Zajdi, zajdi, jasno sonce (O Set, O Set, Clear Sun; Macedonian: Зајди, зајди, јасно сонце) is a Macedonian-language folk-style song written and composed by Aleksandar Sarievski. In recent times it has gained popularity throughout the Balkans, and in the past sixty years it has become one of the songs the people of the former Yugoslavia most often associate with the Republic of Macedonia.
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The song was written and composed by Macedonian singer-songwriter Aleksandar Sarievski in the style of newly composed folk. Though Sarievski composed the melody, he did acknowledge that the text of Zajdi, zajdi was adapted from another source, saying:
| “ | The song Zajdi, zajdi, jasno sonce emerged from the folk song Černej, goro, černej, sestro. In listening to that song and occasionally singing it, I came up with the idea to make something similar in terms of content, but with a completely different melody. So, I gradually began to sing the song, which would soon after become very popular everywhere I sung it. That song means a lot to me because it was received well by many individuals interested in folk music, but above all it means a lot to me because it was accepted by the people. Every time I'd go somewhere I think everyone present expected me to sing it.[1] | ” |
Apart from Crnej, goro, crnej, sestro, the song's lyrics also bear a similarity to another Macedonian folk song (Žali, goro, crni, sestro). Motifs from these songs are also frequent in folk songs and oral poems across the Republic of Macedonia,[2][3][4] Bulgaria[5][6][7] and Serbia.[8] Other lines are also comparable to those from Lyuben Karavelov's collection of folk songs and poems published in 1878.[9][10]
In 2007, greater public attention was drawn to Zajdi, zajdi after its melody was said to have been used for the song "Message for the Queen" from the 300 Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. In an interview relating to the subsequent dispute, folklorist Nikolay Kaufman stated that formulae analogous to those in Zajdi, zajdi are recurrent in Lyuben Karavelov's collection and claims they are adapted from it.[11] In the same interview, another prominent folklorist, Georgi Kraev, states that the song belongs to a tradition of Balkan tavern songs.[11]
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