This inaugural episode of the Anthems podcast dives into the story behind Haiti's national anthem, "La Dessalinienne," highlighting its deep connections to the Haitian Revolution and the country's quest for independence. Patrick shares insights about Jean Jacques Dessalines, the anthem's namesake, who was a pivotal figure in leading Haiti to become the first independent Black republic. The episode explores the historical context of Haiti's tumultuous past, including the impact of slavery and colonialism, and how these themes are woven into the anthem's lyrics. Listeners will learn about the anthem's creation in the early 1900s and its role in fostering national pride and unity. Through a blend of historical narrative and musical analysis, this episode provides a compelling look at how national anthems serve as symbols of identity and resilience.

Thanks for coming and checking out the notes. I seriously am brand new at this so expect whatever I do here to change.

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anthemspodcast.com gets you here :)

Write me at anthemspod@gmail.com

Call me at +1 (203) 759-8375

If you're wondering I played the intro/outro music on a tenor ukulele string gCEA

I found an excellent 8 bit channel that has national anthems: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DyOhVVUCC5k

As indicated in the show here are the lyrics in the relevant languages

First in French (the original language of the song):

Pour le Pays, pour les Ancêtres,

Marchons unis, marchons unis.

Dans nos rangs point de traîtres!

Du sol soyons seuls maîtres.

Marchons unis, marchons unis

Pour le Pays, pour les Ancêtres,

Marchons, marchons, marchons unis,

Pour le Pays, pour les Ancêtres...

Pour les Aïeux, pour la Patrie

Bêchons joyeux, bêchons joyeux

Quand le champ fructifie

L'âme se fortifie

Bêchons joyeux, bêchons joyeux

Pour les Aïeux, pour la Patrie

Bêchons, bêchons, bêchons joyeux

Pour les Aïeux, pour la Patrie.

Pour le Pays et pour nos Pères

Formons des Fils, formons des Fils

Libres, forts et prospères

Toujours nous serons frères

Formons des Fils, formons des Fils

Pour le Pays et pour nos Pères

Formons, formons, formons des Fils

Pour le Pays et pour nos Pères.

Pour les Aïeux, pour la Patrie

O Dieu des Preux, O Dieu des Preux!

Sous ta garde infinie

Prends nos droits, notre vie

O Dieu des Preux, O Dieu des Preux!

Pour les Aïeux, pour la Patrie

O Dieu, O Dieu, O Dieu des Preux

Pour les Aïeux, pour la Patrie.

Pour le Drapeau, pour la Patrie

Mourir est beau, mourir est beau!

Notre passé nous crie:

Ayez l'âme aguerrie!

Mourir est beau, mourir est beau

Pour le Drapeau, pour la Patrie

Mourir, mourir, mourir est beau

Pour le Drapeau, pour la Patrie.

The English translation of that:

For the Country, for the Ancestors,

Let us march united, let us march united.

Let there be no traitors in our ranks!

Let us be the only masters of the soil.

Let us march united, let us march united

For the Country, for the Ancestors,

Let us march, let us march, let us march united,

For the Country, for the Ancestors...

For the Forefathers, for the Fatherland

Let us toil joyous, let us toil joyous.

When the field fructifies

The soul fortifies

Let us toil joyous, let us toil joyous

For the Forefathers, for the Fatherland

Let us toil, let us toil, let us toil joyous

For the Forefathers, for the Fatherland.

For the Country and for our Fathers

Let us train Sons, let us train Sons

Free, strong and prosperous

We shall always be brothers

Let us train Sons, Let us train Sons

For the Country and for our Fathers

Let us train, let us train, let us train Sons

For the Country and for our Fathers.

For the Forefathers, for the Fatherland

Oh God of the Valiant, Oh God of the Valiant!

Under your infinite protection

Take our rights, our life

Oh God of the Valiant, Oh God of the Valiant!

For the Forefathers, for the Fatherland

Oh God, Oh God, Oh God of the Valiant

For the Forefathers, for the Fatherland.

For the Flag, for the Fatherland

To die is beautiful, to die is beautiful!

Our past cries out to us:

Have a hardened soul!

To die is beautiful, to die is beautiful

For the Flag, for the Fatherland

To die, to die, to die is beautiful

For the Flag, for the Fatherland.

Then in Haitian Creole:

Pou Ayiti peyi Zansèt yo

Se pou n mache men nan lamen

Nan mitan n pa fèt pou gen trèt

Nou fèt pou n sèl mèt tèt nou.

Annou mache men nan lamen

Pou Ayiti ka vin pi bèl

Annou, annou, met tèt ansanm

Pou Ayiti onon tout Zansèt yo.

Pou Ayiti onon Zansèt yo

Se pou n sekle se pou n plante

Se nan tè tout fòs nou chita

Se li k ba nou manje

Ann bite tè, ann voye wou

Ak kè kontan, fòk tè a bay

Sekle, wouze, fanm tankou gason

Pou-n rive viv ak sèl fòs ponyèt nou.

Pou Ayiti ak pou Zansèt yo

Fo nou kapab vanyan gason

Moun pa fèt pou ret avèk moun

Se sa k fè tout Manman ak tout Papa

Dwe pou voye Timoun lekòl

Pou yo aprann, pou yo konnen

Sa Tousen, Desalin, Kristòf, Petyon

Te fè pou wet Ayisyen anba kòd blan.

Pou Ayiti onon Zansèt yo

Ann leve tèt nou gad anlè

Pou tout moun mande Granmèt la

Pou l ba nou pwoteksyon

Pou move zanj pa detounen n

Pou-n ka mache nan bon chimen

Pou libète ka libète

Fòk lajistis blayi sou peyi a!

Nou gen drapo tankou tout pèp

Se pou n renmen l mouri pou li

Se pa kado blan te fè nou

Se san Zansèt nou yo ki te koule

Pou nou kenbe drapo nou wo

Se pou n travay met tèt ansanm.

Pou lòt peyi ka respekte l

Drapo sila a se nanm tout Ayisyen.

And lastly in the English of that:

For Haiti, the Country of the Ancestors

we must walk hand in hand

There must not be traitors among us--

We alone must be our master

Let's walk hand in hand

that Haiti may be more beautiful

Let us put our heads together

for Haiti on behalf of all the ancestors

For Haiti on the behalf of the Ancestors

Let us mow, let us sow.

All our strength rests in the soul--

It is what feeds us.

Let us mound up earth, let us send water

With joy, the earth must be fertile

Mow, water, women and men

that we may live by our own arms' strength alone.

For Haiti and for the Ancestors

We must be courageous, capable men.

People are not born to serve others

That is why all mothers and fathers

Need to send children to school,

to learn, to know

what Toussaint, Dessalines, Christophe, Pétion

did to take Haitians from under the whites' rope.

For Haiti on the behalf of the Ancestors

Let us raise our head and look above.

Let everyone to ask the Lord

to grant us protection

that the evil angels may not divert us,

that we may walk in the right path.

For liberty to be able to liberate,

justice must spread over the country!

We have a flag like all peoples.

Let us love it, die for it.

It was not a gift from the whites--

It was our Ancestors' blood that was shed.

Let us hold our flag high.

Let us work together and focus

that other countries may respect it

This flag is the soul of every Haitian.

I mostly stick to the script here because it's easier to record that way but there is always going to be some deviation in what I record and what I've written. I also have not yet finalized the footnoting method I like for writing a script, again, this is new to me. As such there are a bunch of words with numbers written after them. Those are my ref numbers and are used for writing purposes. The reference list I used appears at the very end in no particular order:

   *Opens with intro music*

Hello everyone and welcome to The Anthems Podcast. I’m Patrick and today I’m going to try and tell you the story of a song that helps tell the story of a nation. If I’m doing this correctly you’ll want to hear the next one. I assume podcasting works like that, Right?  Anyway, this is episode 01: Haiti

Today’s anthem of choice is La Dessalinienne. Haiti gets to first because I asked my wife for a number between one and one hundred, she picked 73, and Haiti is the 73rd entry on the alphabetical list of national anthems on the Wikipedia that lists them. I had to start somewhere and wanted to avoid themes and topical influences, at least to get started, so an essentially random process it was.

It’s a fine choice though, because the story of the national anthem of Haiti contains as it’s opening act the story of the Haitian revolution. It’s a favorite revolution of mine and it’s pretty fun that I got to talk about it right out of the gate and in a random way. Of course, I’m going to be giving a seriously shorthand version of it and it’s just a section of the narrative but we’re talking about national anthems and they’re a very patriotic thing. It should not be a surprise that revolution is going to be at least mentioned and often plays a central role in an anthem’s story. In the case of Haiti’s national anthem the story starts about 33 years before the revolution.

First though we need to hear the song itself! This is the national anthems podcast afterall. We’ll be going in blind each time so have a listen to 3 minutes and 30 seconds of La Dessalinienne.

*Plays Audio of the anthem*

My first thought is that it definitely has the fanfare and bombastic composition I kind of expect in certain kinds of anthems national anthem. Of course I say this as a guy that is doing a podcast on national anthems so I’ve been giving a critical listen to A LOT of these types of songs lately and reading A LOT about them. Feels like a military parade song. I won’t read the entire five verses yet (and it will be a rare occasion indeed if you here me sing here) but the first makes the initial point well. It reads thus:

For the Country, for the Ancestors,

Let us march united, let us march united.

Let there be no traitors in our ranks!

Let us be the only masters of the soil.

Let us march united, let us march united

For the Country, for the Ancestors,

Let us march, let us march, let us march united,

For the Country, for the Ancestors…

This is classic national anthem stuff. For the nation, for the people, tradition, and etc…, checks many boxes in that respect. I mean, the first time it was performed for the public it was at a military style celebration to celebrate a historic victory to mark a century of independence, martial seems the appropriate descriptor of the tune. Put a pin in all that though, I’m getting ahead of things by like 165 years. The story of La Dessalinienne starts with the story of the guy the anthem is named to honor: Jean-Jacques Dessalines. I’ll put the full lyrics of the French and Haitian Creole in the show notes and I’ll discuss them a little more later on. The story needs to be told before we can really talk about the song.

Haiti is a nation of about 11.3 million people located in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands. The country shares the island of Hispanolia with The Dominican Republic and occupies a bit more than three eighths of the western half of the island. That’s like 10,700 square miles versus Dominican Republics 18,700 square miles. Haiti is the third largest country in the Caribbean by land are and the largest one by population. It is also the site of Navidad, the first Western settlement in the Americas established in 1492 by Christopher Columbus himself. This began the colonial period that served as the staging point for many things. The start of story involves another terrible thing that’s not rare: slavery. So we fast forward from 

Jean-Jacques was a man born into slavery in the French colony of St. Domingue with the surname Duclos. It’s known that his father took this name from the guy that owned him, Henri Duclos. Sadly not much else is known about his parents though because slavers weren’t big on getting people’s lineal information when they were kidnapping them from their homelands. It is 1758 and it was about 133 years into the French portion of the colonial occupation that began as a bunch of pirates participating in harassing the Spanish that were settled there. No kidding, they were even not so quietly funded by the crown in France.

Jean worked as a laborer for the same plantation he was born in until he was 30 years old. In that time he rose as a high as one was allowed and became a commandeur, what we’d call a foreman in English. A tough life that broke so many people. In 1788 Jean-Jacques was purchased by a free man of color (one of the MANY complicated layers of 18th century Haitian society I’m going to have to skip almost completely) called Henri Dessalines.Considering the complete of mention of him it appears giving his surname to a revolutionary was Henri’s single contribution to historical record.

Interestingly enough 1889 also happened to be the year the French took a census and I’ll quote a few broad strokes. Different sources cite different numbers with the slave population varying from 500,000 to 700,000 people. They do however consistently say that the Europens were soundly outnumbered ten to one by the people that they thought it was ok to own.

It was in this environment Toussaint Louverture began gathering the first slave armies and began the Haitian revolution. We’re going to skip basically all of that though because it isn’t critical for the story of the anthem this is supposed to be about. Remember the song I said I was talking about? Besides, it’s been done by Mike Duncan on The Revolutions Podcast and if you like history explained by someone who‘s better at podcasting than me you should give his stuff a listen. At the beginning of the revolution Jean-Jacques decided to keep the surname Dessalines and had been taken under the wing of Louverture. At the culmination of the revolution in 1803, Louverture had been captured, and Dessalines was one of the three generals that lead the decisive victory blow to Napoleon's forces (yes, THAT Napoleon) and went on to promulgate a declaration of independence in 1804 and declare himself the emperor.

Quite the ride. To top it off at the end of it he made Haiti the first country in the Americas to abolish slavery and establish the west’s first free Black republic. That fully justifies the honor of having the national anthem named after him because it’s one of the best things people have done. Unfortunately the second act for Dessalines is not very attractive, as happens an awful lot with great men. Dessalines initially offered amnesty and protection to the former slave owners and others that might have been considered enemies of the regime. But Jean-Jacque had lead a hard life full of abuse for him and everyone he cared for. It seems it made him hard too and he had between 3,000 and 5,000 white people of all ages killed, including people that were not enemies of the revolution. I obviously can’t condone all the killing but they were people that thought owning other people was just fine and he was a literal slave for 33 years. I’ll never understand what that felt like. However, Dessalines took it further and instituted an autocratic regime that was essentially slavery with wages. This splintered the movement’s power base and got the first Haitian Emperor assassinated in 1806 after barely 2 years in power. Regardless, if there was a guy to write a national anthem about Jean-Jacque Dessaline certainly fits the bill. Alright buckle up, we’re taking another time leap.

On to the end of the 19th century where in the 1870’s the men that wrote the lyrics and music for La Dessalinienne. In the ensuing 60 something years since the death of the Jean-Jacques Dessalines Haiti had been in a time period characterized more by it’s instability than anything else. It’s a fascinating section of history that we’re going to discuss absolutely none of actually, it’s not germane to the story. Following a brief period where there were two coups and four presidents in less than a decade Haiti ended the 1870s by finally signing a treaty with the Dominican Republic. They share the island of Hispaniola with them and part of the history we skipped is a bunch of war to try and take the entire thing over. The remaining two decades of the 1800’s saw a good deal of modernization of the infrastructure and the economy. The beginning saw a president resigning and the United States providing Pierre Alexis a naval blockade so he can take power in 1902

The folks that wrote the national anthem were, and mostly still are, not well known at all outside of Haiti. In my reading about anthems (of which there is MUCH) this is developing as a trend. Almost none of these guys, and the creators I’ve read about so far all men, are world famous. I was surprised by this at first. In their home country though? Not household names but notable enough that they’re in history books and the average citizen probably at least knows their name. As a note it seems that it’s pretty typical for the music and lyrics to have separate authors. This is probably only a surprise to me because I’m more of an enthusiastic amateur about music than anything approaching an expert.

The...

Hello and welcome to the Anthems podcast.

I'm Patrick, and today I'm going to.

Try and tell you the story of a song that helps to tell the.

Story of a nation. If I'm doing things correctly, you're going to want to hear another one.

Pretty sure that's how podcasting works, although I'm still working on that because this is episode one.

Haiti.

Today's anthem of choice is La Decelenian. It is the national anthem of Haiti. It gets to go first because I.

Asked my wife for a number between one and 100, and she picks 73.

Haiti is the 73rd entry on the.

Alphabetical list of national anthems on the.

Wikipedia page that lists national anthems. I had to start somewhere, and I.

Wanted to avoid themes and topical influences.

To get going, so we did something randomly. It's a fine choice, though, because the.

Story of the national anthem of Haiti.

Contains, as part of its opening act, the story of the haitian revolution. It's a favorite revolution of mine. You can have those, and it's pretty fun that I get to talk about it right out of the gate in a random way.

Of course, I'm going to give a shorthand version of it, and it's just.

A section of the narrative that I'll.

Be discussing because we are talking about national anthems, but they are a very patriotic thing, so it should not be.

A surprise that revolutions is going to.

Come up and get mentioned and often play a central role in the story of an anthem. In the case of Haiti's national anthem, the story starts about 33 years before the revolution, with the birth of one.

Of its central characters.

First, though, we need to hear La Dasalin. This is the National Anthems podcast, so we have to hear what we're talking about, right? We're going to go in blind, so.

Listen to three minutes and 30 seconds.

Of La Dasalaniena with me.

The same shine I show. One shot would I be where are you?

My first thought is that it definitely.

Has the fanfare and bombastic composition that.

I expect in certain kinds of national anthems. Of course, I'm saying this as a guy that is doing a podcast on them.

So I've been listening to many, many.

National anthems, and I have been doing critical listening to them. So these types of songs are resonating in my head all the time at the moment, but this one feels like a military parade.

I won't read the entire five verses.

Of it yet, and you will never hear me sing on this podcast.

The first verse makes the initial point.

Of the song rather well. Oh, I'll read that for you now. In English, of course. I will not offend the french language. For the country, for the ancestors let.

Us march, united let us march, united let there be no traitors in our ranks let us be the only masters of the soil let us march, united let us march, united for the country.

For the ancestors let us march, let us march, let us march, united for the country, for the ancestors. It's classic national anthem stuff in here. For the nation, for the people, tradition, etcetera. It checks off all kinds of boxes.

The first time it was performed, it was at a military style celebration to.

Commemorate a historic victory that marked a.

Century of independence for the haitian people. Marshall is definitely the appropriate descriptor of the tune.

To my mind, we're gonna put a pin in that as I'm getting ahead of things by, like, 165 years, because.

Again, the story of Le d'Esselinian starts.

With the story of the guy that the anthem is named to honor, Jean Jacques Dessallines. I will put the full lyrics of.

The french and haitian Creole in the.

Show notes along with the translation, and I'll discuss them more later on, but.

The story needs to be told before.

We can talk about the song.

Haiti is a nation of about 11.3 million people located in the greater Antilles.

Archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas and Turks and Cacos islands.

The country shares the island of Hispaniola.

With the Dominican Republic and occupies a.

Bit more than three eighths of the.

Western portion of the island. It covers about 10,700 sq mi, making it the third largest nation in the Caribbean by land area and also the largest in the area by population.

It is also the site of Navidad, the first western settlement in the Americas.

Established by none other than Christopher Columbus himself. This began the colonial period that served as the staging point for many things, great and terrible.

The start of our story involves a different terrible thing that is not all that rare, slavery. So we are going to fast forward into the colonial period. Jean Jacques was a man born into.

Slavery in the french colony of Saint.

Domingue with the surname Duclos.

It's known that his father took the.

Name Duclos from the guy that owned him, Henri. Sadly, not much else is known about Jean Jacques's parents because slavers were not.

Real big on getting information about people.

Into the french portion of the colonial occupation.

The french part began as a bunch.

Of pirates that were sanctioned by the.

French crown and sent to harass spanish traders. They just kinda settled in there.

Jean worked as a laborer for the same plantation that he was born on.

Until he was 30 years old. In that time, he rose to become a commander, what we would call a foreman in English. A tough life. A tough life. And it broke a lot of people.

One of the many, many complicated layers of 18th century haitian society that we're.

Going to kind of just blow by with a mention. This man's name was Henri Dessalines, and.

Considering that he has no other mention.

The year that the French took a.

Census of Saint Domingue.

I'll quote a few broad strokes, because.

They lay the groundwork for the revolution fairly plainly. Different sources cite different numbers, with the slave population varying from about a half a million to almost three quarters of a million people.

But they do, however, consistently say that the Europeans were outnumbered ten to one by the people that they thought it was okay to own. It was in this environment that Toussaint Louverture began gathering the first slave armies.

To begin the haitian revolution. We're going to skip through a bunch of it and only talk about bits and pieces, because we're supposed to talk about a song.

Besides, the story of the haitian revolution has been done very thoroughly and much better. Bye. Mike Duncan on the Revolutions podcast. So if you like history explained by somebody who is a veteran podcaster, listen to him.

Anyway, at the beginning of the revolution, Jean Jacques decided to keep the surname.

Dessalines and had been taken under the wing of L'Ouverture.

Dessalines was one of the three generals that led the decisive victory blow to Napoleon's forces.

Yep, that Napoleon. We're gonna run into him again as well. Then he went on to promulgate a.

Declared himself the emperor. As one does, it's quite the ride. And to top it all off, at.

The end, he made Haiti the first country in the americas to abolish slavery and establish the west's first free black.

Republic, fully justifying the honor of having a national anthem named after him, because it's one of the best things people have done. Unfortunately, as is the case with many revolutionaries and founding fathers, the second act for John Jacques is not real pretty. Not real pretty.

He initially offered amnesty and protection to the former slave owners and others that.

Might have been considered enemies of his regime.

But Jean Jacques had led a hard life and it was full of abuse for him and everyone that he cared for. It made him hard too.

That were not enemies of the revolution.

And were sympathetic to the cause. Obviously, I cannot condone all of the killing that he did, but these were.

People that thought owning other people was just fine. And he was a literal slave for 33 years.

I will never understand how that feels. However, Jean Jacques took it a bit.

Further and he instituted an autocratic regime.

That was essentially slavery with wages. And he took huge advantage of his own people. It splintered the movement and crushed his power base.

We're jumping up to the end of the 19th century.

The lyrics and music for La Decelen.

Were born in the ensuing 60 something years.

Before that and after the revolution and the death of John Jacques Dessalines, Haiti had been in a time period that is better characterized by its instability than anything other. It's a fascinating section of history and we're not going to talk about it.

Over the remaining two decades of the 18 hundreds saw a good deal of.

Modernization of the infrastructure and the economy.

Which I think was made in large part possible by the geopolitical stability that comes with not waging war on your neighbor. The beginning of the 20th century saw.

Guys are not world famous. They're just not. I was surprised by it at first, but I guess I kind of shouldn't be. But in their own country, they're pretty well known.

I mean, they're not household names.

They're in history books and stuff.

And the average citizen at least probably knows their name as a note it.

Seems that it is also pretty typical.

For music and lyrics to have separate authors.

Another thing that probably shouldn't have surprised.

Me, although I am far more of an enthusiastic amateur when it comes to music than anything approaching an expert. The man that wrote the poem La d'Estellan is a more prominent figure in.

Haitian history than the composer, at least.

As far as I can tell. He is Justin Larrisson, and he's actually quite an ambitious guy.

If he hadn't died way too young.

He might have become a world famous dude. Justin was born in Port au Prince, which is the capital of Haiti.

He also started his own newspaper that.

Promoted social justice for the peasant class and translated oral storytelling tradition of Iodians.

Into an entirely new and entirely haitian literary form.

Not a bad resume at all. However. Larsson died prematurely at the age of 34 or 35 of I have no idea. The sources are unclear.

The composer Justin Giffrard was born in.

1873 in Ghanaiev, Haiti.

He attended secondary school and studied mostly.

Piano under Monsieur Tippen, er, who I am unable to find any specific information.

On, despite him being referred to as a fairly well known instructor.

Justin's uncle was Fabre Giffard.

He was a former president of Haiti and seems to just sorta thrown in.

The towel and given up being the president. One day he fled to Jamaica with his family in disguise. Grandfather, though, was Nicholas Giffard, participant in.

The revolution and a signatory to the haitian Declaration of Independence. That document was a direct rebellion against Napoleon's re imposition of slavery in the.

A state funeral and buried in a.

Stone crypt that the government erected in his honor.

As I alluded to before in explaining away the large time jump between dessalines.

Death and the births of Monsieur Larisson and Monsieur Geffrard, Haiti did not exactly.

Reach a point of serene political stability.

In the country's first century of independence.

Looking back at the beginning of its.

Second century, things were not especially great there either.

Low coffee prices and the inability of.

The current government to secure international funding preceded several decades of economic downturn.

A centennial celebration of freedom is a celebration that everyone in the country wants.

To have, so committee was formed.

Lots of countries have an independent celebration. Haiti is not an exception, and they have theirs.

On January 1, the holiday commemorates the.

Successful revolution that culminated in the promulgation.

Alexis, who at the time of the centennial was two years into his presidency.

And was also 82 years old.

The commission responsible for the festivities decided to hold a two part competition for.

Submissions were taken for the lyrics, and we already know that Justin Larisan won.

The day in that competition.

The five judge panel made their choice based on the poetic simplicity of the.

Message and extremely patriotic tone.

After they had their lyrics, composers were invited to set them to music.

And again, we know who won the contest. It was Nicolas Geffrard. His march was unanimously chosen for its crisp, martial rhythms, declaratory melody, and resolute character.

The judges believed that it would inspire.

Pride and patriotism in the listener. The name was suggested by a historian.

Named Clement Lemaire for reasons that hopefully have not just been alluded to in this show.

There are two differing accounts of the first performance of La vessel and Ian as the newly chosen national anthem.

Curiously, they are both said to have.

The less evidenced account is said to.

Have happened in St. Mark at the.

Dedication of a statue to Jean Jacques.

The more evidenced and more enthusiastic version.

Is that it was performed first at.

A ceremony to commemorate the arrival of.

The indian army at the capital, Port au Prince. That's the army that Jean Jacques and his two other general buddies headed.

The anthem was said to be performed.

With warmth that inflamed the audience to delirium by the famous haitian performer Auguste de Pradin. I can't find anything that I'm willing to say is definitive about which is which, but there's a lot more to be said about the second one.

Independence Day celebration saw the lyrics and.

Music widely distributed amongst the haitian people, and the ceremony was to rename a.

Prominent place to the square of the heroes of the independence.

It sounds a lot better in French. I'm not going to say it, though, because it doesn't sound good in French. When I do a performance at an.

Officially sanctioned government ceremony and a wide positive acceptance of a song, do not.

Make a song into a national anthem. It is unclear to me why this.

Sudrey d'Artagnan, pardon my pronunciation, the anthem.

Being officially declared under this particular president.

Is kind of an odd historical footnote because Su Dre was a haitian senator.

That was handpicked by the United States.

To become the president. And why was the US picking a haitian president? Because the US military was occupying Haiti.

As well as other nations in the.

Area to bully the smaller countries into asymmetric treaties. I mean, help stabilize the geopolitical situation in the region.

19 more years of occupation by a foreign people, Haiti again celebrated their independence with La desolate.

Following that, it took another twelve years for the newly promulgated constitution in November.

At official state functions, international sporting events that Haiti is involved in, and schoolchildren will sometimes sing a verse a day.

To mark the start of school, or.

They will sing the first and last verse at the end of the day. The original manuscript for la decelerant still exists. It is housed in Port au Princes.

National Museum on the Champ de Mars.

In the intervening years, the anthem has been played many times for the country's very old soccer club. They've been to a few World cups. The song has also made two appearances.

And with that, that's the current state of the anthem for the most case. There's, of course, an enormous amount of.

Interesting stuff that I've read about Haiti.

That is not included in this narrative because I can fly off into tangent land pretty easily.

Go read more about this country. It's a fascinating place.

Before wrapping things up, and since the story is laid out, we will now.

Take a look at the song itself.

And I'm going to learn something about music along with you.

Now, oftentimes when I talk about these songs, I'm going to be working off of several different technical analysis by people that know what they're talking about. In the case of lades align, the.

Fact that I'm not a professional musician.

And that I lack a lot of technical knowledge is going to come out.

Because there's not a lot to be.

Said about this song.

It's very simple.

And I can't find much technical analysis on it. Just.

It's a marching song. It's a four four beat.

You know, I like it because I'm a sucker for marching bands. It has a tempo that pulls me in, and the melody is pretty good, too. No, just kind of gets you going. Overall, it's, uh. It's not much, though.

The lyrics there.

There's some stuff to be said about.

That, so we'll move on to those. I cannot find a direct analysis of the poem that Larrison wrote, but it.

Compares favorably with another poem I found called Valley Song. Both of them consist of five stanzas.

With eight lines each.

And in the original French, la dusselinion confirms to the rhyming scheme aba baba, specifically a form called a triolet, wherein the first line is repeated as the 6th and 8th, and the second line is repeated as the fifth with the a's and b's rhyming the.

And the lyrics as a whole are written to honor the homeland, remember the forefathers, and unify as one people. It was immediately seen as a powerful symbol of liberty and patriotism for the country.

Clearly.

I will be discussing the english translation.

But do note that this is originally.

In French and does, in fact, rhyme in that language.

The first verse reads, for the country for the ancestors let's walk united let us walk united in our ranks no traitors of the ground let us be.

The sole masters let's march united let us march united for the country, for the ancestors let us march, let us.

March, let us march united for the country, for the ancestors early in the.

Show, I mentioned the strong patriotic feel of the verse.

It's a sort of classic national anthem verse that honors country and ancestors. Verse two goes on to say, for the ancestors for the fatherland happy diggers.

Happy diggers when the field bears fruit.

The soul is fortified happy diggers happy.

Diggers for the ancestors for the fatherland.

Diggers, diggers happy diggers for the ancestors.

For the fatherland this verse is to extol the virtues of good soul fulfilling work. Specificity about the why of work and the goodness of the task is really.

Important in this song to remind people at a time when they are a century out from slavery, that their ancestors.

Spent literal centuries doing nothing but working.

Or being tortured under the caribbean sun before modern medicine, and again as literal slaves. So why they're doing the work. It's very important. Verse three goes on to say, for the country and for our fathers form.

Sons form sons free, strong and prosperous.

We will always be brothers form sons.

Form sons for the country and for.

Our fathers form, form sons for the country and for our fathers.

This couplet is projecting fruitfulness with children and prosperity onto future generations.

You can also see here what will.

Be seen again and again in old songs in general.

Now, I cannot and will not accuse.

Justin of having any sexist intentions when writing the poem, but it can be observed that he lived and wrote it.

At a time when sexism was just.

Kind of how things were.

The fourth verse goes on to read.

For the ancestors for the fatherland O God of valiance O God of valiance under your infinite guard take our rights.

Our life O God of valiance O God of valiance for the ancestors for the fatherland O God O God O God of precious for the ancestors for the fatherland this couplet reads kind of like a prayer. The God of valiance, or de pru in French is probably being used in the sense of the Old Testament language. That is, it's being used as an.

Alternative translation to the hebrew word.

It means. Well, it can also be translated as power, or might, depending on the context and the person translating it.

Ler san wanted to invoke a sense.

Of divine protection amongst the haitian people, and the haitian people are to this day a generally very religious country, so this was an effective line. The fifth and final verse of la.

Gasalin is as well known as the first in Haiti.

Since the first and the last are.

Often used as a foreshortened performance of the song.

It reads as follows.

For the flag for the fatherland to die is beautiful to die is beautiful our past cries out to us have a hardened soul to die is beautiful to die is beautiful for the flag for the fatherland to die, to die, to die is beautiful for the flag for the fatherland another very patriotic verse.

It is beautiful to die for the.

Flag in honor of the fatherland despite.

The dark shadow of slavery that inhabits the past and seeks to harden the.

Hearts of the people, there is a.

Triumphant willingness to die for the freedom that they've successfully fought for and held.

Onto for such a long time. All told, it is exactly what one.

Might expect a national anthem to sound like.

With that, I've just about exhausted the amount of time that we're going to.

Be spending on this show.

There are a few more things to mention. One, there was a pin that I mentioned before when I offhandedly said that.

La daisa Leon was the winning piece.

In a contest to replace the old national anthem.

And that, my friends, is a story for another day because one anthem at a time. Alright, before I go, I do want to extend a special thanks to Rebecca Dirksen.

She is an associate professor of ethnomusicology.

At the University of Indiana at Bloomingdale.

Doctor Dirksen also happens to specialize in.

Haitian music, and the fact that she.

Does incredibly thorough work was of an immense benefit to me in writing this episode.

I have sent her thanks on academia.edu, but in case she hears this go Rebecca. I appreciate it.

The writing, recording and production for the.

Show are done by me and I.

Also wrote and played the intro and outro music and used it with my permission. Unless otherwise noted, the national anthems that.

I play are public domain stuff, full.

Lyrics in the relevant languages, a mostly full transcript of the show, my sources, and other tasty bits I found are contained in the show notes. The most direct way to get to.

Those show notes is@anthemspodcast.com you can find me on Facebook as the anthemspodcast. I don't know if I'm ever gonna have the energy to get on all.

The rest of the socials.

You can also email me corrections, comments.

Suggestions, ideas, instructions on how to do.

Awesome things and even ask me questions@anthemspodmail.com.

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