God Defend New Zealand, our country’s national anthem, has the ability to make the tiny hairs on the back of our necks stand up, for us to well with national pride … most of the time.
This emotion, however, was well and truly squashed while watching two other sporting events from the last few weeks.
Ainslie Allen sang at both the netball and the ITM Cup final, and provided a 90s pop-synth backing track.
How far should performers go with their interpretation of the national anthem? Photo: Diego Opatowski/ RNZ
After (not) much googling I discovered she performed the same rendition at an All Blacks game at Athletic Park (yes you read that correctly. And just to note, Athletic Park closed in 1999.
Don't get me wrong, I used to enjoy the musical talents of the McDonald's Young Entertainers (as most '90s children did), and I don't intend to be scathing towards Ms Allen, but the anthem is just that - an anthem, not a pop song.
In her most recent outings she swayed with her eyes closed, changed the syncopation of the song and included numerous unnecessary key changes (making it slightly difficult for the crowd to show their allegiance to their country and in turn miss out on connecting with their national and cultural heritage).
The anguish/amusement on the faces of the Silver Ferns during the instrumental interlude between the Maori and English verses summed up the overall feeling of this particular rendition (Dear Sky Sport, can we please have this GIFed?)
This got me thinking about the role the national anthem plays within our sporting context, and whether we should allow it to be “interpreted” in different ways?
God Defend New Zealand dates back to the 1800s, and became our national song in the late 1930s. But it wasn’t until 1976, after a petition was submitted to Parliament and the Queen gave her permission, that God Defend New Zealand became our nation anthem.
Before then God Save The King was the national anthem of New Zealand and was performed at a range of events, including sport. Our national song (God Defend New Zealand) was also performed at the closing ceremony of the 1974 Commonwealth games held in Christchurch. (Audio provided by Sound Archives.)
Could this be better (or worse) than a New Zealand version of this. Next Skrillex will get hold of it and it will sound like this.
Back in the day our national anthem was even played before domestic rugby games – this from the a Ranfurly Shield game in 1948 when God Save the King was still officially our national anthem.
How should we allow artists and performers to interpret the national anthem? On one hand we live in an open and free society where creativity, individuality and freedom of speech are encouraged. But on the other hand how far is too far when it comes to the national anthem?
For the 2011 Rugby World Cup the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra recorded the national anthems of all participating teams, including New Zealand.
Could this be the “go to” recording for events requiring a national anthem? That way we all know what to expect and in turn will have the ability to sing along. It will allow us to feel a deep connection to the team we are supporting and be proud of our identity as New Zealanders. It also part of preparation for our sportspeople - just look at the French when they are singing their anthem. I'm sure I spotted a few tears during the rugby league recently.
Ultimately the performance of a national anthem is not about the performer, but about the country. The national anthem allows us to celebrate who we are and what we are. It allows our sports people to sing it loudly before the go out to "battle".
It is part of our identity. Let us sing it loud and proud, in a style that we can all connect with.
