Far Away Over There

The Far away over there song was sung by the Serbian soldiers and also the allies from other countries on the Salonika Front in the First World War. The original title in Serbian is Tamo daleko, the French call it Au loin, au loin surCorfu,  in Czech and Slovak it is Tam v dali.

Tamo daleko is probably the most famous Serbian patriotic song, expressing the deepest feelings. In the Great War in 1915, refusing to give up before the far stronger enemy who were breaking into Serbia from all sides, the majority of the Serbian army retreated to Greece over the snows and ice of the Albanian mountains. Along this horrible passage many died of their wounds, illnesses, hunger and cold. The Tamo daleko song tells about the Serbian soldiers, convalescing on the Greek island of Corfu, getting ready to go on, nostalgic for Serbia, their countryside and homes, their parents and girlfriends.

The song remains as a constant emotional trace of the great suffering but also of great heroism of the Serbian army and the small Serbian people. When in the First World War the Serbs brought the song to France, England and Switzerland, the depth of the suffering emerging from it made a strong impact on everyone. All those who participated in the Salonika Front, where the Serbian army continued to fight, adopted the song as their own. It became the most famous song of the Great War Serbian tragedy, when Serbia gained a high reputation participating in the allied forces victory, but was left without a half of its able male population.

In his memoirs, a Serbian soldier made an entry, “It’s March 1916. The incessant February rains have stopped… Physical recuperation and the new military equipment brought back those army witty jokes. The camps were roaring with Tamo daleko, daleko od mora.” (Far away over there, far away from the sea.)

The Greeks, the Corfiotes and the French soldiers on the island of Corfu marvelled at the Serbs, “What sort of people are they?! Dying and singing!” In the seven camps where the Serbian army was taken in, the soldiers died, but also sang songs and danced circle dances.

An Australian woman who, in 1917, as a volunteer, joined the Scottish Women’s Hospital on the Salonika front, recording her memories, made a note of what the Serbs were singing, “Tamo daleko, a song of the countryside, a girlfriend, the land … Serbs were singing all the time. Then again, they had to go to battle with a little hope of ever returning to Serbia.” But the good woman was wrong in one thing: the Serbs had a decisive role in breaking the Salonika Front, they returned and liberated their country!

There, far away, far from the sea,

There my village is, Serbia is there.
There my village is, Serbia is there.

There, far away, where the yellow lemon blooms,
There was the only way Serbian army could go.
There was the only way Serbian army could go.

There, far away, where the white lily blooms,
There father and son together gave their lives.
There father and son together gave their lives.

There, where silent Morava travels,
There my icon stayed, and my family saint.
There my icon stayed, and my family saint.

There, where Timok hails Veljko’s city,
There they burned my church, where I married when I was young.
There they burned my church, where I married when I was young.

Without the homeland far away, I lived on Corfu,
but I proudly cheered: Long Live Serbia!
but I proudly cheered: Long Live Serbia!

Some versions of the song have a refrain stanza added from another song also sung at the Salonika Front:

Oh, why should it come, that sad and unhappy night,
When you my love, went to a bloody battle.