National Anthem Comparison
Liberia vs Sierra Leone
4
Shared themes
✓
Same mood
114
114 years apart
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Same continent
Liberia
All Hail, Liberia, Hail!
Sierra Leone
High We Exalt Thee, Realm of the Free
Comparison Analysis
Liberia and Sierra Leone, both Africa nations, take distinct approaches to their national anthems. Liberia's "All Hail, Liberia, Hail!" was written in 1847, while Sierra Leone's "High We Exalt Thee, Realm of the Free" dates to 1961.
Both anthems share themes of freedom, god / faith, love of homeland and unity.
Both anthems carry a majestic tone, creating a similar emotional register despite their geographic distance.
Liberia's anthem predates Sierra Leone's by 114 years, having been written in 1847 compared to 1961.
Shared themes
Liberia
🕊 Freedom ✝ God / Faith ❤ Love of homeland 🤝 Unity
Sierra Leone
🕊 Freedom ✝ God / Faith 🤝 Unity ❤ Love of homeland 🏺 Ancestors / Heritage
Shared themes:
🕊 Freedom ✝ God / Faith ❤ Love of homeland 🤝 Unity
Metadata
| Liberia | Sierra Leone | |
|---|---|---|
| Written | 1847 | 1961 |
| Adopted | 1847 | 1961 |
| Lyricist | Daniel Bashiel Warner | Clifford Nelson Fyle |
| Composer | Olmstead Luca | John Joseph Akar |
| Language | en | en |
| Region | West Africa | West Africa |
Lyrics Side by Side
Liberia
All Hail, Liberia, Hail!
Original
All hail, Liberia, hail!
All hail, Liberia, hail!
This glorious land of liberty
Shall long be ours.
Though new her name,
Green be her fame,
And mighty be her powers,
In joy and gladness
With our hearts united,
We'll shout the freedom
Of a race benighted.
Long live Liberia, happy land!
A home of glorious liberty,
By God's command!
All hail, Liberia, hail!
All hail, Liberia, hail!
In union strong success is sure,
We cannot fail!
With God above
Our rights to prove,
We will o'er all prevail,
With heart and hand
Our country's cause defending,
We'll meet the foe
With valor unpretending.
Long live Liberia, happy land!
A home of glorious liberty,
By God's command!
Sierra Leone
High We Exalt Thee, Realm of the Free
Original
High We Exalt Thee, Realm of the Free
Great is the love we have for thee;
Firmly united ever we stand,
Singing thy praise, O native land.
We raise up our hearts and our voices on high,
The hills and the valleys re-echo our cry;
Blessing and peace be ever thine own,
Land that we love, our Sierra Leone.
One with a faith that wisdom inspires,
One with a zeal that never tires;
Ever we seek to honour thy name,
Ours is the labour, thine the fame.
We pray that no harm on thy children may fall,
That blessing and peace may descend on us all;
So may we serve thee ever alone,
Land that we love, our Sierra Leone.
Knowledge and truth our forefathers spread,
Mighty the nations whom they led;
Mighty they made thee, so too may we
Show forth the good that is ever in thee.
We pledge our devotion, our strength and our might,
Thy cause to defend and to stand for thy right;
All that we have be ever thine own,
Land that we love, our Sierra Leone.
Interesting facts
Liberia
- 1. In 1978 a national commission set up to remove divisive elements from Liberia's national symbols recommended replacing the word 'benighted' in the line 'We'll shout the freedom of a race benighted' with 'undaunted'; the change was never made
- 2. The composer, Olmstead Luca, was an African-American pianist from the Luca Family Singers who moved to Liberia around 1860 to teach music
- 3. By 1914 Liberia and Ethiopia were the only African states still independent of European rule; Ethiopia was occupied by Italy in 1936
Sierra Leone
- 1. Sierra Leone comes from the Portuguese Serra Leoa, 'Lion Mountains', the name given to the mountains of what is now the Freetown peninsula. It is traditionally credited to the explorer Pedro de Sintra in 1462, but historians dispute this, and an early account of his voyage explains the name not by the mountains' shape but by the lion-like roar of thunder around the summit
- 2. John Joseph Akar, who composed the music, later served as Sierra Leone's ambassador to the United States
- 3. Like neighboring Liberia, Sierra Leone was settled by freed slaves: about 400 arrived from Britain in 1787, and in 1792 about 1,200 Black Loyalists from Nova Scotia, former slaves who had sided with Britain in the American Revolution, founded Freetown
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Liberia
Sierra Leone
