ThoMPson & the Croatian diaspora

 

I wanted to write this text months ago after the release of Marko Perkovic’s new album. Something held me back though. Perhaps it was the premonitions I had; premonitions about the course of Thompson’s success that have, amazingly enough, been realized. And that date back prior to his “E, moj narode” album.

Marko Perkovic has, as so many other Croats before him, been crucified by the proponents of neo-Yugoslavism that dominate in Croatia. When they’re tearing him apart in the print or electronic media, every sensible person can tell that their true target is the Croatian identity

Ah, yes, the Croatian identity. A topic of controversy that has for years entertained the Croats themselves, and most importantly, their enemies. Thanks to years of independent study of Croatia’s history, politics and journalism, I have, sadly, concluded that there is no more hated nation in South-Eastern Europe. Nor does there exist a people to match the Croats in the defense of their perpetually vilified and ravaged national identity. The indefinite postponement of Thompson’s Sarajevo concert is just another example of a silent persecution being committed against Croatians in Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Let’s get things straight. Marko Perkovic Thompson is the most prominent and influential Croatian musician today. Aside from, maybe, Miso Kovac, he is the only artist that can fill Poljud or Maksimir to the rafters. Although Miso is undoubtedly the most popular Croatian singer to have ever lived, his time has, sadly, passed. Thompson is enjoying the zenith of his career.

There is no doubt that Thompson owes much of his success to the atrocious state of Croatian politics and nation; his music always channeling the love, distress and honesty of the Croat masses. While he will always be remembered for mobilizing the hearts and souls of Croatia’s defenders with “Bojna Cavoglave“; from Croatia’s Stalingrad -Vukovar, to the ramparts of Dubrovnik during the Homeland war, Perkovic has intelligently crafted and fortified his artistic habitat in post-war Croatia-- never letting go of the ideals that inspired him to write his hits.

When I was a boy, I witnessed Thompson’s first performance at the Croatian Center in NYC. It was one block away from Cardinal Stepinac Place on 41st street in Manhattan that I saw and heard him sing “Cavoglave” for the first time. That was back in 1991 or 1992 - during one of the UN-peace-keeper enforced lulls of the Homeland war. It was that night I learned that Perkovic was actually from a small town outside of Drnis. Prior to that, I was under the impression that he hailed from Imotski, being that the first version I heard of “Cavoglave” was actually dedicated to the defenders from Imotski. As it turns out, Thompson recorded two versions of Croatia’s most popular battle cry. One dedicated to his own Cavoglave, and the other to Imotski -- where, by no accident, the same song was first recorded.

Much has been said and written about Marko Perkovic Thompson since then. Most of it negative. Unfortunately, he is unable to escape criticism from even the most unlikely of figures. As if it weren’t bad enough that the Serbo-phile littered Croatian media holds him to the most absurd of criteria, many Croats frown upon his success. Perhaps that treatment is truly due to the curse of Zvonimir that Thompson so passionately sings about. Note to Perkovic’s haters: Thompson doesn’t believe that such a curse really exists. He uses the myth metaphorically to describe the treason and betrayal so prevalent in Croatia today.

But it is not necessarily in the homeland that Thompson enjoys his greatest success and admiration. It is in the diaspora.

In the age of Globalism, Thompson has single-handedly built not one, but many highways connecting the diaspora to Croatia.

It is with his unique synthesis of ancient Croatian tales -most true, others mythical- of heroics, love, beauty, faith and rock & roll that Thompson has captured the hearts of countless Croatians worldwide. He sings of God, family and the homeland. Sadly, and unbelievably, themes that are considered anachronistic in these chaotic times. Some go as far to render those same themes nationalistic, and even xenophobic. These absurd criticisms are telling of the era we live in.

Thompson brings hope to the Croatian masses; from Toronto to Melbourne, Vancouver to Munich, he fills the hearts of Croatians who yearn for a better tomorrow, and at the same time, painfully reminisce of years lost. Years filled with poverty, wars, injustice and persecution.

Thompson comes from a small village like most Croats do. He shares and promotes the values that most Croats hold dear. He is a commoner with a proven talent. Thompson is a reflection of the Croatian émigré communities around the world. He is a simple man with remarkable abilities. That is what binds Perkovic to the diaspora. And it is this for that same reason that Thompson is hated and ridiculed by the remnants of the old Yugoslav regime still alive in politics and the media. If there’s one thing that they hate more than Thompson, it is the Croatian diaspora. And if there’s another thing they hate more than the diaspora, it’s a proud and successful Croat living in his “own little piece of the universe.”

Marko, hvala!

-Frano Budimlic
New York