Onamo, 'namo!
is a patriotic song written by Prince Nicholas of Montenegro and first published in the Novi Sad-based Serbian-language literary journal Danica ("Morning Star") in 1867.
Its melody can be attributed either to the Slovene composer Davorin Jenko or the Czech chaplain František Wimmer, the conductor of the Royal Montenegrin Army's military band.
The song's lyrics call for the liberation of Serb-inhabited lands from the Ottoman Empire, making reference to the medieval Serbian capital of Prizren, the Visoki Dečani monastery and the 14th-century Battle of Kosovo.
In 1870, the Montenegrin government opted for Ubavoj nam Crnoj Gori ("To Our Beautiful Montenegro") as the country's national anthem, and in 1882, Serbia settled on Bože pravde ("God of Justice").
Due to its pan-Serb themes and the fact that Montenegro is not explicitly mentioned in its lyrics, the Montenegrin government instead decided to adopt Oj, svijetla majska zoro ("Oh, Beautiful Dawn of May").
Over the preceding centuries, Montenegro had been one of the few polities in Southeastern Europe that managed to remain essentially independent of the Ottoman Empire.
were first published in 1867 in the Serbian-language literary journal Danica ("Morning Star"), based in Novi Sad, which at the time was part of the Austrian Empire.
[6] According to other sources, the melody was composed by a Montenegrin chaplain of Czech descent named František Wimmer,[b] and is said to have been based on that of a contemporary song extolling the Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi.
is a pan-Serb anthem whose lyrics call for the re-establishment of the medieval Serbian state, which had been consumed by the Ottoman Empire over the course of the 14th and 15th centuries.
[4] Its lyrics call for the liberation of all Serb-inhabited lands, a goal that Nicholas frequently referenced to foreign diplomats in the Montenegrin capital Cetinje,[9] and describe Nicholas' desire to set foot in Serbia's medieval capital, Prizren, then the seat of the eponymous Ottoman administrative unit known as the Sanjak of Prizren.
became popular among Bosnian Serbs; it called for Serbia and Montenegro to free Bosnia and Herzegovina from Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian domination.
[13] In 1910, the Montenegrin People's Assembly voted unanimously to elevate Montenegro to the status of a kingdom and Nicholas to the title of king.
In short order, both states were incorporated into the newly created Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, governed by Serbia's ruling Karađorđević dynasty.
was one of three compositions proposed by the Montenegrin authorities to become the Republic of Montenegro's new national anthem, alongside Oj, svijetla majska zoro ("Oh, Bright Dawn of May") and Ubavoj nam Crnoj Gori.
[4][e] This was met with hostility from pro-independence politicians since it does not contain any explicit references to Montenegro in its lyrics, neither as an entity separate from Serbia nor even as a distinct region.
[18] According to the scholars Aleksandar Pavković and Christopher Kelen: "The government of Montenegro was looking for a song that would implicitly or explicitly justify the separation of its singers, Montenegrins, from the Serbs.
"[4] Oj, svijetla majska zoro, whose lyrics had been rearranged by the Montenegrin separatist and World War II fascist collaborator Sekula Drljević, was chosen as the national anthem instead, to the displeasure of many Montenegrin Serbs, who according to the scholar Kenneth Morrison, lamented its "fascistic connotations".
Онамо, 'намо... са развалина дворова царских врагу ћу рећ': "С огњишта милог бјежи ми, куго, зајам ти морам враћати већ'!"
Онамо, 'намо... за брда она казују да је зелени гај под ким се дижу Дечани свети: молитва у њих присваја рај.
Onamo, 'namo... za brda ona kazuju da je zeleni gaj pod kim se dižu Dečani sveti: molitva u njih prisvaja raj.
