Monday, September 26, 2005

The National Anthem of Aotearoa

E ihowa atua o
nga iwi matuoura
ata
whakarangona
me aroha noa
kia hua ko te pai
kia tau to
atawhai
manaakitia mai
aotearoa.

6 comments:

Chris O said...

I wonder what the English translation of that would be? It'd be great to know... :)

Nice Continental said...

Cat Tambourine?

Chris O said...

That is quite simply the most perfect national anthem I've ever heard! It's got meaning, passion, a sense of pride... it's concise and it gets the message across beautifully.

Thanks for the translation, ChalkGirl! (Or should that be Kiwi Tambourine?) ;-)

Nice Continental said...

Or Magic Tambourine?

Btw, I like the NZ anthem but I am always curious why all of them have to mention, somewhere, the concept of God... especially when is suposed that the modern State is secular.

Chris O said...

Very good point, Igor. The composer of each anthem must assume that all the inhabitants of the country in question are religious or should be religious. That's quite a sweeping generalisation to make!

Anonymous said...

maybe we should overhaul the whole concept of the nation state; do away with national anthems and replace them national breakdancing techniques. Maybe New Zealand should lead on this development. Imagine how much RESPECT we would get if half way through the haka they all started doing the caterpillar!