Oi u luzi chervona kalyna
Ukrainian patriotic march song From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow" (Ukrainian: Ой у лузі червона калина) is a Ukrainian patriotic march first published in 1875 by Volodymyr Antonovych and Mykhailo Drahomanov.[1][2][3] It was rewritten in a modern arrangement by the composer Stepan Charnetsky in 1914, in honor and memory of the Sich Riflemen of the First World War. The song has many variations.
| "Oi, u luzi chervona kalyna" | |
|---|---|
 Image of a 1922 print of the song | |
| Song | |
| Language | Ukrainian |
| English title | Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow |
| Released | 1914 |
| Genre | patriotic |
| Songwriter(s) | Stepan Charnetsky |
The song "Oi u luzi" was in the repertoire of Feodor Chaliapin.[4]
The red viburnum (Ukrainian: kalyna) is a national symbol of Ukraine. It is a deciduous shrub that grows four to five metres tall.[5] A silhouette of it is depicted along the edges of the flag of the president of Ukraine.
Following the 2014 annexation of Crimea, and then the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, singing "nationalist anthems" such as "Chervona Kalyna" in Crimea became punishable by fines and imprisonment.[clarification needed]
History
Summarize
Perspective
 | This article appears to be slanted towards recent events. (January 2025) |
Due to the song's association with the Ukrainian people's aspiration for independence, singing the song was banned during the period in which Ukraine was a Soviet Republic from 1919 to 1991. The song was also used by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army.[6][7][better source needed]
Red Viburnum berries (kalyna) are a symbol that has been a part of the Ukrainian culture since ancient times.[5]
Russian invasion of Ukraine
In March 2022, the song gained international attention when an Instagram video[8] of an a cappella rendition by Andriy Khlyvnyuk, of the Ukrainian band BoomBox, singing the first verse of the song was remixed by different artists around the world. The melody was somewhat changed. According to Valentyna Kuzyk, in this variant, "the energy of the primordial breath breaks out of stable forms and enters a new life space".[9]
BoomBox was touring in the United States when the Russian invasion of Ukraine started on 24 February. In response to the invasion, Khlyvnyuk cut the tour short to return to Ukraine to join the armed forces. He recorded the video while wearing army fatigues, standing near Sophia Square in Kyiv, and uploaded it to his Instagram account on 27 February, where it became viral.
.jpg)
The first artist to remix[10] Khlyvnyuk's rendition was South African musician The Kiffness in early March.[11] At the end of the same month, Ukrainian ice dancers Oleksandra Nazarova and Maksym Nikitin performed to the song at the 2022 World Figure Skating Championships in protest of the invasion.[12]
In April 2022, Pink Floyd made use of Khlyvnyuk's recording for the vocal track of "Hey, Hey, Rise Up!", a single and video that the band released in aid of Ukrainian humanitarian relief.[13][14] In the video, Khlyvnyuk's performance is projected behind the band while they are performing and is sometimes shown full screen. The song opens with a sample from another recording of "Oi u luzi chervona kalyna", by the Veryovka Ukrainian Folk Choir.[15][16]
Since then, new versions have appeared on YouTube,[17] including remixes of the original remix.[18][19][20]
Banned in Crimea
Following the 2014 annexation of Crimea, and then the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, singing "nationalist anthems" such as "Chervona Kalyna" in Crimea was deemed to discredit the Russian army, and was punished by fines and imprisonment. In September 2022, the Russian occupation authorities in Crimea jailed and fined members of a wedding party for "discrediting" the Russian Armed Forces by playing the song.[21] The singers of the song in an online video were imprisoned and fined.[22][23]
Sergey Aksyonov, the Russian leader of the Crimean peninsula, warned that authorities would punish people harshly for singing such songs. He said that "People who do this are acting like traitors", and that there was a special FSB security service group working on the matter.[23]
Charts
Weekly charts
|
Monthly charts
|
Year-end charts
|
Lyrics
| Ukrainian original | Ukrainian Latin alphabet | English translation |
|---|---|---|
Ой у лузі червона калина похилилася, |
Oj u luzi červona kalyna pochylylasia, |
Oh, in the meadow a red kalyna has bent down low, |
Не хилися, червона калино, маєш білий цвіт, |
Ne chylysia, červona kalyno, maješ bilyj cvit, |
Do not bend low, oh red kalyna, you have a white flower, |
Марширують наші добровольці у кривавий тан, |
Maršyrujuť naši dobrovoľci u kryvavyj tan, |
Marching forward, our fellow volunteers, into a bloody fray, |
Ой у полі ярої пшенички золотистий лан, |
Oj u poli jaroi pšenyčky zolotystyj lan, |
Oh in the field of early spring wheat, there's a golden furrow, |
Як повіє буйнесенький вітер з широких степів, |
Jak povije bujneseńkyj viter z šyrokych stepiv, |
When the stormy winds blow forth from the wide steppes, |
Gallery
Red Viburnum berries (kalyna), the subject of the song
A commemorative coin released by the Government of Ukraine in 2022 with the inscription taken from the third line of the song
A graveyard of Sich Riflemen soldiers near Ternopil. The song was written in their honor.
References
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.