Patriotic songs in Sarajevo
Mujo is swinging on the swing in the besieged Sarajevo and enjoying enjoying the moment.
Haso comes by and asks:”Mujo, asks:”Mujo, what are you you doing?” Mujo replayed: replayed: “Nothing important, I am just messing with with the snipers.” In the beginning of the 1990's people of all six republics that used to be united under the banner of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia took part in their first multi-party elections and referendums where they voted for or against staying in Yugoslavia. They all
said “yes” to independence of their own republics. Events that took place afterwards, were a result of a decade-long economic, political and ethnic cri sis. The war that started in Slovenia in 1991, expanded to Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina during the next couple of years and affected millions. And so, instead of playing in the courtyard, swimming in the sea and sunbathing, people of those newly established democratic countries were hiding in the cellars, waiting in lines for bread and listening to the radio that transmitted reports from the battlefield instead of popular music. Ethnomusicologist Svanibor Pettan researched the functions of music during war in Croatia and defined three different, but very particular functions of music based on musical examples. Music was made for those that were under attack, those that were attacking and for those that were not directly involved (Pettan 1998). In my field work in Sarajevo, BosniaHerzegovina (from 2011 to 2013) I explored the functions of music in the same context, the war time, but surprisingly came to different conclusions. concl usions. My interviewees pointed out that music was made by them, and for them. It was made ma de to serve two main functions – their their resistance (muzika kao otpor) and cure (muzika kao lijek). lijek). The following paper thus focuses on these two functions of music – music music as a resistance and music as a cure. Resistance can be understood in a several contexts, but the function function of music as a cure is very specific case. That is why there is a special emphasis on this in the paper that includes an analysis of the wider cultural and musical context. As the title already suggests I will examine the presence of patriotic songs in Sarajevo from 1992 to 1995 and present some examples of patriotic songs that were popular at the time and how the functions of music mentioned above reflected in them. Songs that I examined in detail were chosen according to the different and varied musical styles they represent in order to point out the variety of Sarajevan musical production during the war. In this paper I focus
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mainly on patriotic songs that were sponsored by the government and those explicitly emphasised by my interviewees. Firstly I will outline the historical context of the events that happened in the beginning of 1992 in Sarajevo. In the second chapter I will present t he function of music classified by Alan P. Merriam and Svanibor Pettan, as the first elaborates on several functions of music in peace time and Pettan in war time. The third chapter focuses on the media, specifically radio and television in Sarajevo whereby I am intereste d in their role in the process of popularization of patriotic songs. After this, I will analyse the lyrics of the patriotic songs that became popular during the war and investigate investigate their functions, using reflexive semiotic analysis. I met my interviewees during my stay in Sarajevo, and they were all of different age, sex, education, national and religion affiliation. The basic thing they had in common was the fact that they all lived in Sarajevo in the time of siege. According to Bohlman (1997: 147) every individual has their own way of remembering the past, sometimes very selectively. In fact, my interviewees told me almost the same stories of events that happened in Sarajevo, but the literature written by different authors presented pres ented very different histories. In attempting to familiarise myself with the time period I read the newspapers that were wer e published in the war time, focusing mainly on a daily paper called Oslobođenje.1 Political situation in Sarajevo in the beginning of the aggression in 1992
People of Bosnia-Herzegovina endorsed their own independence on the referendum on the first of March 1992. On the next day, when the results of re ferendum were announced, members of the Serbian paramilitary paramilitar y forces set up barricades in the cit y and the snipers took over the streets near the parliament building (see Thompson 1999: 210 – 12). 12). On the sixth of April, peaceful demonstration took place. Huge crowd of people demonstrated and shouted
“Mi smo za mir! (We are for peace!). They demanded that Bosnia-Herzegovina stays
multiethnical and multicultural, and that the t he government continues to respect the “l egacy of brotherhood and and unity” (Maček 2001: 200). The snipers, hidden in the old Jewish cemetery, cemetery, started to shot in the crowd and their first targets were Suada Dilberović and Olga Sučić. In a couple of days the hills surrounding Sarajevo were full of heavy artil lery and the snipers activities continued around the clock. Water, gas and electri city were shot down and supplied 1
Oslobođenje is a daily newspaper written in both Latin and Cyrillic fo nt. I can understand this as a gesture of
promoting mutual understanding, tolerance and and pluralistic identity (Hammel 2000: 26). 2
to the households sometimes only for a couple of hours per day. Food supplies were running out, medical material was gone. People were leaving town and were running away from insanity, from the war and because they had nothing that could keep them alive. They left the
town disappointed and humiliated (Perković 2011: 101). My interviewee Violeta remembers: In the winter we used books, newspaper, clothes, wood, we cut down the trees, because we did not have anything that would keep us warm. I lived with my parents in a three-storey building. We spent most of the time hidden in a c ellar with our neighbours and we shared everything; food, water, coffee, heating. Once per week we got the humanitarian aid. We never spend so much time together as in four years of aggression. We had an old guitar, totally out of tune and despite that we sang all kinds of songs, from sevdalinka, to popular songs from Bijelo dugme, Parni Valjak, Tereza Kesovija. We did not care about the nationality of the singer. After four years of bombing, dying and suffering Dayton peace agreement was signed and the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina officially ended. Stef J ansen observes:
“The 1995 Dayton agreement had put an end to the post-Yugoslav wars by recognising Bosnia-Herzegovina as a sovereign state consisting of two nationally homogenised Entities that were produced by the military violence: Republika Srpska (RS) and the federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina (the federation), the latter itself effectively divided between Croatian- and Bosniac- dominated territories. ” (2011: 46) Functions of music
According to Simon Frith (1986: 7) (popular) music is important because it permeates our lives. We, (ethno)musicologists, anthropologists and ethnologists, explore and write about
music, “the living and ever-changing organism” (Pettan 2002: 181) and its meanings and functions in our lives. In his work cultural anthropologist and ethnomusicologist Alan P. Merriam writes and elaborates on ten different functions of music. He developed a theory and methodology for studying of music from an anthropological perspective with anthropological methods, where he claims that the lyrics of the songs are one of the most obvious sources for the understanding human behaviour (Merriam 2000: 149). It is this statement that I will attempt to support on the following pages where I examine the texts of patriotic songs. Ten functions of music, as defined by Merriam are presented in the table below.
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The function of human expression
Music is a part of social movements in which individuals seek to express their personal and individual emotions.
The function of aesthetic enjoyment
A matter of philosophical consideration in the history of Western civilization. It is different in every c ulture.
The function of entertainment
Engages a person’s attention in something that agreeable, amusing, or diverting.
The function of communication
Listener’s responses an a part of industry, capitalism
Music is not a universal language. It is shaped in terms of culture of which it is a part.
The function of symbolic
representation The function of physical r esponse
Symbolizes cultural values, or other group/individual values (national anthem, protest songs, theme songs)
Music is used to accompany dance and other moving activities. It often channels behaviour.
The function of enforcing conformity
to social norms
Music of social control, used to direct warning to erring members of a society or indicating what is considered proper behaviour
Songs for children, including traditional folk or specially composed songs devised to reinforce the values and ideas that parents, schools, and society wish to install in young children
The function of validation of social
institutions and religi ous ri tuals The function of contri bution to the
tells people what to do and how to do it.
continui ty and stabili ty of culture The function of contri bution to the integr ation of society
Music that emphasizes the (im)proper in a society, music that
Music is a summative activity for the expression of values, a means whereby the
“central beliefs” of a culture are exposed.
Invites, encourages, and
“requires” individuals to participate in
group activity.
(Merriam 2000: 167 – 81) Analysis of music in the military context covers both the process of making the music and its final products – the songs. Who, where, when, how and why someone composes, performs or listens to certain music are the main questions explored by various researchers (O'Connell and Salwa El-Shawan Castelo-Branco 2010). Amongst them Svanibor Pettan (2001, 1998) investigated into the functions of music in Croatia during the war and outlined three specific functions of music in war time. Music as encouragement
For solders on the frontline and civilians i n the shelters
Music as provocation and humili ation
Directed towards the enemy
Music as a call for the involvement
To those that are not directly involved (yet)
(Pettan 1998: 13)
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Of course music can, in a certain context, have more than one function. Therefore, the fact that Merriam's functions of music were identified in the peace-time does not mean that they have to be exempted from our consideration. In some occasions it is almost impossible to define the main function of a specific tune. During the aggression in Sarajevo music was considered a medium in whic h individuals and groups voiced their perception of the situation. With the help of patriotic songs they expressed loyalty to the Bosnian army, they promoted brave soldiers, battles and military units, praised successes on the battle field, national heroes and their own county. With the help of music in general the soldiers and civilians overcame difficult moments, moments of loss, grief and fear. Neither Merriam, nor Pettan however point out two very important functions of music reflected upon by my interviewees – music as cure and music as resistance, although they were the main point of focus in the conversations I had with them. My interviewee Hasiba said: In the time of aggression a lot of patriotic songs were written and sung. Because I was a professional singer I sang them to soldiers on the frontline, to patients in hospitals, to my family and friends. You must knew, that our songs and their l yrics were not hostile towards the enemy or provocative or even nationalistic. We just sang about us, our homeland, about our pain, suffer, and how we must survive. There are full of emotion and pain but also full of optimism and positive thinking. Music kept us alive. She points out two functions of music, music as a resis tance and music as cure and the line between two different genres and their function. Patriotic songs served the resistance side, and sevdalinka was meant to provide a cure. Branka said: Music helped us survive the aggression. In certain moments I sang. For me personally classical music saved me in the moments of solitude when I sat down to the piano and played. I was in the world of music and got the energy to move on. This was my music therapy. I believe that music has the power to cure. Another interviewee Nedim pointed out “first we need music as a cure, so that we
can
function normally, so that we can keep our mind clear, and then we can fight back by using weapons or music.”
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Music as resistance serves to label and express a response to the social irregularities and conflicts. The resistance is reflected in the musical performance, the text of the song and in the harmonies. The function of music as resistance is manifested in cases, when a group of people is under attack, whereby defence is not carried out solely with weapons but also with music and other cultural events, as these potentiall y have a greater message than the explosion
of a hand grenade. Dževad Šabanigić, the leader of the Sarajevo string quartet explained: “When the aggression started I wanted to join the army. They told me, I should keep doing what I am doing – creating and playing music. So I played my violin. It is my machine gun in the fight against this ba rbaric and primitive aggressor.”
(Vojniković 1994: 4) Role of media in the time of siege
In the past history electronic media played an important role as a tool for standardisation of language, raising national feelings and identity, and making everyday life more harmonic. With the rapid increase of the use of electronic media in the geopolitical North in the twentieth century, a new era began, the era of youth, popular culture and music. 2 Of course, electronic media were not only used to amuse, often they were also abused for different kinds of political propaganda. Most prominent cases of abuse c an be found in the use
of media in Hitler's Germany, during the genocide in Ruanda, Liberia and Uganda (Maček 2009: 136). And as Sugarman writes “Yugoslav wars in the 1990s were known by the fact that all national groups used electronic media, like radio, television, musical tapes and
videos.” (2010: 17) The media in Sarajevo existed and worked in extremely difficult circumstances. In the lack of everything, I would expect that the radio and TV programs would be depleted and that newspaper and magazines would not be printed, published and distributed, but the opposite happened; a great number of magazines were published, and TV and radio stati ons broadcasted the program. The newspaper Oslobođenje found its way to the people every day. Transmitting the messages, political and religious propaganda, motivating soldiers and civilians, highlighting the importance of national identity and general enterta inment were the
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Popular culture (Muršič 2000: 22) started in the USA in the 1950s with emerge nce of rock 'n' roll music and special social category – youth. For transmitting popular music electronic media are essential (Frit h 1986: 18).
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main functions of media. Electronic media were much more popular than the newspaper and magazines because they played patriotic music and sevdalinka (see Maček 2009: 136– 39). When people in Sarajevo had electricity they listened to the radio and watched TV. Some were also listening to old audio cassettes or vinyl records that they owned. Looking at the electronic media in Sarajevo I can see some differences between private radio and TV stations and those supported and financed by the government. The main radio and TV stations were Radio Sarajevo and TV Sarajevo or TVBIH. My interviewee Tamara that worked for Radio Sarajevo during the war remembers that when she was prepari ng the program she was under a lot of pressure because there was no room for mistakes. Lack of labour force compelled them to play old radio shows because they could not make enough programme for 24 hours. The program mainly consisted of news reports from battlefields, shows where sevdalinka was promoted and patriotic songs were heard
(Karača-Beljak 20008: 132 – 34).At
that time, Tamara often wondered about the role of the media – was it only used to pass on information? As Laušević wrote: There is no coincidence whatsoever that all sides involved in the aggression have revived their traditional music genres in order t o accelerate and awaken nationalist feelings. They were creating new national sounds while at the same time exploited the popular music for lifting the morale of young soldiers. (Laušević 2000: 296) Censorship was so strong that Serbian popular music was not on the program and
according to Muršič (1999: 186) there was another war fought on the territory of Yugoslavia – media-war. On the opposite side, critical of the government, was Radio Zid, ( Radio Wall ) the only radio station in town, fighting against everything considered primitive. Project Rock under Siege brought together alternative bands from Bosnia-Herzegovina and was held in the basement of Sloga discotheque. If radio Sarajevo was encouraging young musicians to write patriotic songs, that sang about the beauty of their homeland, brave soldiers and commanders, and moral responsibility, Radio Zid supported the opposite – hard rock, metal, heavy metal, punk, dark lyrics sung in English language, songs full of cynical statements and black humour (Jeffs 2005; Kovač 2011). These musical genres quickly became popular and Radio Zid assumed its role as the main representative of Sarajevan popular-alternative musical scene (see Hamer 2013: 25 – 6). 7
The program of government controlled TV stations was composed from news from the battlefields, morning programme for the children and repeated shows from the pre-war time, while other TV stations aired movies, music and amusement shows. M y interviewee Branka said: I was working on the TVBIH, where we broadcasted a lot of pre -war shows, because we did not want the program to fall apart. We had to be positive and optimistic for the people watching us. We made the show Za bolje sutra (For better tomorrow), because we believed that the aggression will end. Our program contained a lot of music, including sevdalinka and patriotic songs. We also filmed some videos for patriotic songs. Why? Like I said, we had to stay optimistic, and that is why this music (patriotic songs) was made. Patriotic songs – a local musical phenomenon
On the 27th of June 1992 the daily newspaper Oslobođenje wrote: “Send us songs that express love and patriotism for your own
city and country.”(Oslobođenje, 27. 6. 1992, page 8) The
response was enormous; from individuals, amateur musicians, folk singers, popular singers and academic musicians – they all decided to participate. According to
Kržišnik -Bukić (2007:
509) quite some time passed before people of Sarajevo realised what was going on and it took even more time before they responded in the only way they knew – with the voice of culture and music. The patriotic songs of all musical genres became more and more popular every day and their numbers rapidly increased. But how were these songs accepted among ordinary people? Interviewee Nedim relates: Patriotic songs were popular, there is no doubt about it, but in some way we were forced to listen to them, they were constantly on TV or radio. Later in 1994 young people listen to the Croatian group E.T. and their hit Tek je 12 sati. That was our popular music. Now you decide what is popular – what the young people listen or what is played on the radio. I had the outstanding opportunity to interview Miroslav, musician who worked in the Sarajevan opera as a singer of the house choir, recorded sevdalinka for Radio Sarajevo, and performed patriotic songs with his band. Because people were begging him to do concerts, he
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worked continuously, and considered the spiritual dimension of music very important. He was the only one who highlighted
“the other side” to the famous visitors from the West .3 He said:
Western civilizations do not know any shame, they came to Sarajevo to make a profit out of our suffering. They came under the pretext to help, but they only filled their pockets with money. But I guess this is how it is in every war. Miroslav also pointed out the importance of Sarajevan black humour and jokes (see
Maček 2009: 51– 54) and two functions of music I witnessed in other reports – music as cure and as a resistance. He said: “When you listen to music or when you make music, you forget about the bad
things.”
Patriotic songs express the love towards one's own homeland. Their texts intended to speak about the positive and negative events that happened in history. Most of them a re produced and sang in times of war or revolution. That is why we have different names for them, but their contents and functions are very similar (if not the same); Weinstein (2006: 3) called them protest songs, others revolutionary songs or patriotic songs. On many occasions in history revolutionary songs were sung, but the line between revolutionary, patriotic and nationalist songs is very thin. In my opinion this depends on the lyrics, the subject si nging the
song and the context in which the song is sung. Rajko Muršič (2000: 119) summarizes Merriam's words in his work and add s: “Music is symbolic. The biggest problem is to
understand those symbols.” To see the differences between Bosnian and Serbian patriotic songs, I asked my interviewees if they know any Serbian patriotic song that were sung in the times of aggression. They mentioned Marš na Drino, Kada Srbin Turčina uhvati, Ko to grmi, ko to seva? (see Hamer 2013: 54 – 8). Those songs have extremely nationalistic, even chauvinistic lyrics. In those cases I can borrow a term from Fela Anukulapo Kuti, when he speaks about music as a weapon (Pettan 1998: 10) and point out that in the case of Serbian patriotic songs,
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A lot of musicians and other cultural workers came to Sarajevo in the time of sie ge. Joan Baez, Zubin Mehta, Bruce Dickinson, Eric Burdon, Susan Sontag. They all led a convoy of food and other supplies with them. Althought Miroslav's negative view of those visitors, most o f the Sarajevans think of them as heroes that dared to come to town in the war time. According to Miroslav, there was only one exception – Bono Vox; he came to Sarajevo three times, only with food and medicines and did not care about the fame. 9
they might have been used in the function of weapon. My interviewee Aleksandar remembers how the Serbs played their national narrative songs on gusle. 4 On the Bosnian side songs were aimed at civilians and at the world that was not directly involved with the fighting. Because patriotic songs bring people together and have them share the same experience when listening to a certain type of music, they have the power to establish a common identity of groups and give them the feeling of belonging and equality (Pieslak 20009: 55). Bosnian, or to be more specific, Sarajevan patriotic songs and their lyrics are quite different from Serbian songs. One of my interviewee pointed out t hat Bosnian songs are peaceful and full of hope for better tomorrow. To further reflect on this, the next chapter of this paper consists of an analysis of particular patriotic songs made by Bosnian musicians examines the main functions of their music. The majority of patriotic songs were writte n in 1992. In 1993 and 1994 when the war
was raging, most of the songs “worshiped” unit officers of the Bosnian army. Other motives often relate the image of Bosnia-Herzegovina, her natural beauty, character of its people – resistance, perseverance, solidarity, tolerance, kindness and understanding, and the songs are usually performed in the pop rock genre.
Ponesi zastavu Dragane Vikiću by Mladen Vojičić – Tifa. Ovdje se tuga širi k'o kuga
dok snovi plove, vatre još gore
Here the suffering is spreading like a plague, Only freedom brings the cure By the Drina river people are dying Happiness is coming and it will stay forever. And even God has forgotten us He has hidden the way to the peaceful port. Till dreams are floating, fire is still burning
ne razumijem, al' u ljubav vjerujem.
I don’t understand but I believe in love.
Ponesi zastavu, pobjedu slavit ću ponesi zastavu od Bosne Vikiću. Ponesi zastavu, pobjedu slavit ću ponesi zastavu Dragane Vikiću.
Carry the flag, we will celebrate the victory Carry the flag to Dragan Vi kić. Carry the flag, we will celebrate the victory
I Bog je od nas digao ruke sakrio put do mirne luke
dok snovi plove, vatre još gore
And even God has forgotten us He has hidden the way to the peaceful port. Till dreams are floating, fire is still burning
ne razumijem, al' u ljubav vjerujem.
I don’t understand but I believe in love.
samo sloboda donosi lijek dole niz Drinu dok ljudi ginu
dolazi sreća, ostat će zauvijek. I Bog je od nas digao ruke sakrio put do mirne luke
Carry the flag to Dragan Vikić.
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Gusle – a simple one string instrument used all over the Balkans for musical background of long narrative poems. In the time of aggression they got the label of Serbian traditional instrument. 10
Ex-frontmen from groups Bijelo dugme, Vatreni poljubac and Divlje jagode Mladen
Vojičić with a nickname Tifa stayed in besieged Sarajevo during the war time. As a popular singer Tifa was very active on the musical scene. Because Dragan Vikić was a member of special police unit he was very popular among the people and Tifa dedicated a song to him. In the music video Tifa is standing in a militar y vehicle and driving through Sarajevo, where I can clearly see the impact of the war. Looking at the text and context of this patriotic song I can detect combination of functions – of cure and resistance. Both functions I can detect in
lines “till dreams are floating, fire is still burning” because fire can be understood as a symbol of hope for better future.
Mnoge će majke by Macbeth Kad prođe ova ratna godina i saznaš pravi račun gubljenja shvati ćeš da je mnogo drugova ostalo zauvijek na barikadama.
Kad jednog dana vratiš se domu svom na toplo ognjište dvije će duše, tvoja i jednog heroja u tebi živjeti. I mnoge će majke dočekat' junake da im se vrate iz ratne tame
a neke če same kućama poći na njima plačne oči. Kad prođe ova ratna godina i saznaš nemaš nigdje nikoga shvatit ćeš da si od viših ciljeva puc'o na nekog od bivših drugova. Kad jednog dana vratiš se domu svom na toplo ognjište dvije će duše, tvoja i jednog heroja u tebi živjeti.
When this war year is over and you find out the reality of losing you will realize that many of your friends will forever remain on the barricades. When you come home one day to the warm fireplace two souls – yours and from a hero will live in you. A lot of mothers will wait for their heroes to come back home from the darkness of war some of them will go back home alone with tears in their eyes. When this war year is over and you find out you have no one you will realize that because of higher ideas you were shooting at your former friends. When you come home one day to the warm fireplace two souls – yours and from a hero will live in you.
The group Macbeth has been active since 1986. When aggression started all the members joined the army, but remained active on the popular music scene. In the newspaper
Oslobođenje I can read their statement: All of our songs that were made in the war-time have a patriotic and love note. In patriotism there is some kind of a protest or rebellion involved. This is how we fight against horror and how we show our belonging to Bosnia-Herzegovina. (http://www.macbeth.members.epn.ba/clanak2.htm, 20. 6. 2015)
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The function of resistance is present in their work, but also a function of human expression of emotions and function of cure. The fireplace presents a shelter and the fact that you have no more friends because they are all on the frontline can be traumatic, especially for young people. Cruel reality of war time is presented through text. Mogla si bar paket poslati by Mjesečari Bar paket poslati
I kažem ljeto, mislim na valove, i kažem ljeto, šume i borovi, i kažem ljeto, ulje za sunčanje, i kažem ljeto, ne, aha nije stiglo u moj grad.
I kažem ljeto, kopajmo rovove, i kažem ljeto, kopam do pobjede, i kažem ljeto, da dođem, do tebe i kažem ljeto, ne, aha nije stiglo u moj grad. Ne, ne, ni preko piste, ne. A ti, a ti, a ti, mogla si, bar paket poslati. A ti, a ti, a ti, mogla si, bar paket poslati. A ti, a ti, a ti, mogla si, bar paket poslati.
I kažem ljeto, dok čekam garantno, i kažem ljeto, a ljeta prolaze, i kažem ljeto, popi pivo, pa pobigo. A ti, a ti, a ti, mogla si, bar paket poslati. A ti, a ti, a ti, mogla si, bar paket poslati.
joj evo murije,,vojna policija, dobro veće dokumenta molim …………… tek je dvanajst sati ………… tek je dvanajst sati ……..
At least you could have sent a package and I say summer, I think of the waves I say summer, forests and pine trees I say summer, tanning oil I say summer, no, oh, it did not come to my town. I say summer, let's dig the trenches I say summer, let's dig till victory I say summer, to get to you I say summer, no, oh, it did not come to my town. No, no, not even over the airstrip Oh you, you could have at least sent a package. Oh you, you could have at least sent a package. Oh you, you could have at least sent a package. I say summer, untill I wait for letter of guarantee I say summer, but years are passing by I say summer, drink beer and run away. Oh you, you could have at least sent a package. Oh you, you could have at least sent a package. Wow, look, the police, war police, good evening Documents please…….. It is only twelve o'clock ……………. it is only twelve o'clock …………….
Group Mjesečari was one of the most popular groups in time of siege. Why? Because they were part of special social group formed by the common people of Sarajevo named sarajevska raja (see Maček 2009: 112– 13). Song Mogla si bar paket poslati is interesting because it is different from other patriotic songs. Its style is more reggae that pop-rock, and one can sense some cynicism in describing the re ality of the war. Singing about how youngsters can not enjoy summer because of the war and how the package still did not arrive, the song exposes some of the realities of everyday life at the time. The group and their songs were representative of popular-alternative musical scene. Popular because they were, as mentioned, part of sarajevska raja, and everybody listen to them, and alternative because of
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their texts. Their songs definitely feature a function of entertainment as well as the function of cure. Jedna si jedina by Dino Merlin
Zemljo tisućljetna Na vjernost ti se kunem Od mora do Save Od Drine do Une Jedna si jedina moja domovina. Jedna si jedina Bosna i Hercegovina.
Bog nek' te sačuva Za pokoljenja nova zemljo mojih snova Mojih pradjedova, jedna si jedina Moja domovina, jedna si jedina Bosna i Hercegovina.
My thousand year old land I swear on my loyalty from the sea to the river Sava from the river Drina to the river Una you are the one and only , my homeland. The one and only Bosnia and Herzegovina. God may protect you for our descendants the land of my dreams from my ancestors, the one and only my homeland, the one and only Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The song was written in 1992 and three years later, in 1995, it became the national anthem of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The words are extremely emotional and talk about Bosnians as a nation and their affiliation with Bosnia-Herzegovina. Some of my interviewees claimed that this song is not about religion, but about the land that must be preserved for future generations. Despite the fact that no Islam is mentioned, Serbs and Croats in BosniaHerzegovina felt pushed aside and in 1998 new national anthem was picked – Intermeco. Luckily it has no lyrics. Help Bosnia now by Bosnian Band Aid I cannot understand some people who kill women and children and helpless old man making homeless millions of my friends
I don’t want to understand. I cannot understand the army which burst down his own country and destroys the hospitals and our precious monuments
we don’t want to understand. Help Bosnia now and save Bosnian people you cannot only watch and pray our hearts just want you to say help Bosnia now. You cannot only watch and pray our hearts just want you to say help Bosnia now. 13
The project Help Bosnia now saw the light of day because of the initiative of the Crno vino frontman – Ser Žan. In cooperation with
other Sarajevan musicians he made a song in
English where the musicians are calling for involvement (Pettan 1998: 13) of foreign countries. In addition, it was also meant for the l ocals; in Oslobođenje I found a call to all the people to listen to their radios on the10th of September 1992 at 18.45 so they will be able to hear this song. The lyrics describe the beauty of Bosnia-Herzegovina and how all of this is being destroyed. The video was filmed in the Olympic stadium Zetra – a symbol of multiethnicity and multiculturalism that was destroyed in June 1992. The function of music as a call for involvement and its importance in spreading awareness was also visible in 2014 when catastrophic floods happened in Croatia, Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina and a group of popular musicians from the region united under the name Band aid za popljavljenu regiju, (Band aid for the flooded region), and recorded a song Vjeruj u sutra (Believe in tomorrow).
Sarajevo zaboravit neće nikada by Unknown singer U Sarajevu gradu, Herceg-Bosne ponosne
stala raja da odbrane naše domove. stala r aja da odbrane naše domove. Mi smo junak do junaka, mi smo borci svi,
nedamo u Sarajevo, dok smo živi mi, nedamo u Sarajevo, dok smo živi mi. Hej junaci, branitelji, iz svih krajeva
Sarajevo zaboravit, neće nikada Sarajevo zaboravit, neće nikada! Korak naprijed, puška gotov’, i uz pjesmu mi
za mir, sreću i slobodu, borimo se svi!
Čujte srpski dobrovoljci, bando četnici stići će vas naša ruka i u Srbiji! stići će vas naša ruka i u Srbiji! Hej junaci, branitelji, iz svih krajeva Sarajevo zaboravit, neće n ikada
Sarajevo zaboravit, neće nikada! Stici će vas božja kazna to već svako zna Sudit će vam branitelji, šeher Sarajeva, sudit će vam branitelji, šeher Sarajeva. Tuče Thompson, kalašnjikov a i papovka Baci bombu, goni bandu izvan Sarajeva!!! Baci bombu, goni bandu izvan Sarajeva!!!
In Sarajevo, capital of proud Herzeg-Bosne people are defending their homes people are defending their homes. We are hero to hero, we are all fighters no one will enter Sarajevo till we are alive no one will enter Sarajevo till we are alive. Hey, heroes, fighters from all places Sarajevo will never forget! Sarajevo will never forget! On step forward, the gun is ready and so are we, with a song for peace, happiness and freedom we are fighting! Hear us Serbian volunteers, you Chetniks our hands will strike you even in Serbia! Our hands will strike you even in Serbia! Hey, heroes, fighters from all places Sarajevo will never forget! Sarajevo will never forget! God will punish you everyone knows that you will be judged by defenders of Sarajevo you will be judged by defenders of Sarajevo Thompson and Kalashnikov guns are shooting and the bombs are ready throw the bomb, chase them out of Sarajevo! Throw the bomb, chase them out of Sarajevo!
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The last musical example definitely has a function of provocation. Looking at the text of another song named Bojna Čavoglave by a Croatian singer Mark Perković – Thompson I found many similarities. This is not a coincidence, because the Sarajevan version is a
contrafactum of Perković's song. The text is just a little bit different that Bojna Čavoglave, however the author of this song is unfortunately unknown. According to my interviewees this song was made in the beginning of the siege in 1992 as a provocation to the enemy and to motivate the soldiers on the front. In addition, the people I talked to ex plicitly mentioned that Bosnian did not produce songs intended for provocation, however Aleksandar said that soldiers of Bosnian army, that consisted of Muslims, Catholic and Ortodox men, shouted Allah'u ekber (God is the greatest) when the y attacked the enemy. In a way, this too could be understood as a provocation. Conclusion
Sreća na sarajevski način by Izet Sarajlić u Sarajevu
proljeća 1992. godine sve je moguće; staneš u red za hljeb i završiš na Traumatologiji sa odsječenom nogom. Poslije toga još kažeš da si imao sreće.
In Sarajevo Spring 1992 everything is possible; you wait in the line for bread and you end up in the ER with your leg cut off. After that you even say I had luck.
In 1995, the Dayton peace agreement was signed and officially ended the aggression, signalling an end for the Sarajevan patriotic songs. There was no longer a n eed to encourage soldiers, or civilians and no need to glorify military commanders or units. According to my interviewees patriotic song are not heard on the radio or seen on the TV since then. However, the popularity of sevdalinka grew quickly and this genre soon became an emblem and identifiable feature of Bosnians. Violeta tells: When the aggression ended we finally had the opportunity to listen to all the music that was popular in the world for the past four years, we did not have the time for patriotic songs.
Dino Merlin, Mladen Vojičić – Tifa, Hasiba Agić and Faruk Jazić are just some of the musicians who performed patriotic song in order to express their resistance. Vedran Smajlić used classical music as resistance. Bono Vox, Luciano Pavarotti and The Cranberries 15
composed songs that drew attention of the media and general public to the situation in BiH. Different musical genres affected my interviewees in diverse ways, but they all agree that for them, music has been a cure and some sort of therapy, which helped them stay normal and alive. References
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Patriotic songs in Sarajevo
Petra Hamer, ethnologist and cultural anthropologist E-mail:
[email protected]
Abstract: The following paper attempts to illuminate patriotic songs in Sarajevo in the period from 1992 to 1995. A common belief may arise that because of the constant t hreat of death cultural happenings in general did not exist. But people of Sarajevo proved us wrong. Almost all professional and amateur musicians sang a patriotic song that promoted some general, some military unit or the beauty of Bosnia-Herzegovina. They were promoted and supported by the government. On the other side many new bands emerge the musical scene pla ying rock and metal and promoting the alternative musical scene. My interviewees highlighted two functions of music, music as cure and music as resistance. In the anthropological literature we find functions of music defined by Alan P. Merriam and functions of music defined by Svanibor Pettan. His field research was made in the war time in Croatia and I found parallels with my research and adapted my thesis; music has two main functions in the war time in Sarajevo; it is used as a cure and as a resistance. Key words: Sarajevo, siege, functions of music, music as cure, music as resistance, patriotic
songs
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