Sunday, January 11, 2009

Take Five: Of Jimi Hendrix's Star-spangled Banner and Malaysia's Negaraku










BORROWING AND EVOLUTION OF MALAYSIA'S NATIONAL ANTHEM



Of course the information below need to be verified by historians/ethnomusicologist.


FROM: Wikipedia

Terang Bulan was a famous song during the late 19th century in the French occupied territories in the Indian Ocean.

The song was composed by Pierre-Jean de Béranger (1780-1857), a French lyricist. It became a popular French melody, and was prominent on the island of Mahé in Seychelles. The song's popularity spread across the Indian Ocean and reached as far as the Malay Archipelago early in the 20th century. An Indonesian Bangsawan made the first debut of the song while performing in Singapore. The melody soon became very popular among the the people and was given the name Terang Bulan(Bright Moon), becoming a Malay 'evergreen', playing at parties, in cabarets and sung by almost everybody in the 1920s and 1930s. (Today, of course, since independence, it is not played as a popular melody, and any such use is proscribed by statute.)


Perak State Anthem

The Sultan of Perak, during his exile in Seychelles, was aware of the song's popularity. When Sultan Idris Murshidul’adzam Shah who was the Ruler of the State of Perak from 1887 to 1916 represented the Malay Rulers of the Federated Malay States at the installation ceremony of King Eward VII in 1901, his protocol officer was asked what his state anthem was. Realizing that his state did not in fact possess an anthem, he, in order not to appear backward in front of his hosts, proceeded to hum the aforementioned tune, thus becoming the state anthem of Perak.[1]


Adoption as Malaysian National Anthem

The Chief Minister and Minister for Home Affairs of the then Federation of Malaya, Tunku Abdul Rahman settled with Terang Bulan as the National Anthem of the Federation, on account of its "traditional flavour". The name was changed to Negaraku, the lyrics were changed and popular replays of the songs in cabarets and parties were ceased as it is now proscribed by statute. When Malaysia was formed the song remains as the country's national anthem.

The tune of Terang Bulan was adopted as Mamula Moon song by Felix Mendelssohn & His Hawaiian Serenaders in their album Paradise Isle in 1947.

Original translation

Terang Bulan (original song)

Terang bulan
Terang di pinggir kali
Buaya timbul disangkalah mati
Jangan percaya mulutlah lelaki
Berani sumpah 'tapi takut mati
Jangan percaya mulutlah lelaki
Berani sumpah 'tapi takut mati

Waktu potong padi di tengah sawah
Sambil bernyanyi riuh rendah
Memotong padi semua orang
Sedari pagi sampai petang

Waktu potong padi di tengah sawah
Sambil bernyanyi riuh rendah
Bersenang hati sambil bersuka
Tolonglah kami bersama sama

English translation

Moon Shine

The moon is shining
Moon shine reflects on the river
Floating crocodile thought to be dead
Don't believe man's saying
Dare to pledge but afraid of dying

Whilst cutting paddy in the middle of the field
While singing noisily
Cutting paddy is everyone
Unrealised morning to evening

Whilst cutting paddy in the middle of the field
While singing noisily
Heart at ease while having fun
Help us together

References

"7.3.3 Lagu Kebangsaan" from Kurikulum Bersepadu Sekolah Menengah Sejarah Tingkatan 5 (Buku Teks)Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka 2003

Sources

* http://www.geocities.com/blimbin_hilversum/



Steve Vai playing The Star-spangled banner





And the classic rendition by the guitar guru of Woodstock:





God Save the Queen?




Brian May (of Queen) on top of The Buckingham Palace, playing God Save the Queen

1 comment:

Tamerlane said...

It's amazing how relevant the 1977pistols song is to our struggles today. Especially the phrase "No future, no future for me"

And i dont think mercury intended the monarch as the subject of God Save the Queen but probably a syok sendiri song for his band.We all know how freddie wants attention...

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