Sunday, July 5, 2009

Rethinking the National Anthem

Many Maldivians, particularly of the younger generation, appear to be having second thoughts on our current National Anthem. They believe the song is out of tune with the new generation and fails to inspire them.

Historically the words of the National Anthem were composed in 1948 by Mohamed Jameel Didi, and were sung to the tune of Auld Lang Syne, a traditional Scottish folk song written by Robert Burns. The tune was replaced by the current (composed by Sri Lankan maestro Amaradeva) in 1972, in preparation for the visit to the Maldives of Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain (including Scotland).

Some people find the words of the National Anthem ‘silly,’ particularly the tendency to greet each and everything one sees. It is also argued that parts of the song are factually inaccurate. For example, the song states that the three colors green, red and white symbolize victory, luck and success. However, the three colors as used in the national flag have different meanings.

These issues however may not be good enough reasons to replace a song which has been in use for over 60 years. If one scrutinizes familiar National Anthems around the world, such as God Save the Queen, Star Spangled Banner, Jana Gana and Hatikvah, there are similar issues, which make them less than perfect.

Further, the existing song is truly Maldivian in its content. If a new song is composed today, it is likely to have much more foreign influences, be it Western or Arabic.

The melody of the song is a different matter altogether. In 1948 and 1972, we did not have experienced musicians to compose a national anthem. But today we do. So, should we still continue a tune composed by a foreigner?

6 comments:

Stewie said...

Or perhaps there are many who are not patriotic. who does not buy the lies and deceptions..
The song(anthem watever) is silly in its nature because its designed in a way to emotionally play with the heads of the naive. Its another great tool used by all the countries to control people.. this is evident while reading the words used in the anthem. obey the state, obey the religious orders and give your life to state and religion.

If there is going to be an anthem, i recommend to put few lines about questioning the order! question everything, from what you read, hear and see! seek the truth and lies instead of good and evil.
perhaps things would be better then!

faisal said...

our so called experiences musicians and vocalists would probably come up with a hindi tune for it

mondae said...

you are worried about the anthem?

We dont need an anthem, we need a country to actually need an anthem, we are are not a country. just land filled with pirates who got ship-wrecked. we use islam and "ebbaivanthakan" and blah blah...so that when we stand in front of the mirror we see a nice image of us, however, minus these things we will see an ugly pirate with an eye-patch.

Anonymous said...

Its sad to say but there have been times that just hearing the anthem of a nation being sung with such passion that it has given me goosebumps just hearing it. And this hasnt happened with the Maldivian anthem.

Is it even possible to sing our anthem with raw passion? Can you sing it with high notes that send shivers down your spine? I surely havnt experienced that yet.

Anonymous said...

Jameel was a lousy poet anyway. There are very good modern poets,songwriters and musicians in Maldives. This task of creating new national anthem and its music should be given to a committee of 7 to 9 experts of music,song writing,poetry ,history language culture,politicians etc. I always get upset when the credit for writing our national anthem goes to one individual. And Jameel was a man of low morals having also being removed from high office(AG?) for inappropriate sexual relationship.

avaris said...

i like national anthem...its been years since i am hearin national anthem...anywayz it worth give a try.