Marshall: Many in BiH would have preferred 'Jedna si jedina' to remain the anthem

Several national anthems are similar to other compositions, and Alex Marshall, author of a book on the history of national anthems, wonders if the reason is that composers take others' songs or if it speaks to the difficulties of writing an original melody, writes the BBC, reports the BiH news agency Patria.

The author lists several countries whose anthems have caused controversy, and in that context, he also mentioned BiH.

Marshall spoke with the composer of the BiH anthem, Dušan Šestić, whose composition won the competition announced in 1998. His anthem replaced the anthem "Jedna si jedina" by Dino Merlin.

Šestić explains that he went through a difficult period after his composition was chosen as the anthem of BiH.

As Marshall writes, some Serbs considered him a traitor, but Šestić did not give up. Ten years later, he also wrote the lyrics for the anthem, but they were not accepted due to political views.

In 2009, Šestić was shocked when he was declared a plagiarist, stating that his composition strongly resembled music from a 1978 film.

- I listened to the music from the film and was very surprised. I even thought that as a young man I had watched the film somewhere or heard the music, and that musical code remained somewhere in my head. That is very possible – but I cannot say it is plagiarism – Šestić said.

Šestić also pointed out the differences in the two melodies and added that "not everyone in this country is a thief and corrupt.".

- If I were, I would be a politician and my life would be better.

Marshall also states that many in BiH would have preferred "Jedna si jedina" to remain the anthem, and it is still sung at football matches along with Dušan Šestić's composition, as it is an intermezzo.

The lyrics for the composition "Jedna si jedina" were written by Dino Merlin during the siege of Sarajevo, to the music of the folk song "S one strane Plive".

The author also states that in some other countries, there has been debate about whether anthems are original or plagiarized. Such a case occurred in Israel; Estonia and Finland have similar melodies. The anthem of Liechtenstein has similar tones to the anthem of Great Britain.