| Bojna Čavoglave | |
| Cover: | Bojna Čavoglave (cover).jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Marko Perković |
| Released: | [1] |
| Recorded: | Fall 1991 |
| Genre: | Folk rock |
| Length: | 3:24 |
| Label: | Croatia Records |
| Producer: | Marko Perković |
"Bojna Čavoglave" ("Čavoglave Battalion", commonly referred to as just Čavoglave[2]) is a nationalist folk rock song by the Croatian rock singer Marko Perković. The song was composed during the Croatian War of Independence, becoming a popular wartime song.
Marko Perković joined the Croatian National Guard as a volunteer, and was given a Thompson submachine gun, thus earning the nickname Thompson. "Bojna Čavoglave" was the first song by Perković.[3]
The song was later republished by Perković's own band, Thompson. The song was originally released on New Year's Eve 1991.
The video for the song was filmed during the Croatian War of Independence. The song was made to commemorate the soldiers fighting against the Yugoslav People's Army in the town of Čavoglave, which is the birthplace of the singer, Perković.
The music video of "Bojna Čavoglave" was filmed at the frontline, close to the town of Čavoglave.[4]
The first line of the song is "Za dom spremni", a historical greeting notoriously used by the Croatian government during the time of the Independent State of Croatia. This made the song quite controversial. The High Misdemeanour Court of Croatia originally found the line to be a criminal offense, which risked a ban of the song,[5] [6] but Thompson appealed the decision.[7] The same High Misdemeanour Court accepted his appeal, allowing Thompson to use the greeting in the song and in concerts.[8] [9]
This controversy was further strengthened by the fact that Croatian association football fans were using the slogan and singing "Bojna Čavoglave" and "Moja Hercegovina", a song by Herzegovinian Croat singer Mate Bulić ("Moja Hercegovina" however, has no nationalist lyrics or meaning), at the 2023 UEFA Nations League final.[10] Some Croatian fans who were on a flight back to Zagreb from the 2022 FIFA World Cup hosted in Doha, Qatar, also started singing "Bojna Čavoglave" on the plane.[11] In a party in Zagreb after returning from the World Cup, players Dejan Lovren and Marcelo Brozović also sang the song, along with "Anica − Kninska kraljica".[12]
A Ukrainian version of the song exists, titled "Soldiers of Ukraine" (Солдати з України), which uses different lyrics which are directed towards Russia instead of Yugoslavia, but uses the same melody. This version of the song was introduced during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[13] [14]