Arnon Grunberg

Democracy and peace

Let us all sing together

The world is full of surprises. I never knew that Spain had a national anthem without words.
To me an anthem without can be as good as an anthem with words, as long as the music is decent. But I understand people who long for text.
So Spain organized a context to write the text for the national anthem. The winner is a 52-year old man, unemployed, who wrote, in an translation by the NY Times: “Long live Spain! Let us all sing together With different voices And a single heart.
Long live Spain! From the green valleys To the vast sea, A hymn of brotherhood.
Love the Fatherland As it knows how to embrace, Beneath its blue sky Peoples in freedom.
Glory to the children Who give to history Justice and greatness, Democracy and peace.”

This might not be a very good poem, but for an anthem it’s decent enough.