Obren Pjevović (; 1919 in Donja Gorevnica,

Čačak Čačak ( sr-Cyrl, Чачак, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Moravica District in central Serbia. It is located in the West Morava Valley. According to the 2022 census, the city itself has a population ...

, Kingdom of SHS – 4 January 1991 in

Mrčajevci Mrčajevci ( sr-cyrl, Мрчајевци, ) is a village in the city of Čačak, Serbia. It is located in Central Serbian region of Šumadija Šumadija ( sr-Cyrl, Шумадија, ) is a geographical region in the central part of Serbia. The ar ...

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

) was a Serbian songwriter and composer who wrote more than 170 songs, some of them part of the important cultural heritage of traditional Serbian folk songs of

Šumadija Šumadija ( sr-Cyrl, Шумадија, ) is a geographical region in the central part of Serbia. The area used to be heavily covered with forests, hence the name (from ''šuma'' 'forest'). The city of Kragujevac is the administrative center of t ...

Family

The Pjevović family descend from the Rajović family from Montenegro. The Rajović family is named after their earliest known ancestor, Rajo. In the 18th century a branch of Rajović family moved from

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

to Prilike in

Ottoman Serbia Ottoman Serbia refers to the Ottoman Empire, Ottoman period in the history of Serbia. Various regions of medieval Serbia came under Ottoman rule already at the end of the 14th century, while the Serbian Despotate fell in 1459. Northern regions o ...

. At that time one of family members, Rajo Rajović was known as a good singer (), so Ottomans referred to him as Pjevo. Ottoman subashi from Zlatibor often requested Pjevo to be brought to sing to his field workers, to encourage them to work better. Based on this nickname Pjevo's descendants adopted Pjevović last name. Pjevović completed only four grades of elementary school. In 1941 he moved from Donja Gorevnica to Mrčajevci where he lived until his death in 1991.

Popular songs

His most popular songs include: * "Make me some coffee, my darling" () * "Where Are You From, Sis" () * "Morava's twilight" () * "I loved the girl from the city" (). * "Duga li je Jelica planina" * "Oj, Moravo, tija reko" * "Ej, da mi je" * "Šumadija" * "Mrčajevci" * "Progovori sliko" * "Sa Rudnika i Avale" * "Duga li je Jelica planina" * "Oj, Moravo daleko se slivaš" * "Nek' me ne zaborave devojke sa Morave" (co-authored with

Bora Đorđević Borisav "Bora" Đorđević ( sr-Cyrl, Борисав, Бора Ђорђевић; 1 November 1952 – 4 September 2024), also known as Bora Čorba ( sr-Cyrl, Бора Чорба), was a Serbian singer-songwriter and poet. He was best known as th ...

) * "Nemoj, Mile, Na Me Da Se Srdiš" * "Zarudela Zora Na Moravi" His songs were sung by many notable singers such as Miroslav Ilić, Predrag Gojković Cune, Olivera Katarina and Dobrivoje Topalović.

I loved the girl from the city

One of the most popular songs Pjevović composed was a famous folk song (authored by Dobrica Erić) "I loved the girl from the city" () that was the first hit song of Miroslav Ilić, a fellow country man of Pjevović. Pjevović first offered this song to

Predrag Živković Tozovac Predrag Živković ( sr-Cyrl, Предраг Живковић; 22 January 19366 April 2021), nicknamed Tozovac ( sr-Cyrl, Тозовац) was one of the most famous Serbian folk singers and composers. He was also an accomplished accordion player ...

and Predrag Gojković Cune, but they rejected it as non-commercial. In 1972, after several major record companies refused to publish, it Pjevović and Ilić accidentally, on their way to railway station in Belgrade, passed by representative office of Diskos record company and decided to try their luck with them. Although this song was not corresponding to contemporary modern trends, manager from Diskos decided to take a big personal risk and publish the song. Very soon it became one of the biggest hit folk songs in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

and Serbia.

References

External links

* 1919 births 1991 deaths Serbian songwriters 20th-century Serbian male singers Writers from Čačak Šumadija Yugoslav male singers Musicians from Čačak Yugoslav musicians {{Serbia-singer-stub