"Oy in the Meadow, the Red Viburnum": the story behind the song that is known worldwide.
Three years ago, Russia made the decision to launch a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, targeting peaceful residents across all regions. This act was a shock to the entire world. Yet, Ukrainians did not lose their composure; they rallied together, with men rushing to enlist in the military. Our unity, solidarity, healthy sense of humor, rich culture, and heritage that we defended, along with the example of our ancestors' bravery, helped us endure and stay sane.
At that time, Andriy Khlyvnyuk sang the soldier's song "Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow" in a deserted square in Kyiv, which quickly gained global popularity. This song was the anthem of the Sich Riflemen and a symbol of our ongoing struggle for independence that has lasted for centuries. The song was embraced by everyone, from Ukrainian children and soldiers to European Parliament members and iconic musicians like Pink Floyd. We share the story of when the song "Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow" was created, its authors, and whose spirit it supported in the past century.
The Folk Song in a Theatrical Performance
The first version of the song appeared in Galicia in 1914, with lyrics and music adapted from folk traditions by Stepan Charnetsky. The poet and director of the Lviv theater "Ruthenian Conversation" worked on the lyrics of the folk song "The Steep Banks Overflow," enhancing them with his own musical arrangement for the play "The Sun of Ruins."
This was a production of Vasyl Pachovsky's tragedy about Hetman Petro Doroshenko. However, the sad final song "Was I Not a Viburnum in the Meadow?" was replaced by a more optimistic Cossack song from the 17th century, "The Steep Banks Overflow." Stepan Charnetsky modified some of the lyrics to better fit the theme of the play and also changed the folk melody.
The audience first heard the song during the performances as the theater toured in Sambir, Drohobych, Stryi, Stanislaviv (Ivano-Frankivsk), Chernivtsi, and Chortkiv.
“The performance by the actors at the end of the second act, when the senior officer and the Cossack troops, inspired by the speech of Bishop Tukalsky and Doroshenko, set out to the sounds of music and song, made such a strong impression, so uplifted the national spirit that a solemn, festive silence prevailed in the hall filled with the audience, and a tremor of emotion swept through those gathered, with tears sparkling in their eyes,” described Ostap Vesolovsky in the newspaper “Dilo,” reflecting on the performance.
The Riflemen's Anthem
In August 1914, in Stryi, Hryhoriy Trukh, a squad leader of the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen, first heard this song from his comrade Ivanitsky, who had learned it from the actors of the Lviv theater "Ruthenian Conversation."
“These words perfectly suited our situation at the time and vividly expressed our riflemen's idea, so I kept repeating that charming stanza over and over, and when the next day we went out for exercises, I sat at a little table in front of the dormitory and composed three new additional stanzas, which together created the glorious 'Red Viburnum',” wrote Hryhoriy Trukh in his memoirs for the diaspora magazine "Svitlo" (Toronto) in 1954.
He taught his comrades the words of the song, and "Red Viburnum" became the first riflemen's song. The new lyrics of "Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow," written by Hryhoriy Trukh (except for the first stanza) to the melody of Stepan Charnetsky, were considered the anthem of the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen. Trukh emphasized that it elevated the fighting spirit, and the words “our volunteers march into the bloody dance to liberate our Ukrainian brothers from Moscow's shackles” reminded them of the goal of the riflemen's movement.
A Song of Struggle
Over time, the song strengthened the spirit of the soldiers of the Ukrainian Galician Army and the UPA. During the Soviet occupation, it helped keep the Ukrainian roots alive. In the late 1980s, Ukrainian dissidents Nadiya Svitlychna and Leopold Yashchenko added another verse to the song: “Do not bend, red viburnum, you have white blossoms, do not be sad, glorious Ukraine, you have a good lineage.” This version was recorded on Ukrainian radio by the "Homin" choir.
After the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the leader of the band "BoomBox," Andriy Khlyvnyuk, who had enlisted in Kyiv's territorial defense, sang this song with a slightly altered melody in the empty center of Kyiv while the capital was under enemy shelling. The video spread across social media, and it began to be covered widely, marking a new wave of the song's popularity in Ukraine and worldwide. One of the most popular videos was performed by a little boy named Leo Bushi from Irpin.
"Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow" was performed both in its original form and translated into foreign languages. It had numerous renditions. Among foreign performers, the first popular cover with its own arrangement was by South African musician David Scott (The Kiffness). The most prominent artists who played the riflemen's song titled “Hey, Hey, Rise Up!” were the band Pink Floyd.
Who Were the Authors of the Song "Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow"
Stepan Charnetsky was from Ternopil region, educated in Stanislaviv and Lviv. Although he was trained as an engineer, he was actively involved in cultural life from a young age as a student at Lviv Polytechnic: he sang in a choir, was a poet, and participated in a literary circle, writing and editing periodicals. During World War I, Stepan Charnetsky worked as an assistant to the chief of a railway section while also serving as the director and artistic leader of the "Ruthenian Conversation" theater. Together with the troupe, they toured Galicia, staging works by Ukrainian classics.
In addition to "Oh, the Red Viburnum in the Meadow," Stepan Charnetsky co-authored the famous tango song "The Time Will Come" with Bohdan Vesolovsky and was the first to fully translate Adam Mickiewicz's poem "Konrad Wallenrod" into Ukrainian.
Hryhoriy Trukh, a graduate of the Stryi gymnasium, joined the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen during World War I. He was a commander of a platoon in the company of Dmytro Vitovsky, leading reconnaissance units in the Carpathians. By 1917, he had risen to the rank of lieutenant and commander of a company. When the West Ukrainian People's Republic was established, he participated in the November Act in Lviv.
Hryhoriy Trukh studied at a theological seminary and took monastic vows after the war. In 1933, he emigrated and spent 26 years engaged in missionary work with the Basilian Fathers in Canada and the USA.
“The 'Red Viburnum,' which so captivated my heart and was taken from me, like a precious treasure, by my fellow riflemen in Stryi, we have never forgotten and never ceased to sing. We sang it in Stryi, we sang it in Carpathian Ukraine, we took it with us on our campaign to Great Ukraine. Over the years, it began to be sung in Galicia and throughout all of Ukrainian lands, and with the former U.S.S.R. and other emigrants, 'Red Viburnum' arrived in Canada and America, Brazil, Argentina, and to all countries in the world where 'Ukrainian cranes' flew... for bread, for freedom, for a better fate... Today, there is probably no Ukrainian community in the world where this glorious riflemen's 'Red Viburnum' has not been sung!”, wrote Hryhoriy Trukh in 1954