Photos courtesy of Amazing Travel Photos
The above picture is the famous Latin Bridge over the narrow Miljacka River in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Hercegovina, where Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated in 1914, triggering the First World War. You see the hills in the background which surround the city. These hills had artillery and motors which were used to shell Sarajevo during the Siege of Sarajevo.
Going To SaraJevo
Today’s future hit song is Going To Sarajevo. It tells the story of the rise and fall of Jugoslavia.
I wrote the original lyrics at the beginning of summer in 2012. I was visiting the countries of the former Jugoslavia. In June, I was in Croatia on the island of Hvar. I had my guitar with me and came up with a little tune based on a something I heard on a Merle Travis record. I decided it needed some lyrics. Since I was heading to Sarajevo in a few days, it was natural to write about going to Sarajevo. The city name “Sarajevo” has a natural lyrical rhythm to it, so it works well as a song lyric. And Sarajevo was biggest city under siege during the Balkans war of the 1990s.
The first version of the lyrics were penned on 21st June. I sang the lyrics for young fellow I met on the catamaran from Hvar to Split. The fellow happened to be a professional musician from London who also wrote songs.
I made it to Sarajevo on the 24th of June. I walked down “sniper alley” and heard some of the stories of ordinary people being picked off by snipers. So I added another verse and refined the words a bit.
[Editor: There is no recording or performance available on youtube at this time. We'll add a link when one becomes available.]
Going To Sarajevo Lyrics
By Gerard McKee
(Guitar Into)
I’m a-going to Sarajevo, gonna meet some friends tonight
I’m a-going to Sarajeco, I sure hope things turn out right
The people there in Sarajevo, will always do you right
The men are tall and the women good looking, and the children are all polite
(Guitar Break 1)
The war started in Sarajevo, when someone shot the Duke and his girl
Pretty soon, everyone was fighting, all over Europe and the rest of the world
Then the people, they all come together, to form the nation of the southern Slavs
They were happy to all be together, until someone started dropping them bombs
(Guitar Break 2)
The people panic’d when the bullets started flying, many fell right where they stood
Some said so long, it’s been good to know you, the rest tried to cope just as best as they could
Now the country is seven different pieces, everybody went there separate ways
Some look west and some look east, and some just long for the good old days
I’m a-going to Sarajevo, gonna meet some friends tonight
I’m a-going to Sarajeco, I sure hope things turn out right
(Guitar Ending)
lyrics ©2012 Gerard McKee
Going To Sarajevo Chords
A D7 A F7 E7
A D7 E A
