SlovakLutheran ministerSamuel Tomášik while he was visitingPrague in 1834. He was appalled thatGerman was more commonly heard in the streets of Prague thanCzech.[3] He wrote in his diary:
Tomášik left the instructions for his song to be performed to the melody ofDąbrowski's Mazurka: "It be sung as:Poland has not yet perished".[3]
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He soon altered the lyrics to include all Slavs and "Hey, Slavs" became a widely known rallying song for Slav nationalism and Pan-Slavic sentiment, especially in the West Slavic lands governed byAustria. It was printed in numerous magazines and calendars and sung at political gatherings, becoming an unofficial anthem of the Pan-Slavic movement.
Its popularity continued to increase when it was adopted as the organizational anthem of theSokol ("falcon") physical education movement, which was based on Pan-Slavic ideals and active acrossAustria-Hungary. In 1905, the erection of amonument to theSlovene poetFrance Prešeren inLjubljana was celebrated by a large gathering of people singing "Hey, Slavs". During theFirst World War, the song was often used by Slavic soldiers from opposite sides of the front line to communicate common nationalist sentiment and prevent bloodshed.
In Slovakia, the song "Hey, Slovaks" has been considered the unofficial ethnic anthem of the Slovaks throughout its modern history, especially at times of revolution.[citation needed] Although after the First World War the song "Nad Tatrou sa blýska" became the official Slovak part in the national anthem ofCzechoslovakia and then again in 1993 in anthem of independent Slovakia, "Hey, Slovaks" is still considered a "second" national anthem by many (usually more nationalistic) people. Contrary to popular assumption, there was no official state anthem of theclerofascistSlovak Republic (1939–45), though "Hej, Slováci" was used by the ruling party.
| Slovak variant | English translation |
|---|---|
Hej, Slováci, ešte naša | Hey, Slovaks, there still lives |
The first appearance of "Hey, Slavs" in Yugoslavia was during theIllyrian movement.Dragutin Rakovac translated the song, naming it "Hey, Illyrians" (Croatian:Hej, Iliri). Until theSecond World War, the translation did not undergo many changes, except that the Illyrians became Slavs.[7]
In 1941 theSecond World War engulfed theKingdom of Yugoslavia. TheAxis powersinvaded in early April, and the Yugoslav royal army disintegrated and capitulated in just two and a half weeks. Since theold Yugoslav anthem included references to king and kingdom, the anti-royalistPartisan resistance led byJosip Broz Tito and hisCommunist party decided to avoid it and opted for "Hey, Slavs" instead. The song was sung at both the first and second sessions ofAVNOJ, the legislative body of the resistance, and it gradually became thede facto national anthem ofDemocratic Federal Yugoslavia (new Yugoslavia).[citation needed]
The old state anthem was officially abandoned after liberation in 1945, but no new national anthem to replace it was officially adopted. There were several attempts to promote other, more specifically Yugoslav songs as the national anthem, but none gained much public support and "Hey, Slavs" continued to be used unofficially. The search for a better candidate continued up to 1988, while in 1977 the law only named the national anthem as "Hey, Slavs" as a temporary state anthem until a new one was adopted, which never happened.[citation needed]
"Hey, Slavs" under its Serbo-Croatian title "Hej, Slaveni" was therefore thenational anthem ofYugoslavia for a total of 48 years, from 1943 to 1992. With the formal adoption (inauguration) of Amendment IX to the Constitution of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the song "Hey, Slavs" gained constitutional sanction as the national anthem on November 25, 1988. After 43 years of continued use as thede facto national anthem, the delegates simply brought the law in line with custom.[8]
| Serbo-Croatian (Latin/Cyrillic) | English translation | Slovene | |
|---|---|---|---|
Hej Slaveni, jošte živi | Хеј Словени, јоште живи | Hey,Slavs, there still lives | Hej Slovani, naša reč |
| Macedonian (Cyrillic/transliteration) | English translation | ||
Еј, Словени, жив е тука | Ej, Sloveni, živ e tuka | Hey,Slavs, herein lives on | |
After the break-up of Yugoslavia in 1991 and 1992, when onlySerbia andMontenegro remained in the federation, "Hey, Slavs" continued to be used, as the national anthem of theFederal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY).Slobodan Milošević wanted to adopt “Hey, Slavs” as the Serbian anthem, but the Main Board of theSocialist Party of Serbia overruled it, feeling that it was inappropriate to reuse it after having assigned it to Yugoslavia, thus they assigned Serbia “March on the Drina” instead.[9] The FRY was renamed to theState Union of Serbia and Montenegro in 2003 and was expected to adopt a new national anthem, but since no agreement over state symbols could be reached, "Hey, Slavs" remained the national anthem of the state. Many Serbs disliked the song during this period and booed it whenever it was played, such as at sporting events and football games.[10]
A hybrid of theMontenegrin folk song (now national anthem) "Oj, svijetla majska zoro" with the former (now current) Serbian national anthem, "Bože Pravde" in alternating verses was proposed (similarly toCzechoslovakia, whose anthem consisted of the Czech part "Kde domov můj" and the Slovak part "Nad Tatrou sa blýska"). However, this attempt was struck down after objections by thePeople's Party of Montenegro and theSocialist People's Party of Montenegro. Also proposed was the former Montenegrin national anthem and patriotic song "Onamo, 'namo", however this also fell through and "Hey, Slavs" remained the national anthem. Since Montenegro and Serbia dissolved their union and split to become sovereign states in 2006, this issue is moot, as "Hey, Slavs" is no longer used as an official national anthem by any sovereign state. In a way, "Hey, Slavs" ended up outliving the countries that used it, as the last instance of it being officially played as part of an event was at the2006 FIFA World Cup,[11][12] where theSerbia and Montenegro national football team participated despite the country they were playing for no longer existing (having disbanded a few days before the tournament began).[10]
Even after the end of the federation, "Hey, Slavs" was sometimes still mistakenly played by organizers of sports events that involveSerbian teams as a guest side. Notable performances, some of which were intentional, include the2013 UEFA U-19 Championship semi-final football match betweenSerbia andPortugal as well as theOlympiacos–PartizanULEB Champions league basketball game in 2010.[13][14] In 2015, French organizers of2015 European Touring Car Cup season erroneously played "Hey, Slavs" when Serbian racing driverDušan Borković won 1st place atCircuit Paul Ricard.[15]
The Yugoslav bandBijelo Dugme recorded a version of the song for their 1984self-titled album.[16] The Yugoslav and Slovenian bandLaibach recorded an electronic version of the song, with lyrics in both English and Slovene, for their 2006 albumVolk.[17] The song is also featured in the 2002 Slovenian filmHeadnoise.[18]
Oskar Danon, a Jew from Sarajevo, often directed renditions of songs such as 'Hej, Sloveni,'
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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