Hey, Slavs

Hej, Slaveni
Hej, Sloveni
Hej, Slovani
Hej Slováci
English: Hey, Slavs
A Serbo-Croatian language version print of the poem that would become the national anthem of Yugoslavia.

Former national anthem of
Yugoslavia
Serbia and Montenegro
Slovak State
Also known as"Hej, Slovenci"
"Hej, Słowianie"
LyricsSamuel Tomášik, 1834
MusicComposer unknown, 18th century (arranged by Oskar Danon)[1]
Adopted1939 (by Slovak State)
1945 (by Yugoslavia, de facto)
1977 (by Yugoslavia, de jure provisionally)
1988 (by Yugoslavia, de jure constitutionally)
1992 (by Serbia and Montenegro)
Relinquished1945 (by Slovak State)
1992 (by Yugoslavia)
2006 (by Serbia and Montenegro)
Audio sample
"Hey, Slavs" (instrumental, both verses)
1899 postcard with the first line in Czech (Hej Slované ještě naše slovanská řeč žije!) and views of several Slav cities

"Hey, Slavs" is a patriotic song dedicated to the Slavs and widely considered to be the Pan-Slavic anthem. It was adapted and adopted as the national anthem of various Slavic-speaking nations, movements and organizations during the late 19th and 20th century.

Its lyrics were first written in 1834 under the title "Hey, Slovaks" ("Hej, Slováci") by Samo Tomášik and it has since served as the anthem of the Pan-Slavic movement, the organizational anthem of the Sokol movement, and the national anthems of the First Slovak Republic, Yugoslavia and Serbia and Montenegro.[2][3] It was composed to the tune of "Mazurek Dąbrowskiego" from 1797,[4][2] which was adopted as the national anthem of Poland in 1926, but the Yugoslav variation has a slower tempo, is more accentuated, and does not repeat the last four lines as it repeats the last two lines.[5] The composer is unknown, although modern renditions of the song often used a World War II-era arrangement by Oskar Danon.[1]

  1. ^ a b Gordiejew, Paul Benjamin (February 2012). Voices of Yugoslav Jewry. New York: State University of New York Press. p. 130. ISBN 9781438404479. Oskar Danon, a Jew from Sarajevo, often directed renditions of songs such as 'Hej, Sloveni,'
  2. ^ a b Aitamurto, Kaarina; Simpson, Scott, eds. (2013). Modern Pagan and Native Faith Movements in Central and Eastern Europe. Routledge. pp. 6, 49, 60. ISBN 978-1-84465-662-2.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Pavkovic was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Kirschbaum, Stanislav J. (2014). Historical Dictionary of Slovakia (3rd ed.). Scarecrow Press. p. 198. ISBN 9780810880290.
  5. ^ Yugopol (2 March 2011). "Mazurek Dąbrowskiego & Hej Slaveni". Archived from the original on 3 October 2014. Retrieved 20 March 2015 – via YouTube.