National Anthem Comparison
Papua New Guinea vs Solomon Islands
5
Shared themes
✗
Different moods
3
3 years apart
✓
Same continent
Papua New Guinea
O Arise, All You Sons
Solomon Islands
God Save Our Solomon Islands
Comparison Analysis
Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands, both Oceania nations, take distinct approaches to their national anthems. Papua New Guinea's "O Arise, All You Sons" was written in 1975, while Solomon Islands's "God Save Our Solomon Islands" dates to 1978.
Both anthems share themes of unity, god / faith, freedom, nature and peace.
The emotional tones differ: Papua New Guinea's anthem is joyful, while Solomon Islands's is prayerful.
Shared themes
Papua New Guinea
🤝 Unity ✝ God / Faith 🕊 Freedom 🌿 Nature ☮ Peace
Solomon Islands
✝ God / Faith 🤝 Unity ☮ Peace 🌿 Nature 🕊 Freedom
Shared themes:
🤝 Unity ✝ God / Faith 🕊 Freedom 🌿 Nature ☮ Peace
Metadata
| Papua New Guinea | Solomon Islands | |
|---|---|---|
| Written | 1975 | 1978 |
| Adopted | 1975 | 1978 |
| Lyricist | Thomas Shacklady | Panapasa Balekana and Matila Balekana |
| Composer | Thomas Shacklady | Panapasa Balekana |
| Language | en | en |
| Region | Melanesia | Melanesia |
Lyrics Side by Side
Papua New Guinea
O Arise, All You Sons
Original
O arise, all you sons of this land,
Let us sing of our joy to be free,
Praising God and rejoicing to be
Papua New Guinea.
[Chorus]
Shout our name from the mountains to the seas,
Papua New Guinea;
Let us raise our voices and proclaim
Papua New Guinea.
Now give thanks to the good Lord above
For His kindness, His wisdom and love
For this land of our fathers so free,
Papua New Guinea.
[Chorus]
Shout again for the whole world to hear,
Papua New Guinea;
We're independent and we're free,
Papua New Guinea.
Solomon Islands
God Save Our Solomon Islands
Original
God save our Solomon Islands from shore to shore
Bless all our people and all our lands
With your protecting hands
Joy, peace, progress and prosperity
That men should brothers be, make nations see
Our Solomon Islands, our Solomon Islands
Our nation Solomon Islands
Stands for ever more.
Interesting facts
Papua New Guinea
- 1. Papua New Guinea has more than 840 living languages, yet its anthem is written in English.
- 2. The two choruses differ: the first calls for the country's name to be shouted from the mountains to the seas, the second proclaims to the whole world that the nation is independent and free.
- 3. Every verse and every chorus ends with the words "Papua New Guinea", which appear six times in the anthem.
Solomon Islands
- 1. The anthem is the work of a Fijian-born husband and wife, Panapasa and Matila Balekana, who entered the independence competition together: they wrote the words jointly, and Panapasa composed the music. He had come to the Solomons in 1953 to work as a government mechanic.
- 2. The couple agreed that the anthem should be a prayer for the new nation. Panapasa said guidance for it came to him in a dream, and the choir of their church, Wesley United Church, sang it for the tape they submitted to the competition.
- 3. The prayer suits a largely Christian country: in the 2019 census, more than nine in ten Solomon Islanders belonged to a Christian church, the largest being the Church of Melanesia (32%).
Listen
Papua New Guinea
Solomon Islands
