Adopted 2004 (Official) | ||
 | ||
Lyrics National song, edited by Sekula Drljević Music Traditional, edited by Žarko Mirković | ||
"Oj, svijetla majska zoro" (Montenegrin Cyrillic: „Ој, свијетла мајска зоро”, trans. "Oh, Bright Dawn of May") is the official national anthem of Montenegro adopted in 2004. Before becoming the anthem, it was a popular folk song, with many variations of its text. The oldest one is dated to the 2nd half of the 19th century, known as "Oh, Bright Dawn of Heroism, oh!", a popular Montenegrin folk song.
Contents
Cyrillic lyrics
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.
Latin Lyrics
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!
Translation
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:
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. Its first record in Montenegro itself dates to 1887, when it was included into the regular school program of Montenegrin national songs for pupils in the 3rd grade. It was reconfirmed in the teacher's plan for Montenegrin schools of 1888, which speculates that it must have been an established folk song for decades by then.
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 Savić Marković "Štedimlija" (a Croatian writer of Montenegrin origin) 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 Oh, Bright Dawn of May shortly after World War II ended after 1945, he erroneously concluded that Drljević was the original wholesale author of this song, which led to its decline in popularity as a Montenegrin folk song for decades.
Popular Song
The song survived until 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.