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August 07, 2006
Mexicanos, al grito de guerra
I have not discussed the national anthem of Mexico, or as it's called here, El Himno Nacional Mexicano. It's got a perky melody and there is an interesting story behind it, but the words are ridiculously militaristic for modern-day Mexico.
It makes sense at first, considering the words were written in 1853, shortly after the war with the United States (1846–1848). Mexico lost over 500,000 square miles of their territory in this war (Texas, California, Nevada, Utah, and sections of Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, and Wyoming), which was nearly half of the country.
At the time, Antonio López de Santa Anna was president of Mexico. Beyond his famous victory at the Alamo
He was a hero on numerous occasions, but his popularity was always short-lived. Every time he did something that made people like him, he did something that made people hate him. After the the Alamo, at the Battle of San Jacinto, his troops were ambushed by Sam Houston's troops and thoroughly trounced. Six hundred of the surprised soldiers were killed and over seven hundred taken prisoner in just twenty minutes. Santa Ana was not even present at the battle, but was captured the following day, and shortly thereafter signed the Treaties of Velasco which gave the Texas territory away but spared his life. Mexicans were not happy about this, declaring that Santa Anna was no longer president and therefore the treaties he signed were not valid.
He regained popularity through his bravery in the Pastry War, and was asked to again take the reigns of the country after President Anastasio Bustamante was deposed. The country was bankrupt at this point, having endured two wars and facing internal rebellion. He raised taxes, declared publication of materials critical of his regime to be illegal and threw dissenters in jail. In what was considered his ultimate betrayal of his country, he sold nearly half the territory of the country off to the United States. This is the notorious act for which he is remembered in Mexico today.
He delighted in his status as a great Mexican hero, and was always doing whatever it took to maintain his perception as the modest defender of the nation. In one of his efforts to gain favor with the Mexican public, he announced a contest in November of 1853 for a patriotic composition that would become the Mexican national anthem.
Francisco González Bocanegra didn't have any interest in entering, but penned an entry after his fiancée locked him in a bedroom and refused to let him out until he completed one. It won by unanimous vote and was set to a composition by Spanish-born composer Jaime Nunó entitled "Díos y libertad."
The entire song, accepted as official on 16 September (Mexico's Independence Day) of 1854, consists of 10 stanzas, all overwrought with nationalistic sentimentality, and at times, violence and gore. In 1943, President Manuel Ávila Camacho signed an order making the official version consist of only the chorus, first stanza, fifth stanza, sixth stanza and tenth stanza. Most often when you hear it, it has been reduced even further to be the chorus, first stanza, the chorus, tenth stanza and the chorus (or, at sporting events, only the chorus, first stanza and the chorus).
The last war in which Mexico was involved was World War II. Because corrupt, violent and authoritarian governments (as well as several corrupt, violent and authoritarian rebel movements) have plagued Latin American countries, the general sentiment of the people is that the shedding of blood for patriotic ideals is ultimately a pointless waste of life. Movements are afoot in several countries to hold governments and politicians accountable for their "disappearing" thousands of political dissidents, so the idea that "heaven has given [the state] a soldier in every son" is a bit out of date.
There are some unusual laws surrounding the Himno Nacional also. Like you can be fined for singing it incorrectly.
The law dealing with the proper use of the Mexican national anthem is Chapter 5 of the Ley sobre el Escudo, la Bandera y el Himno Nacionales. It sets forth that the anthem must be played at the beginning and end of any broadcast day for radio and television, and when played on television, the flag must also be shown at the same time. Yet there are more interesting provisions, such as those that state that the anthem cannot be sung for commercial or promotional use, that it can only be used at acts of an official, civic, cultural, scholastic or sporting nature, that it can only be played once within the same ceremony, and that if the anthem is played outside of Mexico, the Secretaría de Relaciones Exteriores must grant permission for its use and ensure that it's not being played for commercial purposes.
It took the government until 2005 to officially permit the anthem to be translated into some of the indigenous languages of Mexico, such as Mixteco, Maya and Nahuatl.
Below follows the entire set of lyrics in Spanish, and then the translation into English of the current official version.
Pick a version in MP3 format and sing along! Just don't do it in public where it could be considered a performance.
Coro
Mexicanos al grito de guerra
el acero aprestad y el bridón.
Y retiemble en su centro la tierra,
al sonoro rugir del cañón.Estrofa I
Ciña ¡oh Patria! tus sienes de oliva
de la paz el arcángel divino,
que en el cielo tu eterno destino
por el dedo de Dios se escribió.
Mas si osare un extraño enemigo
profanar con sus plantas tu suelo,
piensa ¡oh Patria querida! que el cielo
un soldado en cada hijo te dio.Estrofa II
En sangrientos combates los viste
por tu amor palpitando sus senos,
arrostrar la metralla serenos,
y la muerte o la gloria buscar.
Si el recuerdo de antiguas hazañas
de tus hijos inflama la mente,
los recuerdos del triunfo tu frente,
volverán inmortales a ornar.Estrofa III
Como al golpe del rayo la encina,
se derrumba hasta el hondo torrente,
la discordia vencida, impotente,
a los pies del arcángel cayó.
Ya no más, de tus hijos la sangre,
se derrame en contienda de hermanos;
sólo encuentre el acero en sus manos
quien tu nombre sagrado insultó.Estrofa IV
Del guerrero inmortal de Zempoala
te defiende la espada terrible,
y sostiene su brazo invencible,
tu sagrado pendón tricolor.
Él será del feliz mexicano
en la paz y en la guerra el caudillo,
porque él supo sus armas de brillo
circundar en los campos de honor.Estrofa V
Guerra, guerra sin tregua al que intente
de la Patria manchar los blasones,
Guerra, guerra, los patrios pendones
en las olas de sangre empapad.
Guerra, guerra. En el monte, en el valle,
los cañones horrísonos truenen,
y los ecos sonoros resuenen
con las voces de ¡Unión! ¡Libertad!Estrofa VI
Antes, Patria, que inermes tus hijos,
bajo el yugo su cuello dobleguen,
tus campiñas con sangre se rieguen,
sobre sangre se estampe su pie.
Y los templos, palacios y torres
se derrumben con hórrido estruendo,
y sus ruinas existan diciendo:
De mil héroes la Patria aquí fue.Estrofa VII
Si a la lid contra hueste enemiga,
nos convoca la trompa guerrera,
de Iturbide la sacra bandera,
mexicanos, valientes seguid.
Y a los fieles bridones les sirvan
las vencidas enseñas de alfombra;
los laureles del triunfo den sombra
a la frente del Bravo Adalid.Estrofa VIII
Vuelva altivo a los patrios hogares,
el guerrero a cantar su victoria,
ostentando las palmas de gloria
que supiera en la lid conquistar.
Tornaránse sus lauros sangrientos
en guirnaldas de mirtos y rosas,
que el amor de las hijas y esposas,
también sabe a los bravos premiar.Estrofa IX
Y el que al golpe de ardiente metralla,
de la Patria en las aras sucumba,
obtendrá en recompensa una tumba
donde brille, de gloria, la luz.
Y, de Iguala, la enseña querida
a su espada sangrienta enlazada,
de laurel inmortal coronada,
formará de su fosa una cruz.Estrofa X
¡Patria, Patria! tus hijos te juran
exhalar en tus aras su aliento,
si el clarín, con su bélico acento,
los convoca a lidiar con valor.
¡Para ti las guirnaldas de oliva!
¡Un recuerdo para ellos de gloria!
¡Un laurel para ti de victoria!
¡Un sepulcro para ellos de honor!==
Chorus
Mexicans, at the cry of war,
prepare the steel and the steed,
and may the earth shake at its core
to the resounding roar of the cannon.Stanza I
Gird, oh country, your brow with olive
the divine archangel of peace,
for your eternal destiny was written
in the heavens by the hand of God.
But if some strange enemy should dare
to profane your ground with his step,
think, oh beloved country, that heaven
has given you a soldier in every son.Stanza V
War, war without truce to any who dare
to tarnish the country's coat-of-arms!
War, war! Take the national pennants
and soak them in waves of blood.
War, war! In the mountain, in the valley,
the cannons thunder in horrid unison
and the resonant echoes
cry out union, liberty!Stanza VI
Oh country, ere your children
defenseless bend their neck to the yoke,
may your fields be watered with blood,
may they trod upon blood.
And may your temples, palaces and towers
collapse with horrid clamor,
and their ruins live on to say:
This land belonged to a thousand heroes.Stanza X
Oh, country, country, your children swear
to breathe their last in your honor,
if the trumpet with warlike accent
should call them to fight with courage.
For you the olive branches!
A memory for them of glory!
A laurel of victory for you!
For them a tomb with honor!
Posted by crispy at August 7, 2006 12:02 AM
Comments
Mr. Burns: Hold on a minute there maestro ... there's a NEW Mexico?
Posted by: akira at August 8, 2006 02:07 PM
This reminds of a recent AP story I found quite enlightening.
At forums for peace, national anthems often glorify bloodshed and war
By DOUG MELLGREN
Associated Press Writer
ADVANCE COPY - For Release 08/06/2006
OSLO, Norway (AP) - We hear them everywhere _ at sporting events like the World Cup, during visits by foreign dignitaries, at national day celebrations around the globe. But anybody listening closely will notice national anthems are rarely odes to peace and harmony.
In fact, war or even outright savagery are often the common thread.
The World Cup final ended with a notorious head-butting, and it started with the martial strains of France's "La Marseillaise" and Italy's "Song of the Italians."
"Form your battalions! Let's march, let's march. Let an impure blood water our furrows!" the French players sang.
"Let us band together, ready to die! Italy has called!" chanted the Italians.
Americans sing about their flag flying high in a battle, and other countries have their own belligerent lyrics. Citizens used to singing only the first or second verse about patriotism and their beautiful country are often barely aware of sometimes darker messages in later verses.
Danes sing of splitting the heads of Swedes, Argentines of dying gloriously for the nation, Vietnamese of stepping over the bodies of their enemies.
Sverre Lodgaard, director of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, said many anthems are born of a decisive moment in a nation's history. All too often, those include bloodshed.
"National awareness grows most strong at critical moments," he said. "I think many, even most, of the nations we see today were born out of war."
Even though now-friendly neighbors Sweden and Denmark haven't fought so much as a skirmish in almost two centuries, Danes still gloat in song over slicing the skulls of Swedes in 1644.
"King Christian stood by the lofty mast, in mist and smoke; his sword was hammering so fast, through Gothic (Swedish) helm and brain it passed," says one of Denmark's two official anthems.
Danes are not alone in their ancient grudge against the now militarily neutral and devoutly peaceful Sweden, which was once a major European power but hasn't fought a war since 1814. A rarely sung verse in the Polish anthem proclaims: "After the Swedish annexation, to save the fatherland, we shall return by sea."
Norway, the home of the Nobel Peace Prize and a global peace mediator, has an anthem that mainly hypes the Nordic nation's rugged beauty. But further down, a seldom sung verse also mentions the Swedish enemy, with "farmers sharpening their axes" to meet them in battle.
It's not just in Europe that nations sing of war.
"The Star Spangled Banner," adopted by Congress as the national anthem in 1931, describes the 1814 battle by Americans to hold Fort McHenry against the attacking British fleet.
Its describes "rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air," and in a later verse, "the havoc of war and the battle's confusion."
In Mexico, the national anthem gives the impression that citizens remain ready to grab a rifle and leap into saddle at the slightest threat: "Mexicans, at the cry of war, prepare the steel and the steed, and may the earth shake at its core to the resounding roar of the cannon."
Britain's anthem urges citizens to "scatter our enemies and make them fall!" The Irish, with equal determination, sing: "We're children of a fighting race, that never yet has known disgrace."
The Argentines take a similar view, singing: "Let us live crowned with glory, or swear to die gloriously."
The world's most populous nation, China, seems to want to make clear it has enough people to scare off any enemy: "Arise! Arise! Arise! We are millions strong with hearts that beat as one! Brave the enemy's gunfire, march on."
Some countries do pick anthems along more peaceful lines. The anthem that neutral Switzerland made official in 1981 describes the moment "when the Alps glow bright with splendor."
"That's not surprising," said Lodgaard. "The Swiss haven't fought a war in something like 500 years, which is remarkable."
Bolivians acknowledge the wars of the past, but they may sum up best what most people hope for:
"The martial turmoil of yesterday, and the horrible clamor of war, are followed today, in harmonious contrast, by sweet hymns of peace and unity."
Posted by: Mark Allen at August 9, 2006 04:52 PM