National Anthem Comparison
Gambia vs Senegal
3
Shared themes
✗
Different moods
5
5 years apart
✓
Same continent
Gambia
For The Gambia Our Homeland
Comparison Analysis
Gambia and Senegal, both Africa nations, take distinct approaches to their national anthems. Gambia's "For The Gambia Our Homeland" was written in 1965, while Senegal's "Pluck Your Koras, Strike the Balafons" dates to 1960.
Both anthems share themes of unity, peace and diversity. Gambia additionally explores god / faith and freedom, while Senegal also touches on ancestors / heritage and identity.
The emotional tones differ: Gambia's anthem is solemn, while Senegal's is proud.
Shared themes
Gambia
🤝 Unity ✝ God / Faith ☮ Peace 🕊 Freedom 🌈 Diversity
Senegal
🤝 Unity 🏺 Ancestors / Heritage 🏛 Identity 🌈 Diversity ☮ Peace
Shared themes:
🤝 Unity ☮ Peace 🌈 Diversity
Metadata
| Gambia | Senegal | |
|---|---|---|
| Written | 1965 | 1960 |
| Adopted | 1965 | 1960 |
| Lyricist | Virginia Julie Howe | Léopold Sédar Senghor |
| Composer | Traditional (adapted by Jeremy Frederick Howe) | Herbert Pepper |
| Language | en | fr |
| Region | West Africa | West Africa |
Lyrics Side by Side
Gambia
For The Gambia Our Homeland
Original
For The Gambia, our homeland,
We strive and work and pray,
That all may live in unity,
Freedom and peace each day.
Let justice guide our actions
Towards the common good,
And join our diverse peoples
To prove man's brotherhood.
We pledge our firm allegiance,
Our promise we renew;
Keep us, great God of nations,
To The Gambia ever true.
Senegal
Pincez Tous vos Koras, Frappez les Balafons
Original
Pincez tous vos koras, frappez les balafons.
Le lion rouge a rugi.
Le dompteur de la brousse
D'un bond s'est élancé,
Dissipant les ténèbres.
Soleil sur nos terreurs, soleil sur notre espoir.
Debout, frères, voici l'Afrique rassemblée.
[Refrain]
Fibres de mon cœur vert,
Épaule contre épaule, mes plus que frères,
Ô Sénégalais, debout!
Unissons la mer et les sources,
Unissons la steppe et la forêt!
Salut Afrique mère.
Sénégal, toi le fils de l'écume du lion,
Toi surgi de la nuit au galop des chevaux,
Rends-nous, oh! rends-nous l'honneur de nos ancêtres,
Splendides comme ébène et forts comme le muscle,
Nous disons droits, l'épée n'a pas une bavure.
[Refrain]
Sénégal, nous faisons nôtre ton grand dessein:
Rassembler les poussins à l'abri des milans
Pour en faire, de l'est à l'ouest, du nord au sud,
Dressé, un même peuple, un peuple sans couture
Mais un peuple tourné vers tous les vents du monde.
[Refrain]
Sénégal, comme toi, comme tous nos héros,
Nous serons durs sans haine et des deux bras ouverts.
L'épée, nous la mettrons dans la paix du fourreau,
Car le travail sera notre arme et la parole.
Le Bantou est un frère, et l'Arabe et le Blanc.
[Refrain]
Mais que si l'ennemi incendie nos frontières
Nous soyons tous dressés et les armes au poing:
Un peuple dans sa foi défiant tous les malheurs,
Les jeunes et les vieux, les hommes et les femmes.
La mort, oui! Nous disons la mort mais pas la honte.
[Refrain]
Translation
Pluck all your koras, strike the balafons.
The red lion has roared.
The tamer of the bush
With one leap has sprung forward,
Dispelling the darkness.
Sun over our terrors, sun over our hope.
Arise, brothers, here is Africa assembled.
[Chorus]
Fibres of my green heart,
Shoulder to shoulder, my more than brothers,
O Senegalese, arise!
Let us unite the sea and the springs,
Let us unite the steppe and the forest!
Hail, Africa, mother.
Senegal, you the son of the lion's foam,
Sprung from the night at the gallop of horses,
Give us back, oh! give us back the honour of our ancestors,
Splendid as ebony and strong as muscle,
Upright, we declare: the sword bears no blemish.
[Chorus]
Senegal, we make your grand design our own:
To gather the chicks under shelter from the kites
To make of them, from east to west, from north to south,
Standing, one single people, a people without seam
But a people turned toward all the winds of the world.
[Chorus]
Senegal, like you, like all our heroes,
We shall be hard without hatred and with both arms open.
The sword, we shall place it in the peace of its sheath,
For work shall be our weapon and the spoken word.
The Bantu is a brother, and the Arab and the White.
[Chorus]
But should the enemy set fire to our borders
We shall all stand up, weapons in hand:
A people in its faith defying all misfortune,
The young and the old, the men and the women.
Death, yes! We say death but not dishonour.
[Chorus]
Interesting facts
Gambia
- 1. The melody comes from 'Foday Kaba Dumbuya', a traditional song of the Mandinka, the country's largest ethnic group
- 2. The song honours Foday Kaba Dumbuya, a 19th-century marabout (Muslim cleric) and one of the key figures of the Soninke-Marabout wars, who remains a controversial figure in Mandinka history
- 3. The tune was chosen through a national competition before independence; according to ethnomusicologist Roderic Knight, the winning entry was a version submitted by the kora virtuoso Jali Nyama Suso
Senegal
- 1. Léopold Sédar Senghor, who wrote the lyrics, was elected to the Académie française in 1983, the first African to sit in it
- 2. The anthem directly references traditional instruments: the kora (a 21-string harp) and the balafon (a wooden xylophone), both central to West African griot culture
- 3. The 'red lion' in the anthem is Senegal's national symbol, and the country's football team is known as the Lions of Teranga
Listen
Gambia
Senegal
