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"Marjane, Marjane" (lit. "Marjan, Marjan") is a Croatian song from Dalmatia. The name refers to the Marjan hill which overlooks the capital of Dalmatia, the city of Split, and on which the main (large) city flag is raised. It originates from a folk song sung in the city during the late 1930s, which was first recorded by the poet Ivo Tijardović.
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During World War II the song (with somewhat expanded wording) became very popular among the Yugoslav Partisans. The original song was played on the radio of the Nazi-puppet Independent State of Croatia, the Croatian Radio (Hrvatski krugoval). The original lyrics serve as the official festive song of the city of Split. The song, being traditional, does not have a strictly defined ending, so its ending has changed through time and ideologies. Numerous artists have recorded the song. Najbolji Hrvatski Tamburaši included it in their 1989 release Hrvatska pjesmarica. Trio Gušt released a version with new lyrics in 2009.
Partisan version
In later versions, from the beginning of the Informbiro period (1948–1955) to the dissolution of Yugoslavia in 1991 with the Yugoslav wars, the stanza with the reference to Stalin was no longer popular and became used less and less. It was revived in the 1970s nationalist version, with "Jesus" replacing "Stalin" in the wording. The first two stanzas of this version are featured in the Academy Award-nominated motion picture The Battle of Neretva.
Contemporary version
This is the version more widely known in post-1989 Croatia. One of its first large scale performances was on May 30, 1990 by the Dalmatian Croat Duško Lokin. It is often sung by Torcida, the supporters of the Split football club, HNK Hajduk.
Some of the verses of this version contain historical inaccuracies. The 17th century Croatian noblemen Petar Zrinski and Fran Krsto Frankopan, the main Croatian actors of the Hungarian Magnate conspiracy, were noblemen of the Habsburg Monarchy while Split was for centuries a part of the Venetian Republic (and would remain outside the Monarchy for more than a hundred years after their death). Both feudal noblemen never saw Split and had little to do with the city, or Dalmatia in general. Furthermore, they did not "fall under the red, white and blue Croatian banner", and their participation in the Magnate conspiracy was not an attempt to liberate or in any way assist Dalmatia and/or its Croat population under Venetian rule. In fact, the red, white and blue Croatian flag was not introduced for another c. 160 years after their execution, and the Venetian Republic was one of their potential allies against the Holy Roman Emperor and King, Leopold I.