New Media and Folklore: The Anthemic Song „oh,there's a Red Viburnum in the Meadow” on the World Wide Web

In the information age, new opportunities have emerged for the distribution and popularization of song videos, which have significantly expanded the circle of viewers and listeners, and introduced them to the interactive space of communication, especially on such services as YouTube, Google Video, etc. The revolutionary role of the Internet can be seen in the resonant spread of the song ‘Oh, there's a red viburnum in the meadow’ (Chervona Kalyna) in Ukraine and around the world, which became the second national anthem of the Russian-Ukrainian war and a real global hit, not least thanks to the digital network. The song itself has come a long way - from traditional folk music to modern mass popular music. Based on the Ukrainian Cossack song ‘Steep banks spilled over’ (Rozlylysia kryti berezhechky) from the Khmelnytsky times, the composition ‘Oh, there's a red viburnum in the meadow’ was created by poet and theater director Stepan Charnetsky before the outbreak of the First World War. Nowadays, the song has been refolklorized and is now a symbol of the fight against the Russian occupiers and of Ukraine's future victories, courage and resilience. The song went viral in 2022 after Boombox vocalist Andriy Khlyvnyuk sung it a cappella in military uniform on Kyiv's main square. The song quickly spread as a symbol of support for Ukraine: it was translated into German, Polish, English, French, Hebrew, etc., remixed, performed by the Ukrainian military and other bands, sung by opera singers, etc. Its lyrics and other versions, materials about it spread on the Internet, especially through YouTube in the form of a number of video clips. But it was the performance (remix) by the world-famous band Pink Floyd that really brought it worldwide fame. Thus, the song was included in the category of popular videos based on the following criteria: number of views, speed of gaining popularity, traffic source data, time of publication and video performance in relation to recently uploaded videos. The name ‘red viburnum’ is now a brand name in Ukraine, which is also evident from the Internet, where the relevant advertising is placed: a commemorative coin, names of drinks, sweets, mineral water, a brand on clothes, etc.