Marjane, Marjane

The name refers to the Marjan hill which overlooks the largest city of Dalmatia, Split, and on which the main (large) city flag is raised.

It originates from a folk song sung in the city during the late 1930s, which was first recorded by the poet Ivo Tijardović.

During World War II the song (with somewhat expanded wording) became very popular among the Yugoslav Partisans.

[2] The original lyrics serve as the official festive song of the city of Split.

Najbolji Hrvatski Tamburaši included it in their 1989 release Hrvatska pjesmarica.

In later versions, from the beginning of the Informbiro period until the Tito–Stalin split in 1948, the stanza with the reference to Stalin was no longer popular and became used less and less.

It was revived in the 1970s nationalist version, with "Jesus" replacing "Stalin" in the wording.

The first two stanzas of this version are featured in the Academy Award-nominated motion picture The Battle of Neretva.

[6] One of its first large scale performances was on May 30, 1990, by the Croatian singer Duško Lokin.

[7] It is often sung by Torcida, the supporters of the Split football club, HNK Hajduk.