Oj, svijetla majska zoro

Ој, свијетла мајска зоро

English: Oh, Bright Dawn of May
Oj, svijetla majska zoro
National anthem of  Montenegro
Lyrics	National song, edited by Sekula Drljević
Music	Traditional, edited by Žarko Mirković
Adopted	2004 (Official)
Music sample
Oj, svijetla majska zoro

"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.

Lyrics

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:

Montenegrin language - Cyrillic	Montenegrin language - Latin	English
1. Ој свијетла мајска зоро Ој свијетла мајска зоро Мајко наша Црна Горо Мајко наша Црна Горо Синови смо твог стијења Синови смо твог стијења И чувари твог поштења И чувари твог поштења Волимо вас, брда тврда И стравичне ваше кланце Који никад не познаше Срамотнога ропства ланце Мајко наша Црна Горо Мајко наша Црна Горо 2. Ој свијетла мајска зоро Ој свијетла мајска зоро Мајко наша Црна Горо Мајко наша Црна Горо 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! Глас носити океану Да је вјечна Црна Гора! Да је вјечна Црна Гора!	1. Oj svijetla majska zoro Oj svijetla majska zoro Majko naša Crna Goro Majko naša Crna Goro Sinovi smo tvog stijenja Sinovi smo tvog stijenja I čuvari tvog poštenja I čuvari tvog poštenja Volimo vas, brda tvrda, I stravične vaše klance Koji nikad ne poznaše Sramotnoga ropstva lance Majko naša Crna Goro Majko naša Crna Goro 2. Oj svijetla majska zoro Oj svijetla majska zoro Majko naša Crna Goro Majko naša Crna Goro 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! Glas nositi okeanu Da je vječna Crna Gora! Da je vječna Crna Gora!	1. Oh, bright dawn of May Oh, bright dawn of May Our mother Montenegro Our mother Montenegro We are sons of your rocks We are sons of your rocks and keepers of your honesty 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. Our mother Montenegro Our mother Montenegro 2. Oh, bright dawn of May Oh, bright dawn of May Our mother Montenegro Our mother Montenegro 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, May eternal be our Montenegro! Will bear voice to the ocean, That Montenegro is eternal! That Montenegro is eternal!

History

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.^[1] 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.^[2] 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.^[3] 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.

Serbian language - Cyrillic	Serbian language - Latin	English
Ој, јунаштва свјетла зоро, Мајко наша Црна Горо! На твојим се врлетима, Разби сила душманима. Једина си за слободу, Ти остала српском роду. Дат ће Бог и свјета мати Да се једном све поврати!	Oj, junaštva svjetla zoro, Majko naša Crna Goro! Na tvojim se vrletima, Razbi sila dušmanima. Јedinа si zа slobodu, Ti ostаlа srpskom rodu. Dаt će Bog i svјetа mаti Dа se јednom sve povrаti!	O, bright dawn of heroism, Our mother Montenegro! On your mountains, Broke the force of the enemy. Only you are still there, For Serbian people to regain its freedom God and Holy Mother's willing Everything will be restored again!

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 then's Croatian writer of Montenegrin origins Savić Marković "Štedimlija" 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 down 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 also led to its considerable decline in popularity as a Montenegrin folk song altogether.

Serbian language

English

Vječna naša Crna Goro, Tvoj Lovćen je car Jadrana, Ka seljaka tvojih djela, Kad su čija opjevana? Volimo vas, brda tvrda, I stravične vaše klance Koji nikad ne poznaše Sramotnoga ropstva lance. Lovćen nam je oltar sveti, Vazda smo mu vjerni bili, U njega smo vjerovali I njime se ponosili. Otkada je Badnje Veče Našu vjeru očistilo, Među nama, seljacima, Nevjernika nije bilo. Dok lovćenskoj našoj misli Naša sloga daje krila, Bit će gorda, bit će slavna Domovina naša mila. Slobode će čuvar biti Naša brda, naše gore, Dokle zemlju sunce grije I dokle se ljudi bore. Rijeka će naših vala, Uskačući u dva mora, Glas nositi oceanu, Da je vječna Crna Gora.

Eternal Our Montenegro, Your Lovcen is the Emperor of the Adriatic, Like the peasants of your rocks, When were they sang?' We love you, the rocky hills, And your horrifying gorges That never came to know The shameful slavery chains. Lovcen is our Saint Oltar, Forever were we to him faithful, In it we have believed And with it we were proud. Ever since Christmas Evening. Our faith cleansed, Among us peasants, No infidel there was. As long as our Lovcen's thought Our concord gives strength, It shall be proud, it shall be famous Our dear homeland. Freedom's keeper shall be Our hills, our highlands, As long as the earth receives warmth from the sun And as long as men are fighting. Rivers of our waves shall, Jumping into two seas Bring the voice to the ocean Eternal be our Montenegro.

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.^[4]

Cyrillic	Latin	English
Ој свијетла мајска зоро, Мајко наша Црна Горо, Синови смо твог стијења И чувари твог поштења. Ловћен нам је олтар свети, У њега смо сви заклети. На Ловћену Његош спава Најмудрија свјетска глава. Дурмиторе је л' ти жао Што се Ловћен опјевао? -Не, нека га, нек' се пјева Заслуга је Његошева.	Oj svijetla majska zoro, Majko naša Crna Goro, Sinovi smo tvog stijena I čuvari tvog poštenja Lovćen nam je oltar sveti, U njega smo svi zakleti. Na Lovćenu Njegoš spava Najmudrija svjetska glava. Durmitore je l' ti žao Što se Lovćen opjevao? -Ne, neka ga, nek' se pjeva Zasluga je Njegoševa.	Oh bright dawn of May, Mother ours Montenegro, Sons we are of your rocks And keepers of your honesty Lovcen is our Altar of Sainthood, In him we're all sworn. On Lovcen Njegos sleeps The wisest World's head. Durmitor are you sorry That Lovćen became famous? -No, let it be, let it sing Thankful for that is Njegos.

References

1. Repertoire of the National Theatre in Belgrade 1868-1965, Sava V. Cvetkovic, Belgrade, 1966
2. Istorija srpskog pozorišta od srednjeg veka do modernog doba, Borivoje Stojković, 1979.
3. http://www.pobjeda.co.me/citanje.php?datum=2004-08-13&id=38333
4. http://www.pcnen.com/detail.php?module=2&news_id=1113

External links

• A midi version of the anthem exists at the official websites of
  • the President of Montenegro
  • the Government of Montenegro
• Himnuszok - 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.me
• The Songs section of the Italian language website "NewMontenegro.eu" features two alternative versions of the anthem.
• nationalanthems.info - The sheet music and lyrics are featured in the "nationalanthems.info" site.