Kassaman (We Pledge - Algeria)

December 7, 2011 3:27 AM

Changing gears a bit, we go to one of the more fascinating anthems to grace the album. Kassaman's lyrics were written by Algerian poet Mufdi Zakariah while imprisoned by French colonial forces. He wrote the verses on his cell walls using his own blood. They are, by nature, extremely violent, and (far as I know) may comprise the only national anthem which mentions machine guns directly.

ABOUT THE ANTHEM:

Adopted in 1963, shortly after gaining Independence from France, this anthem is unusual in that it directly mentions another nation (France) in its lyrics, though that verse is not included here.

LYRICS:

We swear by the lightning that destroys,
By the streams of generous blood being shed,
By the bright flags that wave,
Flying proudly on the high djebels,
That we are in revolt, whether to live or to die,
We are determined that Algeria should live,
So be our witness -be our witness -be our witness!

We are soldiers in revolt for truth
And we have fought for our independence.
When we spoke, nobody listened to us,
So we have taken the noise of gunpowder as our rhythm
And the sound of machine guns as our melody,
We are determined that Algeria should live,
So be our witness -be our witness -be our witness!

From our heroes we shall make an army come to being,
From our dead we shall build up a glory,
Our spirits shall ascend to immortality
And on our shoulders we shall raise the Standard.
To the nation's Liberation Front we have sworn an oath,
We are determined that Algeria should live,
So be our witness -be our witness -be our witness!

The cry of the Fatherland sounds from the battlefields.
Listen to it and answer the call!
Let it be written with the blood of martyrs
And be read to future generations.
Oh, Glory, we have held out our hand to you,
We are determined that Algeria should live,
So be our witness -be our witness -be our witness!

INSTRUMENTATION


Trey Beauregard - Vocals
Timbill Corder - Accordion
Tommy Scheurich - Viola, Temple Block

Text by Mufdi Zakariah, 1956.

posted by askmeaboutLOOM

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