How a Joke Became a World Cup Anthem
The Bosnia and Herzegovina national team has made history by qualifying for the knockout stage of the World Cup for the first time in their history. But what’s even more remarkable is the song that has become their anthem: ‘I Am from Bosnia, Take Me to America.’
Originally written 15 years ago under the title ‘U.S.A.’, the song was meant to be a tongue-in-cheek commentary on the disillusionment with the American dream. However, during World Cup qualifying, a joke took on a life of its own and became a rallying cry for fans.
Vedran Mujagic, one of the founders of the band Dubioza Kolektiv, recalled the moment when the song became a national anthem: ‘It all started basically as a very Bosnian type of joke, because we didn’t have anything to do with it. We just received a call from one of the guys who is active in the BHFanaticos supporters group…’It will be happening the day before the playoff game against Wales in Cardiff,’ and they said, like, just watch the game, we have a surprise for you, and we didn’t know what it was.’
The national anthems were played, and then the cameraman just took the camera to the stands, and there’s this bunch of Bosnian guys with this huge 20-meter banner that says I’m from Bosnia, take me to America, and in that moment you know the qualifying for the World Cup looked practically impossible, because we have to beat Wales and couple days later, Italy…so it was kind of this dark humor, this liberating joke on our own camp. There’s no chance that we’re gonna win, but let’s have fun. Take us to America.’
From Joke to Anthem
The song continued to grow in popularity as the team made it past Wales and then defeated Italy on penalties with Esmir Bajraktarevic, who was born in Wisconsin and represented the United States at youth levels, scoring the decisive penalty. Since then, Bosnians haven’t had a bad day as they’ve been able to support their soccer team getting to new heights.
Now they’ll face off against the United States men’s national team in what has become a full-circle moment, with the match taking place at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, a fitting venue for a song which includes the line ‘Take me to Golden Gate. I will assimilate.’
Although with lyrics like that, Mujagic hastens to point out that it’s a repurposed version of the original song we’re all hearing.
The Original Song: A Commentary on Stereotypes
‘People are listening to this supporters football themed version that we recorded after all of this happened, just as a nod to the footballers and to the tournament and people are discovering by this chant, and then you know in the second step they go back and they listen to entirety of the song.’
Because everyone says, ‘take me to golden gate, I will assimilate’ it’s very submissive like we go to America and we assimilate but in the original song, it’s the complete opposite because we like we really like to play with stereotypes with these black and white representations and predjudices and everything else that is connected with worldview especially how the rest of the world is seeing Bosnia and Balkans in general and also how we see ourselves.’
So this song is a thing that describes a very typical and very naive worldview of a person who is not satisfied in his own country and wants to go find his American, or any other dream, abroad.’
A New Era for Bosnia and Herzegovina
It highlights just how complicated the world can be, especially at a moment when Bosnian refugees are increasingly choosing to play for the national team even if they can represent other countries.
A song that represented one thing in the shadow of a tragic chapter in the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina can represent something else 15 years later. When the song was first written people didn’t have to look far to see family members lost due to the Bosnian War and genocide from 1992-95, but the next era of the country is being written now.
More members of the team are currently children of refugees, as opposed to being refugees themselves. It’s helping people see that the country is more than just its relatively recent past.’
A New Chapter for Bosnia and Herzegovina
‘The song was written 15 years ago during the US administration that was far less hostile to immigrants to this one, and sometimes songs as well, and this one really is getting another life and after this World Cup, will get another one because in reality, I’ve heard dozens of stories of people actually returning from their quite successful American dream in the States and they’re going back to Bosnia because they realized that some things can only be felt in your own country.’
At the World Cup, the team is based in St. Louis, where there is a large Bosnian diaspora in the United States, a great marriage between team and community.
‘This is something that we hope will have a positive result because when people stop having the first association when they hear the word Bosnia and Herzegovina, being war and being these horrific things that happened in the 90s, and they realized that Bosnia is associated with good football players, crazy supporters which are your neighbors, and as a very fun, loud, and crazy positive group of people.’
Soccer at the World Cup does, in some ways, become a way for a country to introduce itself to the world. People were able to find Curacao on the map after they scored a goal against Germany, and behind this World Cup anthem, Bosnia and Herzegovina are experiencing a similar impact.
They were exclusively associated with the war, but through soccer, people are realizing that there’s more to the Balkans than tragedy, and that’s the type of stuff that the World Cup is about.’
Now the team is ready to take on the United States men’s national team in a full-circle moment, with the match taking place at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, a fitting venue for a song which includes the line ‘Take me to Golden Gate. I will assimilate.’
And it’s not just about the song; it’s about the people, the culture, and the country that it represents. It’s a story of hope, of resilience, and of the power of soccer to bring people together.
So let’s take a closer look at this incredible story and how it’s become a rallying cry for fans around the world.
