South African National Anthem

February 27, 2007 10:28 PM

Nkosi Sikelel'iAfrica
Sounds the call to come together,(youtube)
And united we shall stand,(audio)
Let us live and strive for freedom, (wmp)
In South Africa our land. (scroll down for writer Sol Plaatje performing the first recorded version of the song.)
posted by serazin (7 comments total)

Personally I wouldn't mind at all if they dropped the English and Afrikaans verses from 'Die Stem' (the pre-'94 anthem) which were kept in to prevent the Afrikaners from going crazy. It's just too long as it currently is and the change in tune halfway through is jarring not too mention slightly embarassing during rugby matches when the crowd mumbles through the Xhosa 'N'kosi Sikelele' parts but then comes roaring to life during the English/Afrikaans 'Die Stem'.
posted by PenDevil at 11:28 PM on February 27, 2007

Well, it would be pretty problamatic to drop everything except Die Stem - which was the anthem of Apartheid era South Africa.

Or are you saying just use the Xhosa - the original ANC anthem (without the traditional Zulu version) - and drop Die Stem all together?
posted by serazin at 11:45 PM on February 27, 2007

Just use Nkosi'Sikelele.
posted by PenDevil at 12:10 AM on February 28, 2007

That is one fine song.
posted by Abiezer at 3:06 AM on February 28, 2007

Always sends chills up my spine- partly the tradition of S. African choral music that it belongs to, partly that it can sound very good sung by a crowd with a modest degree of musical ability, and partly the history surrounding it.

My folks took me to a lot of Apartheid protests when I was a kid, and even then I found the anthem very moving.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 12:47 PM on February 28, 2007

by some strange coincidence, I (in Canada) just saw the Soweto Gospel Choir perform this ...
posted by scruss at 9:02 PM on February 28, 2007

Amanza! I remember first hearing this song on the Paul Simon special when I was 12ish. I recorded it with my little boombox and replayed it over and over again until I had the words down pat. Funny; I learned all the verses on N'Kosi Sikelele Afrika before I learned the Star Spangled Banner.
posted by moonbird at 12:28 PM on March 4, 2007