„S topom te bom ciljal moja mala“: Laibach, Bijelo dugme and Post-Yugoslav Media Space

Abstract

This paper discusses the media reception of the fairly unexpected collaboration between two major music acts of the late-socialist period in Yugoslavia, Bijelo dugme from Sarajevo and Laibach from Trbovlje/Ljubljana. These bands were associated since the 1980s, but always as stylistic and cultural antipodes: Laibach were identified with the alternative music scene and elitist world of art and high culture, while Bijelo dugme, a mainstream rock act, were accused of „electrifying the villages“ and introducing urban (and global) cultural forms in backward rural environments. What really connects them is the fact that in various phases of their careers both bands articulated the reflection on the cultural space and political system of the state in which they were formed, and that they continue to do so long after its demise.

The focus here is on the stereotypical associations between Laibach and Bijelo dugme from the 1980s onwards, including the media reception of the recently released singl S topom te bom ciljal moja mala – Laibach’s cover version of the song Top (originally from Bijelo dugme’s second single released in 1974). The way in which the regional media covered this collaboration is a telling demonstration of how the media in the meantime changed themselves – indeed a mirror of their current fragmentation, politicization and consumerization. The aim of this paper was to challenge the longstanding perception of the relation between the two music acts, and to place it in a wider cultural and political context of the socialist Yugoslavia and post-Yugoslav cultural space. This collaboration between Laibach and Bijelo dugme is discussed as a reflection of deeper cultural ties which outlasted the political collapse and disintegration of their country of origin. A closer analysis shows that this act of mutual respect rests on much more solid foundations then the current media are capable of explaining to their audiences, regardless of their previous experiences with the two notable music acts.