Kitsune Sniper
04-29-2006, 06:28 AM
Man, what the hell am I doing here? I never come to this forum, but I feel that this is a topic I should talk about. First, off, allow me to quote an AP news item for context:
WASHINGTON (AFP) - A Spanish language version of the US national anthem released has sparked a debate with President George W. Bush bluntly saying "The Star-Spangled Banner" should be sung in English.
"I think the national anthem ought to be sung in English and I think people who want to be a citizen of this country ought to learn English and they ought to learn to sing the national anthem in English," Bush told reporters when questioned about the Spanish version of the anthem.
His remarks came after Latin American artists recorded "Nuestro Himno" (Our Anthem), a Spanish version of the national anthem, amid a mounting debate in Washington on immigration reform.
The artists who recorded the song include Wyclef Jean, Olga Tanon, Ivy Queen and Carlos Ponce.
Urban Box Office (UBO), the company that released the song, said it was urging radio stations across the country to air the tune simultaneously at 2300 GMT Friday.
"We chose to record The Star-Spangled Banner to show our solidarity with the undocumented immigrants and their quest for basic civil rights, as well as to say thank you for their contribution to our comfort and our dreams," UBO president Adam Kidron said in a news release.
"Nuestro Himno" was also released Friday to encourage people to take part on Monday in a national boycott and marches for immigration rights.
But the Spanish version of the anthem has sparked outrage with some calling it "The Illegal Alien Anthem".
"I'm really appalled ... We are not a bilingual nation," George Taplin, director of the Virginia chapter of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, was quoted as saying in the Washington Post.
"When people are talking about becoming a part of this country, they should assimilate to the norm that's already here," he said.
Even representatives of Spanish-speaking immigrant communities are puzzled by the song.
"It's not the right time for this," said Javier Magallan, the head of Tepeyac Association in New York, which groups some 40 community organizations that represent Hispanic immigrants. "I think it would better for us to first learn English so that we can understand the anthem and sing it in English."
Senate minority leader Harry Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, played down the controversy, urging people on both sides of the controversy to think positively.
"Let's not look at the negative," he said. "Let's not look at someone waving a Mexican flag.
"Let's look at what these people are trying to do, that is accomplish the American dream."
With that out of the way, let me say that as a half-American, half-Mexican person, and as a semi-professional English-Spanish translator, I find this Spanish anthem completely disgusting. What the flying FUCK where the idiots that came up with this abomination thinking?! The sole idea of ... PERVERTING such a national symbol, one that is very important to the country and its people, in such a way... what, are they trying to start a war or something?
Making a translation for foreign people to read, so they understand the song? That's fine. I've done that myself a few times. But rewriting it in such a way that the song's entire meaning is different?
Discuss.
(And if anyone can find the -real- lyrics to this mess, post them!)
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WASHINGTON (AFP) - A Spanish language version of the US national anthem released has sparked a debate with President George W. Bush bluntly saying "The Star-Spangled Banner" should be sung in English.
"I think the national anthem ought to be sung in English and I think people who want to be a citizen of this country ought to learn English and they ought to learn to sing the national anthem in English," Bush told reporters when questioned about the Spanish version of the anthem.
His remarks came after Latin American artists recorded "Nuestro Himno" (Our Anthem), a Spanish version of the national anthem, amid a mounting debate in Washington on immigration reform.
The artists who recorded the song include Wyclef Jean, Olga Tanon, Ivy Queen and Carlos Ponce.
Urban Box Office (UBO), the company that released the song, said it was urging radio stations across the country to air the tune simultaneously at 2300 GMT Friday.
"We chose to record The Star-Spangled Banner to show our solidarity with the undocumented immigrants and their quest for basic civil rights, as well as to say thank you for their contribution to our comfort and our dreams," UBO president Adam Kidron said in a news release.
"Nuestro Himno" was also released Friday to encourage people to take part on Monday in a national boycott and marches for immigration rights.
But the Spanish version of the anthem has sparked outrage with some calling it "The Illegal Alien Anthem".
"I'm really appalled ... We are not a bilingual nation," George Taplin, director of the Virginia chapter of the Minuteman Civil Defense Corps, was quoted as saying in the Washington Post.
"When people are talking about becoming a part of this country, they should assimilate to the norm that's already here," he said.
Even representatives of Spanish-speaking immigrant communities are puzzled by the song.
"It's not the right time for this," said Javier Magallan, the head of Tepeyac Association in New York, which groups some 40 community organizations that represent Hispanic immigrants. "I think it would better for us to first learn English so that we can understand the anthem and sing it in English."
Senate minority leader Harry Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, played down the controversy, urging people on both sides of the controversy to think positively.
"Let's not look at the negative," he said. "Let's not look at someone waving a Mexican flag.
"Let's look at what these people are trying to do, that is accomplish the American dream."
With that out of the way, let me say that as a half-American, half-Mexican person, and as a semi-professional English-Spanish translator, I find this Spanish anthem completely disgusting. What the flying FUCK where the idiots that came up with this abomination thinking?! The sole idea of ... PERVERTING such a national symbol, one that is very important to the country and its people, in such a way... what, are they trying to start a war or something?
Making a translation for foreign people to read, so they understand the song? That's fine. I've done that myself a few times. But rewriting it in such a way that the song's entire meaning is different?
Discuss.
(And if anyone can find the -real- lyrics to this mess, post them!)
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