God Bless Our Homeland Ghana

"God Bless Our Homeland Ghana"

The lyrics of "God Bless Our Homeland Ghana" above a orchestral reduction sheet music of the National Symphony Orchestra Ghana.

National anthem of  Ghana

Lyrics Michael Kwame Gbordzoe ("God Bless Our Homeland Ghana")
Music Philip Gbeho ("God Bless Our Homeland Ghana")
Adopted 1957

Music sample
"God Bless Our Homeland Ghana" (Vocal)
Instrumental sample
God Bless Our Homeland Ghana (Instrumental)
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Wikisource has original text related to this article:
Universal Newsreel about the establishment of Ghana in 1957

"God Bless Our Homeland Ghana" is the national anthem of Ghana. The anthem "God Bless Our Homeland Ghana" was originally written and composed by Philip Gbeho and adopted in 1957.

Lyrics

Original lyrics

The current text was chosen some time after the 1966 coup in Ghana. Philip Gbeho’s text that was discarded at that time started with:

Lord God our Father we pray thee,
Be thou our guide in all our ways,
May we unite together, proclaim the dawn of our new day!
Children of Ghana arise and uphold your cause
And blaze the trail of freedom far and wide,
O God our Father harken to our call
and bring us peace here in our fatherland.

Current lyrics

The current lyrics of the "God Bless Our Homeland Ghana" national anthem that has been in use since the 1970s were written by Michael Kwame Gbordzoe while a student within the framework of a national competition,[1] and is accompanied by Ghana's national pledge.

Thus, the lyrics of Ghana’s national anthem "God Bless Our Homeland Ghana" is as follows:[1]

God Bless Our Homeland Ghana[1]
First stanza
God bless our homeland Ghana

And make our nation great and strong,
Bold to defend forever
The cause of Freedom and of Right;
Fill our hearts with true humility,
Make us cherish fearless honesty,
And help us to resist oppressors' rule

With all our will and might for evermore.
Second stanza
Hail to thy name, O Ghana,

To thee we make our solemn vow:
Steadfast to build together
A nation strong in Unity;
With our gifts of mind and strength of arm,
Whether night or day, in the midst of storm,
In every need, whate'er the call may be,

To serve thee, Ghana, now and evermore.
Third stanza
Raise high the flag of Ghana

and one with Africa advance;
Black star of hope and honour
To all who thirst for liberty;
Where the banner of Ghana freely flies,
May the way to freedom truly lie;
Arise, arise, O sons of Ghana land,

And under God march on for evermore!

Thus, although Philip Gbeho’s composition is still being used, the current lyrics beginning "God Bless our Homeland Ghana" do not originate from him.

Michael Kwame Gbordzoe, who became a scientist by profession, has drawn the attention of the Ghana Government to the fact that although his lyrics have been adopted for the country’s national anthem since the 1970s, there has so far been no official Ghana Government recognition for his work, which may be attributed to the abrupt changes in regimes in Ghana in the past.[2][3]

Messages were sent to various Ghanaian government agencies, and was also discussed on air at the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), Uniiq FM programme PTGlive, on 9 March 2008.

National Pledge Of Ghana

The National Pledge Of Ghana is the National Pledge (Oath of allegiance) to the Republic of Ghana, and is recited immediately after "God Bless Our Homeland Ghana".

Notes and references

  1. 1 2 3 "Ghana National Anthem". Ghanaembassy. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  2. ↑ "Who Owns The Ghana National Anthem", GhanaWeb, 18 August 2009.
  3. ↑ "German-based Ghanaian says he wrote lyrics of anthem and pledge", Modern Ghana, 4 April 2009.

External links

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