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"Nuestro Himno" (Spanish for "Our Anthem") is a Spanish-language version of the United States national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner". The debut of the translation came amid a growing controversy over immigration in the United States (see 2006 U.S. immigration reform protests).
BackgroundThe idea for the song came from British music executive Adam Kidron, as a show of support to Hispanic immigrants in the United States. Kidron has said that the song also will be featured on the album Somos Americanos, which will sell for US$10, of which $1 will go to the National Capital Immigration Coalition, a Washington, D.C.-based group.
The song's first verse is based very closely on a 1919 translation prepared by Francis Haffkine Snow for the U.S. Bureau of Education[2]. The only changes to the first verse from this version are a replacement of "no veis" ("don't you see?") with "lo veis" ("do you see it?"); "barras" ("bars") with "franjas" ("stripes"); and "Fulgor de cohetes, de bombas estruendo" ("the brilliance of rockets, the roar of bombs") with "Fulgor de la lucha, al paso de la libertad" ("the brilliance of struggle, in step with freedom"). However, subsequent verses diverge significantly between the 1919 and 2006 versions. The song features Latin American artists such as Haitian native Wyclef Jean, Cuban-American hip hop star Pitbull and Puerto Rican singers Carlos Ponce and Olga Tañón. It debuted at 7:00 p.m. ET on April 28, 2006 on more than 500 Spanish language radio staions. A remix is planned to be released in June. It will contain several lines in English that condemn U.S. immigration laws. Among them: "These kids have no parents, cause all of these mean laws... let's not start a war with all these hard workers, they can't help where they were born." [3]
ControversyThe song has provoked controversy over the translation (even though the song's creators didn't claim to make a word for word translation), which favors style over precision and de-emphasizes the original's bellicose aspects. Others have criticized the anthem for its political use by supporters of illegal aliens and more liberalized immigration policies. Yet others criticize the rendition simply because, as a variation from the official version, it represents what critics believe is a bastardization of a symbol many Americans give a near-sacred status. According to Victor Martinez of LaLey and Radio Mex in Atlanta, Georgia, "The flag, and the country's national anthem are sacred. You shouldn't touch them. You shouldn't change them".[8] Another critic of the new version is Charles Key, great-great-grandson of Francis Scott Key, whose poem "Defense of Fort McHenry" was set to music as "The Star-Spangled Banner". Key "finds the Spanish version unpatriotic and is adamant that it should be sung only in English. 'I think it's a despicable thing that someone is going into our society from another country and ... changing our national anthem,' Key said." [9] During a press conference on April 28, President, George W. Bush commented, "I think people who want to be a citizen of this country ought to learn English. And they ought to learn to sing the anthem in English." However, Kevin Phillips, author of American Dynasty: Aristocracy , Fortune, and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush (Penguin, September 2004)[10], wrote: "When visiting cities like Chicago, Milwaukee, or Philadelphia, in pivotal states, he [president Bush] would drop in at Hispanic festivals and parties, sometimes joining in singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" in Spanish, sometimes partying with a "Viva Bush" mariachi band flown in from Texas." (Page 142) On May 4th, 2006, comedian Jon Stewart called the controversy over the translation "unbelievably stupid," and jokingly suggested that the first verse—there are four but only the first is widely known—be kept in English, and that the other verses be given to "whoever wants [them]," because, as he put it, those are the verses "Americans don't want or won't sing", a reference to the idea that illegal immigrants only take the jobs that other Americans don't want. Lyrics
English Translation
See also
References
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