March on the Drina

World War I

The Drina River is an important symbol of Serbian national identity, serving as the boundary between Bosnia and Serbia. By the outbreak of World War I, Bosnia had been under the control of Austria-Hungary since 1878. The Serbian defeat of Austro-Hungarian forces at the Battle of Cer in August 1914 was the first Allied victory over the Central Powers during World War I. Stanislav Binički composed what became known as March on the Drina shortly after the battle to commemorate the Serbian victory. He dedicated it to his favourite commander in the army, Pukovnik or Colonel Milivoje Stojanović Brka, who fought at the Battle of Cer but who was killed in a subsequent battle in December. His composition was initially titled March to Victory. Some scholars have hypothesized that Binički based his work on an Ottoman Turkish military march. March on the Drina symbolized the desire of Serbs in the Kingdom of Serbia to unite with those living in Bosnia. The song experienced widespread popularity during and after World War I. It was seen as a symbol of Serbian resistance to the Great Powers and became one of the most famous Serbian nationalist songs, as described by author Eric D. Gordy.

Post-war

The song was popular in Socialist Yugoslavia during the Josip Broz Tito era after World War II. It was released as a single and other formats on the Zagreb-based Yugoton label in Croatia. The recording by Ansambl Urosevic was awarded a Zlatna Ploca or Gold Record for their single release on Jugoton. The Communist film studio Avala also released a film in 1964 based on the march which featured the tune. Moreover, at the height of the Yugoslav Communist or Josip Broz Tito era, a journalist published Serbian lyrics to the song in 1964. It was played at the presentation ceremony for the Nobel Prize in Literature when Yugoslav writer Ivo Andrić was named a Nobel laureate in 1961.

Serbian lyrics to the song were written in 1964 in Socialist Yugoslavia by poet and journalist Miloje Popović to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Cer. A Yugoslavian war film based on the events of World War I, also titled March on the Drina, was released the same year.

The Socialist Party of Serbia used the song as the soundtrack for an important promotional spot on Serbian television prior to the 1992 Serbian general elections. That year, the song was chosen to be the national anthem of Serbia. The Serbian National Assembly later bypassed the decision, deeming the song too provocative and adopted the royalist anthem Bože pravde instead.

In 2013, the song was at the centre of a controversy after it was performed by a Serbian choir entertaining the United Nations General Assembly. Vuk Jeremić, the President of the United Nations General Assembly, Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and other United Nations officials gave the song a standing ovation. Bosniak organizations responded to the performance by demanding that Jeremić be removed from his position as President of the United Nations General Assembly. Jeremić stated that "we [Serbs] are very proud of it [the song] and wanted to share it with the world". He went on to say that "regrettable attempts at twisting the meaning of our musical gift offered to the world last Monday are deeply offensive to the Serbian people". The United Nations later apologized for the ovation and Ban Ki-moon expressed regret that some were offended by the song.

1964 Serbian lyrics

There were many different lyrics set to the music in several languages, English, German, and Italian, including those written in 1964 in Serbian by the poet and journalist Miloje Popović to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Cer in Communist or Josip Broz Tito era Yugoslavia. Only four verses of Miloje Popovic's 1964 poem were recorded in 1966 by vocalist Ljubivoje Vidosavljević and the Narodni Orkestar "Carevac".

U boj, krenite junaci svi (To battle, go forth you heroes,)
Kren'te i ne žal'te život svoj (Go on and don't regret your lives)
Cer da čuje stroj, Cer nek vidi boj (May Cer hear the front, may Cer see the battle)
A reka Drina slavu hrabrost (and river Drina glory, courage)
I junačku ruku oca, sina! (And heroic hand of father and son!)

Poj, poj Drino, vodo hladna ti (Sing, sing, Drina - of cold water,)
Pamti, pričaj kad su padali (Remember, and tell of the ones that fell)
Pamti hrabri stroj (Remember the brave front,)
Koji je pun ognja, silne snage (Which full of fire, mighty force)
Proterao tuđina sa reke naše drage! (Expelled the foreigner from our dear river!)

Poj, poj Drino, pričaj rodu mi (Sing, sing, Drina, tell the generations,)
Kako smo se hrabro borili (How we bravely fought)
Pevao je stroj, vojev'o se boj (The front sang, the battle was fought)
Kraj hladne vode (Near cold water)
Krv je tekla (Blood was flowing,)
Krv je lila (Blood was streaming)
Drinom zbog slobode! (By the Drina for freedom!)

International hit

The composition became an international hit and a staple of world music. Swedish composer Felix Stahl obtained the rights to the song which he published and promoted. Danish guitarist Jørgen Ingmann had a number one hit on the Danish pop singles chart in 1963 in a version arranged for solo electric guitar on the Swedish Metronome Records label. His recording was also released in West Germany, where it reached #5, in the UK, in France, and in the U.S. on ATCO Records, 6277. Patti Page, The Shadows, Chet Atkins, Frankie Yankovic, Horst Wende, and James Last also recorded the song.

Popular international versions