Spain and Portugal for Visitors

Posted by : John Ross on Jan 11, 2008 - 01:54 PM Music

The competition to select lyrics for the Spanish national anthem (which I reported back in October) has a winner. The anthem has been wordless until now (except for a short-lived, best-forgotten, Francoist verse), and the initiative to provide it with lyrics came from the COE, the Spanish Olympic Committee, apparently embarrassed that Spanish sports fans are used to accompanying the music by singing "Naa naa, naa naa, na na na na," and so on (I take the opportunity to point out in advance that the proposed new lyrics are not an improvement). The COE and the SGAE, the Spanish Writers' and Songwriters' Society, which has organized the judging process, are miffed because the news has been filtered to the press - the result of the competition should not have been announced until January 21st, when Placido Domingo will sing it at the COE's annual ball (apart from being a great singer, conductor and director, Placido Domingo will do anything for a laugh). At least, that's why they are supposed to be miffed - I suspect they are more than a little ashamed - the new lyrics are simply dreadful. There is still a long way to go before they become official, though, and my bet is that they won't make it. Update - 16/01/08. I didn't expect to be proved right so quickly, but the Spanish Olympic Committee has announced that it is withdrawing the proposed lyrics for the Real Marcha, the Spanish national anthem, though it insists that there will be some sort of words for it before this summer's Olympic Games. Frankly, I doubt that, as well. More of this story.

The selected (and withdrawn) lyrics were written by an unemployed, middle-aged Manchego, a Manchego being a person from rural La Mancha, and frankly, they read like it:

Viva España! / Cantemos todos juntos / con distinta voz / y un solo corazón.
¡Viva España! / Desde los verdes valles al inmenso mar, / un himno de hermandad.
Ama a la Patria / pues sabe abrazar, / bajo su cielo azul, /pueblos en libertad.
Gloria a los hijos / que a la Historia dan / justicia y grandeza / democracia y paz.

Now, this is truly awful - and doesn't even scan properly with the music, God know what the extremely distinguished and supposedly qualified jurors had been drinking with their three-hour Spanish lunch - that I couldn't face translating it myself without a really stiff coñac or two. Fortunately, Howard Brereton (he of that admirable site dedicated to news from Spain, Typically Spanish) has a stiffer upper lip than I, and has already done it. This is the proposed new Spanish national anthem in English:

'Long live Spain, we sing it all together, with different voices and a single heart.
Long live Spain, from the green valleys to the immense sea, a hymn of brotherhood.
Love for the homeland which embraces, under the blue sky, peoples in freedom.
Glory to the sons who History will bless with justice and greatness, democracy and peace.'

As you can see, this is so bad it's collector's item material - just treasure the confusion of that last line (I think Howard's got the subject of the verb wrong, but it doesn't make any less sense). Although I must admit that the earlier Francoist version makes the new lyrics read like Shakespeare (or Cervantes), I simply cannot imagine Spanish football fans (or those of any other sport) spontaneously imploring their listeners to "Love the fatherland" (or homeland), and in spite of the word "democracy" (which sounds modern to Spaniards, it's still quite a novelty here) being dropped in, the new anthem is still desperately old-fashioned.

Fortunately for Spain, a petition now needs to be signed by (in theory) half a million people for this doggerel to be presented to the Spanish parliament for recognition as the official national anthem. And Parliament would have to approve it. For the sake of Spain's reputation as a country with centuries of world-class culture behind it, let us hope that never happens.