''Kreće se lađa francuska'' ( sr-Cyrl, Креће се лађа француска; ) is a Serbian war song from the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, first sung in a

Salonika Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

harbor, where the Serbian army was recuperating after a long and painful withdrawal through the Albanian mountains. The author of the original text of the poem is Serbian officer colonel

Branislav Milosavljević Branislav R. Milosavljević (Serbian Cyrillic alphabet, Serbian Cyrillic: Бранислав Р. Милосављевић; 2 August 1879 – 17 April 1944) was a poet and a colonel of the Army of the Kingdom of Serbia, the first mayor of Durrës wi ...

, ''Mač i lira'' word and Lyre

Brod na Savi Slavonski Brod (), commonly shortened to simply Brod, is a city in eastern Croatia, near the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Being one of the principal cities in the historical regions of Slavonia and Posavina, Slavonski Brod was the 7th large ...

1922, p. 128-129 The song was frequently performed in both

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

after the war and is commonly used as a symbol of Serbian and French friendship.

Lyrics

Silno je more duboko, (Mighty is the deep sea)
Duboko, plavo široko. (Deep, blue and wide)
Nigde mu kraja videti, (Its end is nowhere in sight)
Ne mogu misli podneti. (I cannot bear the thought.) Kreće se lađa francuska, (The French ship is departing)
Sa pristaništa solunska, (From the harbor of Salonika)
Transport se kreće srbadi, (Transport of Serbs moves)
Ratnici, braća bolesni. (Warriors, wounded brothers) Svaki se vojnik borio, (Every soldier fought)
U rovu slavu slavio, (And celebrated his

slava Slava may refer to: Ships * ''Slava'' class cruiser, a modern Russian warship ** Soviet cruiser Slava (1979), now Russian cruiser ''Moskva'', a ''Slava'' class guided missile cruiser sunk during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine * Russian ba ...

in the trench)
Sretan se Bogu molio, (Happy (he) was praying to the God)
Da bi se kući vratio. (Hoping to return home) Polazim tužan, bolestan, (I depart sad and ill)
Pomislih: Bože, nisam sam, (Thought: "God, I am not alone")
I moja braća putuju, (My brothers are traveling too)
Da sa mnom skupa tuguju. (To mourn, together, with me) Radosti nema ni za tren, (There is no joy even for a moment)
Naiđe švapski sumaren, (For a Kraut sub is approaching)
Svi mole svetog Nikolu, (And all pray to

St. Nicholas Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-day Demre ...

)
Njegovu silu na moru. (For his force at sea)

References

External links

Original poem
Culture of Republika Srpska Serbian patriotic songs Serbia in World War I Songs of World War I Cultural depictions of Serbian men {{1910s-song-stub