"Bojna Čavoglave" (" Čavoglave Battalion", commonly referred to as just Čavoglave) is a war

folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...

song by the

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

singer Marko Perković. The song was composed during the

Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence) and (rarely) "War in Krajina" ( sr-Cyrl-Latn, Рат у Крајини, Rat u Krajini) are used. was an armed conflict fought in Croatia from 1991 to 1995 between Croats, Croat forces loyal to the Governmen ...

, becoming a popular wartime song.

Production

Marko Perković joined the

Croatian National Guard The Croatian National Guard ( or ZNG) was an armed force established by Croatia in April and May 1991 during the Croatian War of Independence. Although it was established within the framework of the Ministry of the Interior for legal reasons, th ...

as a volunteer, and was given a

Thompson submachine gun The Thompson submachine gun (also known as the "Tommy gun", "Chicago typewriter", or "trench broom") is a blowback-operated, selective-fire submachine gun, invented and developed by Brigadier General John T. Thompson, a United States Arm ...

, thus earning the nickname ''Thompson''. "Bojna Čavoglave" was the first song by Perković. The song was later republished by Perković's own band, Thompson. The song was originally released on

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve refers to the evening, or commonly the entire day, of the last day of the year, 31 December, also known as Old Year's Day. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinkin ...

1991. The video for the song was filmed during the Croatian War of Independence. The song was made to commemorate the soldiers fighting against the

Yugoslav People's Army The Yugoslav People's Army (JNA/; Macedonian language, Macedonian, Montenegrin language, Montenegrin and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian language, Croatian and ; , J ...

in the village of Čavoglave, which is the birthplace of Perković.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

of "Bojna Čavoglave" was filmed at the frontline, close to the village of Čavoglave.

Controversy

The first line of the song is "

Za dom spremni () was a salute used during World War II by the Croatian Ustaše movement and was the motto of the Independent State of Croatia. It was the Ustaše equivalent of the fascist or Nazi salute '' Sieg Heil''. Usage during World War II During ...

", the salute infamously used by the Ustasha

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

during the time of the

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia (, NDH) was a World War II–era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist Italy. It was established in parts of Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, occupied Yugoslavia on 10 April 1941, ...

(NDH). Due to the Ustasha genocide in the NDH, the song is considered highly controversial. The High Misdemeanour Court of Croatia originally found the line to be a criminal offense, which risked a ban of the song. However, Thompson appealed the decision. The same High Misdemeanour Court accepted his appeal, allowing Thompson to use the salute in the song and in concerts. This controversy was further strengthened by the fact that Croatian

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

fans were using the slogan and singing "Bojna Čavoglave", along with "Moja Hercegovina", a song by Herzegovinian Croat singer

Mate Bulić Mate Bulić (; born 18 February 1957) is a Herzegovinian pop and folk singer, whose songs are influenced by his native Herzegovina region of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since the 1990s, he has been living and performing from Frankfurt, Germany, wher ...

, in the

2023 UEFA Nations League final The 2023 UEFA Nations League final was a football match that determined the winners of the final tournament of the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League. It was the third final of the international football competition involving the men's national tea ...

. Other fans, who were on a flight to

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

from the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

in Qatar, also started singing "Bojna Čavoglave" on the plane. At a party in Zagreb, after returning from the World Cup,

players

Dejan Lovren Dejan Lovren (; born 5 July 1989) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Super League Greece club PAOK. Lovren began his career at Dinamo Zagreb before moving to Lyon in January 2010. He spent three and a half seas ...

and

Marcelo Brozović Marcelo Brozović (; born 16 November 1992) is a Croatian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Midfielder, defensive midfielder for Saudi Pro League club Al Nassr FC, Al-Nassr. After coming up through NK Hrvatski Dragovol ...

also sang the song, together with " Anica − Kninska kraljica", another war song.

Lyrics

Cover

A Ukrainian version of the song exists, titled "Soldiers of Ukraine" () by Ukrainian artist and military servicemen Detcom, which uses different lyrics, which are directed towards Russia instead of Serbia, but uses the same melody. This version of the song was introduced during the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

References

{{reflist Croatian folk songs Croatian patriotic songs Songs about the Yugoslav Wars 1991 songs 1991 singles Ukrainian folk songs Music controversies Works about the Croatian War of Independence