"" (

Cyrillic , bg, кирилица , mk, кирилица , russian: кириллица , sr, ћирилица, uk, кирилиця , fam1 = Egyptian hieroglyphs , fam2 = Proto-Sinaitic , fam3 = Phoenician , fam4 = G ...

: "", ; "Oh, Bright Dawn of May") is the

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European n ...

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

adopted in 2004. Before its adoption, it was a popular folk song with many variations of its text. The oldest version dates back to the second half of the 19th century.

Lyrics

Although these are the official lyrics, a lot of verses are repeated in order to follow the rhythmic composition.

History

Original version from the 19th century

The following is the oldest known version of the anthem, known as "Oh, Bright Dawn of Bravery, oh!" (""). It was played in public for the first time in 1863 in the national theater in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

. It was a component song of the "Battle of Grahovo or

blood feud A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one pa ...

in Montenegro" () heroic play in three parts. The play and the Montenegrin folk song was also played/sung in the National Theater again in 1870 and 1876.

World War II version

In 1944,

Sekula Drljević Sekula Drljević (; 7 September 1884 – 10 November 1945) was a Montenegrin nationalist, Yugoslav jurist, politician, orator, and theoretician. During World War II, he was a collaborator with the Ustaše in the German puppet state of t ...

, a Montenegrin fascist collaborator, rearranged the lyrics of the Montenegrin patriotic song "Oj, svijetla majska zoro" to celebrate the creation of the Montenegrin puppet regime that had been established in July 1941.

Popular song

The song survived until today under various names as a popular Montenegrin folk song under the name "Oh, Bright Dawn of May" (""). This version of the song has been one of the several versions proposed in 1993 during the first discussion on the official state anthem, however, on which there was no consensus because of the disputed melodic value.

Controversies

As the

president of Montenegro The president of Montenegro ( cnr, Предсједник Црне Горе, Predsjednik Crne Gore) is the head of state of Montenegro. The current president is Milo Đukanović, who was elected in the first round of the 2018 presidential elect ...

Filip Vujanović Filip Vujanović ( Montenegrin Cyrillic: Филип Вујановић, ; born 1 September 1954) is a Montenegrin politician who served as the President of Montenegro from 2003 to 2018. Early life and career Born and raised in Belgrade, Vujano ...

participated on several occasions public debates regarding the disputed parts of the national anthem, which was made official in 2004. On that occasion, the official text of the anthem also included two stanzas (third and fourth) sung by the Montenegrin fascist and war criminal Sekula Drljević. Controversy over the disputed parts of the anthem in the following years led to open divisions among the citizens of Montenegro, and Vujanović himself on various occasions publicly criticized the adoption of Drljevic's stanzas, from which he distanced himself, advocating changes to the official text of the anthem. Vujanović repeatedly pointed out that the adoption of Drljevic's verses was not acceptable because their creator was a fascist or Nazi, and on the same occasion he warned of the danger of strengthening extreme

Montenegrin nationalism Montenegrin nationalism is the nationalism that asserts that Montenegrins are a nation and promotes the cultural unity of Montenegrins. From the beginning of the 18th century, the population of Montenegro was torn between variants of Montenegrin a ...

and

chauvinism Chauvinism is the unreasonable belief in the superiority or dominance of one's own group or people, who are seen as strong and virtuous, while others are considered weak, unworthy, or inferior. It can be described as a form of extreme patriotis ...

Historical anthems in official use

* Ubavoj nam Crnoj Gori, national anthem of Principality (1870–1910) and later of

Kingdom of Montenegro The Kingdom of Montenegro ( sr, Краљевина Црна Горa, Kraljevina Crna Gora) was a monarchy in southeastern Europe, present-day Montenegro, during the tumultuous period of time on the Balkan Peninsula leading up to and during World ...

(1910–1918), with Nicholas I song Onamo, 'namo! as a popular anthem in the Montenegrin monarchy during the Nicholas I regime * Bože pravde, as the

of the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Kraljevina Jugoslavija, Краљевина Југославија; sl, Kraljevina Jugoslavija) was a state in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 unt ...

(1919–1941), and

Hey, Slavs "Hey, Slavs" is a patriotic song dedicated to the Slavs which was used as the national anthem of various countries during the 20th century. Its lyrics were first written in 1834 under the title "Hey, Slovaks" ("Hej, Slováci") by Samo Tomáši ...

as the national anthem of

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...

(1945/1977–1992) and later FR Yugoslavia / State Union of Serbia and Montenegro (1992–2006)

References

External links

* A midi version of the anthem exists at the official websites of ** th
President of Montenegro
** th
Government of Montenegro

- A vocal version of the Anthem, featured in "Himnuszok" website.
''Oj, svijetla majska zoro'' - Audio of the Montenegro national anthem, with information and lyrics, from NationalAnthems.mearchive link
* Th
Songs
section of the Italian language website "NewMontenegro.eu" features two alternative versions of the anthem.

- The sheet music and lyrics are featured in the "nationalanthems.info" site. {{DEFAULTSORT:Oj, Svijetla Majska Zoro National anthems European anthems Anthems of Montenegro National symbols of Montenegro National anthem compositions in D minor National anthem compositions in F major