Jan 20, 17 / Aqu 20, 01 22:40 UTC

My Asgardia  

I wrote this for the national anthem. I hope it's within the rules to post it here. I posted an earlier version on Facebook, but I didn't have a recording at the time. I would have preferred if someone else had sang the lyrics, but I gave it my best attempt. You will have to imagine a professional singer, or a crowd singing this. I believe it needs an additional verse in Chinese.

http://www.czardas.co.uk/downloads/my_asgardia.mp3

http://www.czardas.co.uk/downloads/my_asgardia.pdf

  Last edited by:  Nicholas Wilkinson (Asgardian)  on Jan 23, 17 / Aqu 23, 01 23:19 UTC, Total number of edits: 2 times
Reason: Formatted links so you can click them.

Jan 25, 17 / Aqu 25, 01 10:59 UTC

Perhaps posting this here was premature. Anyway I love music so much that I couldn't help myself. After reflection I came to the conclusion that it would be impossible to write an anthem that was suitable for all languages and also meaningful. The lyrics are therefore very simple. Now that I have figured out how forum formatting works, I will post the correct text for anyone who wants to paste it into Google Translate.

Asgardia, Asgardia,
Up in the sky we defend Earth,
Asgardia, Asgardia,
Together we unite as one.

Our home is important,
We care for our children,
The future is where we are heading.
The planet must be saved,
Our country is brave,
You are important to me.

Asgardia, Asgardia,
Up in the sky we defend Earth,
Asgardia, Asgardia,
Together we unite as one.

For all of the people,
And life on our planet,
we care about your existance.
We have one objective,
To defend our future,
From anything you might not see.

Asgardia, Asgardia,
Together we unite as one.

Another consideration was cultural familiarity: I only used diatonic notes from the major scale because it is perhaps the most widely used musical scale on the planet. To sidestep possible copyright issues, I used a mixed meter. The chances that this arrangement of notes occurs with the same rhythmic groupings is rather small, although the typical scales and arpeggios I have used will have been employed by countless composers over the centuries. In addition to the aforementioned considerations, the mixed meter rhythm is also intended to represent different orbital periods: two or three orbits within the same time period (triple time mixed with duple time). Notice how the pace of the music seems to keep changing.

I think it's a good idea to have an anthem with alternative lyrics to be sung in several languages. Perhaps that's something for the future. I wanted to make the song easy to play on any instrument, so I kept the harmony as simple as I could. The song could be arranged with more complex harmonies for orchestra. I think my guitar playing is not too bad, but I admit my singing leaves something to be desired.

I've seen a lot of flags, but not many suggestions for an anthem. Have any of you submitted an entry? What were your thoughts about it?

  Last edited by:  Nicholas Wilkinson (Asgardian)  on Jan 26, 17 / Aqu 26, 01 04:06 UTC, Total number of edits: 11 times
Reason: corrections

Jan 25, 17 / Aqu 25, 01 13:34 UTC

I do like the melody of this song and thank you for your efforts.
Although I'm Chinese,perfectly translate Chinese verse to English is too difficult to me. I hope someone will help you.

Jan 25, 17 / Aqu 25, 01 13:38 UTC

You are a talented person. This is great! From the lyrics, I see the unity! Your playing is very good!

Jan 25, 17 / Aqu 25, 01 13:52 UTC

Thanks to both of you.

"I hope someone will help you"

I hope so too. I think I will be able to find someone. The words must fit with the melody.
我也这样希望。 我想我会找到一个人。 这些词必须适合旋律。

  Last edited by:  Nicholas Wilkinson (Asgardian)  on Jan 25, 17 / Aqu 25, 01 14:06 UTC, Total number of edits: 1 time

Jan 25, 17 / Aqu 25, 01 23:07 UTC

I really like you national anthem but there is a sentences that could represent to all of us.

For example:

You are important to me, we could change it to "You are important to us." or something like that, but that's my opinion.

Jan 26, 17 / Aqu 26, 01 03:46 UTC

Hi Warp!

Thanks for your kind comments. I am using poetic license at that point. The word 'me' rhymes with 'Anything you cannot see.' at the end of the second verse. Otherwise I agree that your suggestion would be an improvement.

Lyrics do not need to be grammatically correct or rhyme. When sung by more than one person, and with a little imagination, the word 'me' can be interpreted to actually mean 'us'. Think of it like this: a man walks into a bar and asks "Who wants a free drink?". Everyone shouts "Me!".

I'm certainly happy to hear all suggestions. I'm sure it could be improved and new verses added. If people show enough interest in this, I'll write an arrangement to include more instruments and try to get a better recording.

  Last edited by:  Nicholas Wilkinson (Asgardian)  on Jan 26, 17 / Aqu 26, 01 03:59 UTC, Total number of edits: 6 times
Reason: poetic license

Jan 26, 17 / Aqu 26, 01 16:13 UTC

Translated from Russian: Hello. I like this! Personally, I agree that it has become our national anthem.

Jan 26, 17 / Aqu 26, 01 21:28 UTC

Thanks Kuralia.

I wish you were the judge of this competition. :)
Я желаю вам было судить об этом конкурсе.

We have not yet heard all the other anthems.
Мы до сих пор не слышал, все другие гимны.

Let's see whether the judges like it first. It can become one of many songs of Asgardia, whatever the outcome of the competition. It should be easy to arrange for orchestra, although I am a little restricted by lack of resources and the time I have available. It's something I intend to do.

  Last edited by:  Nicholas Wilkinson (Asgardian)  on Jan 26, 17 / Aqu 26, 01 21:29 UTC, Total number of edits: 1 time
Reason: added punctuation

Feb 16, 17 / Pis 19, 01 08:09 UTC

My entry to the contest has the most dislikes of all the entries, yet not a single negative comment has been made. What am I to make of this? I already know that I don't have a good singing voice, but what about the melody or the lyrics? What exactly does 77 negative votes imply?

  Last edited by:  Nicholas Wilkinson (Asgardian)  on Feb 16, 17 / Pis 19, 01 08:15 UTC, Total number of edits: 1 time

Feb 17, 17 / Pis 20, 01 22:36 UTC

I had a little inspiration earlier today, during a one hour tram journey to the dentist. Perhaps it had something to do with the music theory book I was reading en route. I created this solo piano version of my song after I got home. It's a midi file (plays on Windows Media Player).

http://www.czardas.co.uk/downloads/piano.mid

  Last edited by:  Nicholas Wilkinson (Asgardian)  on Feb 17, 17 / Pis 20, 01 22:36 UTC, Total number of edits: 1 time