''Bilo jednom u Hrvatskoj'' () is an album by

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n singer

Marko Perković Marko Perković (; born 27 October 1966) is a Croatian musician who has been the lead singer of the band Thompson since 1991. Perković was born in the village of Čavoglave, SR Croatia, within SFR Yugoslavia, today a part of Croatia. He partici ...

Thompson Thompson may refer to: People * Thompson (surname) * Thompson Lantion, Filipino retired police general * Thompson M. Scoon (1888–1953), New York politician Places Australia * Thompson Beach, South Australia, a locality Bulgaria * Thom ...

. It was released on December 8, 2006.Thompson - "Bilo jednom u Hrvatskoj, Split - Stari plac uživo"
All songs on the album were written by Perković, with the exceptions of "Lipa Kaja" written by Zdenko Hršak and "Tamo gdje su moji korijeni" written by both Thompson and Faruk "Fayo" Buljubašić.Bilo jednom u Hrvatskoj - 2006 - Thompson
/ref> In 2007, 45,000 copies of the album were sold, making it

Croatia Records Croatia Records is a record label in Croatia owned by AUTOR d.o.o., based in Zagreb. Summary Croatia Records d.d. is a joint-stock company currently led by the chief executive officer Želimir Babogredac, a sound engineer. It releases mostly (but ...

' best-selling album of the year. It is one of the all-time best-selling albums in Croatia, with sales of over 120,000 units.

Songs

The album may be considered a historic or mythical

rock opera A rock opera is a collection of rock music songs with lyrics that relate to a common story. Rock operas are typically released as concept albums and are not scripted for acting, which distinguishes them from operas, although several have been ad ...

about Croatia. It begins with "Početak", which starts with the opening lines from the

Gospel of John The Gospel of John () is the fourth of the New Testament's four canonical Gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "Book of Signs, signs" culminating in the raising of Lazarus (foreshadowing the ...

and continues with God's creation of the world and humanity's actions in it. It then continues with "Dolazak Hrvata" (describing the arrival of the Croats), which deals with how the

Croatian people The Croats (; , ) are a South Slavic ethnic group native to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and other neighboring countries in Central and Southeastern Europe who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They also f ...

came to their land. The third song, "Duh ratnika", is a dramatic dialogue between Perković and the spirit of a Croatian warrior. The warrior does not recognize Croatia as the land for which he died, and the song is a call to make sovereign Croatia a nation of which to be proud. It continues with "Diva Grabovčeva", a song about a legendary Croatian maiden from

Prozor-Rama Prozor-Rama ( sr-cyrl, Прозор-Рама) is a municipality located in Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Its seat is Prozor. Also, Ramsko lake is located in the muni ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

who refused to marry an Ottoman

bey Bey, also spelled as Baig, Bayg, Beigh, Beig, Bek, Baeg, Begh, or Beg, is a Turkic title for a chieftain, and a royal, aristocratic title traditionally applied to people with special lineages to the leaders or rulers of variously sized areas in ...

during the region's Ottoman occupation and was consequently killed. This is followed by "Moj dida i ja", a tribute to Perković's grandfather. The first side of the album ends with "Neko ni'ko ne dira u moj mali dio svemira", a reply to the accusations about the singer's alleged sympathies for

neo-fascism Neo-fascism is a post-World War II far-right ideology which includes significant elements of fascism. Neo-fascism usually includes ultranationalism, ultraconservatism, racial supremacy, right-wing populism, authoritarianism, nativism, xe ...

. Side two begins with a patriotic love song popular as a single, "Lipa Kaja". The next song, "Kletva kralja Zvonimira", is about another Croatian legend: when Croats allegedly killed King

Demetrius Zvonimir Demetrius Zvonimir (, ; Old Church Slavic: ⰸⱏⰲⱏⱀⰻⰿⰻⱃⱏ; died 1089) was a King of Croatia and Dalmatia from 1075 or 1076 until his death in 1089. Prior to that, Zvonimir also served as Ban of Croatia (1064/1070–1074). His n ...

after he wanted them to take part in the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

, he is said to have cursed them so that they would never again have a ruler "of their own language". This curse was supposedly broken with Croatian independence in

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, but corrupt politicians are betraying the country. The next song, "Ratnici svjetla", is full of pride and hope. It explores a fallen soldier's memory, asking everyone to keep it alive and ending with their brothers in arms, families and the people banding together again with candles in their hands as "soldiers of light".

Tracks

References

{{Authority control Thompson (band) albums 2006 albums