The story behind “I’m from Bosnia, take me to America”

SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina (AP) — The opening lyrics couldn’t be clearer: “I’m from Bosnia. Please take me to America.” But by rewriting the classic “USA,” Bosnian band Dubiosa Kollektiv turned a song about disillusionment with the American Dream into an empowering viral anthem. Bosnia and Herzegovina’s own World Cup dream.

the night before Friday’s Bosnia vs. Canada game Members of the genre-bending rock group met with The Associated Press near Sarajevo where they filmed their new accordion-heavy music video for Earworm. “I’m from Bosnia. Please take me to America.” The video, which celebrates soccer’s working-class roots, has amassed nearly 2 million views on YouTube in less than three weeks, surpassing the original’s 26 million views. “united states of america,” Released in 2011, it has accumulated over the years.

“It’s an interesting story how this song has been reincarnated for a second, third and fourth time in the last 15 years,” muses Vedran Mujagić, bassist of a band that weaves political and social causes into its identity. “It evolved from a satire on immigration and the American Dream, and morphed into a national American football dream.”

This will be Bosnia and Herzegovina’s second appearance at the World Cup, a goal that once seemed impossible as traditional soccer powers had prevented them from qualifying. However, at the end of April, in Bosnia Late goal against Wales He led his team to a penalty shootout victory and was set to repeat that feat. The game against Italy will be played a few days later. The band members were surprised when fans unfurled a banner with their lyrics on it and sang the lyrics as a rallying cry.

“At first it worked as a joke, but what I like most is that the supporters have given the old songs a whole new meaning, which is the best thing for the band and for the songs. When people take over and load new meanings on them, it becomes theirs,” says keyboardist Brano Jakubovic. “It’s not ours anymore.”

The lament over the own goal turns into joy.

The original “USA” is similarly up-tempo and catchy, and you can’t help but wander around muttering, “I can’t wait any longer, take me to America/Take me to the Golden Gate and assimilate,” but the protagonist’s eagerness to escape quickly gives way to disillusionment with life outside the Balkans.

The band decided to deliver an updated version of the song, which Jakubovich describes as a “quintessential immigrant song,” and wrote new lyrics befitting a soccer anthem. While “USA” is in English, this version is primarily in Bosnian, “so people can understand,” he says, and is mostly about the sport. As a quick perusal of YouTube comments shows, the language switch didn’t detract from its global appeal, although there are some jokes that Jakubovic admitted would be incomprehensible outside of Bosnia. (See: Burek without cheese.)

Yakubovic’s favorite new line is a chance to cut into something that has plagued the country since the 2014 World Cup. “That goal against Nigeria, it was never offside.”

“So this is like a huge national trauma for Bosnia, so we used this song and the lyrics to kind of release this trauma,” he says.

So he laments, Trauma is the main force After Bosnia’s independence following the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1992, ethnic wars broke out almost immediately, leading to genocide. After more than 30 years Srebrenica massacre, Deep divisions between Bosnian Serbs and Bosniak Muslims persist.

“Football at the moment is not just a game, it’s a hope, and it’s basically political, because football has brought all Bosnians together, although usually that’s not the case,” says Jakubović.

I’m from Bosnia, please take me to Canada?

Bosnia’s first game will be against Canada, but the team will certainly be taken to the United States. Their base camp is in Sandy, Utah, and their other group stage matches (against Switzerland and Qatar) will be played in the United States. And, as Mujacic points out, many of the players were born in the diaspora, including in the United States.

“These are the children of people who went out in search of a better life, or as refugees, or whatever their story is, and they end up seeing and hearing these lyrics and this song in a completely different way than we do,” he says.

Mujagić believes the original message of “America” ​​remains even as Bosnians continue to immigrate. Once they left, he realized that “they were met with hostility from the local population and the right wing, who did not want them there.”

“So in this schizophrenic situation, you want to get there, but somehow you know it’s not going to work out on the other side as well,” he concludes. “In that sense, the song still works as perfectly as it did before.”

In St. Louis, Home to a thriving Bosnian community, Admir Hodzic is one of the founders of the supporter group BH Royals. The 40-year-old businessman was born in Bosnia and, like the main character in “USA”, divides his time between his homeland and the United States.

“I think every Bosnian who lives here and understands how the system works and everything else finds the truth in that song. And honestly, that song is nothing but the truth,” he says. The U.S. has more opportunities than other countries, he says, but “it’s important to grit our teeth and get through the worst possible time.”

He and his fellow supporters are big fans of Dubiosa Collective and sing their national anthem at matches and watching parties. However, in many cases it is the original “USA”.

“It’s ingrained in their brains and hearts,” he says. “And no matter what, they go back to the old lyrics, you know?”

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Sen reported from New York.

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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup