National Anthem Comparison
Burkina Faso vs Guinea
3
Shared themes
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Same mood
26
26 years apart
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Same continent
Comparison Analysis
Burkina Faso and Guinea, both Africa nations, take distinct approaches to their national anthems. Burkina Faso's "A Single Night" was written in 1984, while Guinea's "Liberty" dates to 1958.
Both anthems share themes of independence, unity and freedom. Burkina Faso additionally explores revolution and battle / war, while Guinea also touches on ancestors / heritage.
Both anthems carry a defiant tone, creating a similar emotional register despite their geographic distance.
Burkina Faso changed its national anthem in 1984, reflecting a shift in the nation's identity or political landscape.
Shared themes
Burkina Faso
🔥 Revolution 🗽 Independence 🤝 Unity 🕊 Freedom ⚔ Battle / War
Guinea
🕊 Freedom 🗽 Independence 🤝 Unity 🏺 Ancestors / Heritage
Shared themes:
🗽 Independence 🤝 Unity 🕊 Freedom
Metadata
| Burkina Faso | Guinea | |
|---|---|---|
| Written | 1984 | 1958 |
| Adopted | 1984 | 1958 |
| Lyricist | Thomas Sankara | Fodéba Keita |
| Composer | Thomas Sankara | Fodéba Keita (after a traditional song) |
| Language | fr | fr |
| Region | West Africa | West Africa |
Lyrics Side by Side
Burkina Faso
Une Seule Nuit
Original
I. Contre la férule humiliante il y a déjà mille ans
La rapacité venue de loin les asservir il y a cent ans
Contre la cynique malice métamorphosée
En néocolonialisme et ses petits servants locaux
Beaucoup flanchèrent et certains résistèrent
Mais les échecs, les succès, la sueur, le sang
Ont fortifié notre peuple courageux
Et fertilisé sa lutte héroïque.
REFRAIN
Et une seule nuit a rassemblé en elle l'histoire de tout un peuple
Et une seule nuit a déclenché sa marche triomphale
Vers l'horizon du bonheur une seule nuit a réconcilié
Notre peuple, avec tous les peuples du monde
A la conquête de la liberté et du progrès.
La Patrie ou la mort nous vaincrons.
II. Nourris à la source vive de la révolution,
Les engagés volontaires de la liberté et de la paix
Dans l'énergie nocturne et salutaire du 4 août
N'avaient pas que les armes à la main mais aussi et surtout
La flamme au cœur pour légitimement libérer
Le Faso à jamais des fers de tous ceux qui,
Çà et là en polluaient l'âme sucrée
De l'indépendance de la souveraineté
III. Et séant désormais en sa dignité recouvrée
L'amour et l'honneur en partage avec l'humanité
Le peuple de Burkina chante un hymne à la victoire
A la gloire du travail libérateur, émancipateur
A bas l'exploitation de l'homme par l'homme,
Hé ! en avant pour le bonheur de tout homme
Par tous les hommes aujourd'hui et demain
Par tous les hommes ici et pour toujours.
IV. Révolution populaire nôtre, sève nourricière
Maternité immortelle de progrès à visage d'homme
Foyer éternel de démocratie consensuelle
Où enfin l'identité nationale a droit de cité
Où pour toujours l'injustice perd ses quartiers
Et où des mains des bâtisseurs d'un monde radieux
Mûrissent partout les moissons des vœux patriotiques
Brillent les soleils infinis de joie.
Translation
I. Against the humiliating yoke, a thousand years ago already,
Against the greed that came from afar to enslave them a hundred years ago,
Against the cynical malice transformed
Into neocolonialism and its petty local servants,
Many faltered and some resisted,
But the failures, the successes, the sweat, the blood
Have strengthened our courageous people
And made its heroic struggle fertile.
REFRAIN
And a single night gathered within itself the history of an entire people,
And a single night set off its triumphal march
Toward the horizon of happiness; a single night reconciled
Our people with all the peoples of the world
In the conquest of freedom and progress.
Homeland or death, we shall prevail.
II. Nourished at the living spring of the revolution,
The committed volunteers of freedom and peace,
In the saving night-time energy of the 4th of August,
Had not only weapons in hand but also, and above all,
The flame in their hearts to rightfully free
Faso forever from the chains of all those who,
Here and there, defiled its sweet soul
Of independence, of sovereignty.
III. And seated henceforth in its recovered dignity,
Sharing love and honor with humanity,
The people of Burkina sing a hymn to victory,
To the glory of liberating, emancipating labor.
Down with the exploitation of man by man!
Hey! Forward for the happiness of every man,
By all men, today and tomorrow,
By all men, here and forever.
IV. Our popular revolution, nourishing sap,
Immortal motherhood of progress with a human face,
Eternal hearth of consensual democracy,
Where national identity at last has its rightful place,
Where injustice loses its ground forever,
And where, from the hands of the builders of a radiant world,
The harvests of patriotic hopes ripen everywhere,
The infinite suns of joy shine.
Guinea
Liberté
Original
Peuple d'Afrique
Le Passé historique
Que chante l'hymne de la Guinée fière et jeune
Illustre épopée de nos frères
Morts au champ d'honneur en libérant l'Afrique !
Le Peuple de Guinée prêchant l'unité
Appelle l'Afrique.
Liberté ! C'est la voix d'un Peuple
Qui appelle tous ses frères de la grande Afrique.
Liberté ! C'est la voix d'un peuple
Qui appelle tous ses frères à se retrouver.
Bâtissons l'unité africaine
Dans l'indépendance recouvrée.
Translation
People of Africa,
The historic past
Sung by the anthem of Guinea, proud and young,
Illustrious epic of our brothers
Who died on the field of honor freeing Africa!
The People of Guinea, preaching unity,
Calls out to Africa.
Liberty! It is the voice of a People
Calling all its brothers of great Africa.
Liberty! It is the voice of a people
Calling all its brothers to come together again.
Let us build African unity
In our regained independence.
Interesting facts
Burkina Faso
- 1. Sankara was an enthusiastic guitarist who played in a band called 'Tout-à-Coup Jazz'.
- 2. Officially titled 'Le Ditanyè' ('Anthem of Victory'), the anthem takes its other name, 'Une Seule Nuit' ('One Single Night'), from the refrain, in which a single night gathers the history of a whole people and sets off its triumphal march; the second stanza names that night as 4 August, the date in 1983 when Sankara took power.
- 3. After Sankara was killed in the 1987 coup that brought his former ally Blaise Compaoré to power, several revolutionary symbols were renamed, among them the country's largest square, the Place de la Révolution, and the national motto; the anthem was kept, and it still ends with the old motto, 'La Patrie ou la mort, nous vaincrons' ('Homeland or death, we shall overcome').
Guinea
- 1. Guinea was the only French colony in Africa to reject de Gaulle's 1958 referendum, choosing immediate independence; France withdrew all support in retaliation
- 2. The anthem strongly emphasizes Pan-African solidarity, reflecting President Sékou Touré's vision of continental African unity
- 3. The melody comes from a popular song in honour of Alpha Yaya Diallo, the ruler of Labé who resisted French rule and was deported to Mauritania; before the 1958 referendum the griot Djély Mamadou Kandé reworked it to rally supporters of the 'No' vote
- 4. Fodéba Keita, who gave the song its present form, founded the troupe that became Les Ballets Africains, which played some 170 European cities in the early 1950s. After independence he served as a minister under Sékou Touré, but in 1969 he was arrested, held at Camp Boiro and executed
Listen
Burkina Faso
Guinea
