Sing a song for Singapore

For over 50 years, Singapore has been churning out National Day Parade (NDP) songs as an annual tradition. But are these tunes really striking a chord with Singaporeans, or are they here purely for tradition’s sake?

In commemoration of Singapore’s bicentennial celebrations this year and the return of the National Day Parade (NDP) to the iconic Padang, we spoke to Singaporeans, local musicians including Dick Lee and Electrico, former songwriters of hit NDP songs ‘Home’ and ‘What Do You See’ respectively, to find out what makes a memorable national song.

Every song is a product of the individual songwriter’s inspiration and creativity. It can be easy to either criticise or praise a song based on its face value, but truly understanding the sensibilities behind a memorable NDP song requires an analysis of the unseen production process.

According to a survey conducted amongst 127 Singaporeans, many seem to prefer older songs to the more recent ones, with ‘Home’ by Dick Lee being an almost unanimous favourite. For 81.1% of surveyees, the song made it into their top picks.

‘Home’ is the brainchild of Singaporean songwriter Dick Lee, who at the time was living abroad and feeling extremely homesick. This trying time in his life was reflected in the sentimentality of the song, which translated sincerely both in tune and words.

The 62 year-old songwriter describes his song as “poignant” and “slightly bittersweet”.

Several prominent lyrics from the song contain allusions to water bodies. ‘Where the river always flows’ and ‘Sail down the river which brings us life’ are lines that almost every Singaporean would recognise.

Lee reveals that the song was originally written around the theme “The Singapore River” for a 1997 Sing Singapore campaign, which explains all the references to rivers in the song.

Looking back, he attributes the success of ‘Home’ to how it stood out from the existing national songs.

“Home was the first original song to emerge after the ‘big four’ anthems of the mid-eighties, and had a completely different feel in that it was a slow song, and not rah-rah,” he says, “It sounded more like a pop song than an NDP song, and started the practice of having a theme song each year.”

The authentic quality of ‘Home’ could be attributed to the fact that the song was not written with the intent of producing a commercial hit in mind, and was instead simply an honest and genuine attempt to convey his longing for Singapore into words.

Tan Peng Sing, 29 year-old guitarist of local indie band M1LDL1FE also references ‘Home’ when telling us more about the evolution of NDP songs.

“Home wasn’t meant to be an NDP song, there was no such thing as an NDP song yet. There were only old so-called NDP songs that were written by ad agencies for nation-building.

When Dick Lee wrote the song... it wasn’t an NDP song. It came across quite genuine, but from then on most of the NDP songs were attempts to recreate; so it became very formulaic.”

Fast forward to 2009, pop rock band Electrico was approached by the NDP committee to write and perform the song for that year, and after drawing inspiration from the main feature of the stage - a huge eye - ‘What Do You See’ was conceived.

The three-man band took many factors into consideration when writing and conceptualising the song, “It has to be accessible to the masses - with a message that is simple enough to understand but powerful in its motivation. Something that is easily sung by all and induces goosebumps at the end of the parade.”

The end result was the first NDP song ever to be written by a rock band, and perhaps even more surprising was that there was no explicit mention of Singapore anywhere in the lyrics.

“We wanted the song to empower Singaporeans, not preach to them. We wanted to put the future in their hands; ask them who they are and what they want to be as a nation - while celebrating the success of our country at the same time.”

The same survey reflected that 92.1% of Singaporeans enjoy NDP songs, citing a wide range of reasons including nostalgia, catchy tunes, and the ability to invoke patriotism as some of the top reasons for their enjoyment.

Going by the varied responses from surveyees, it goes without saying that Singaporeans look for and appreciate different things in a hit song.

For some, like Peng Sing, musical technicalities such as a beautiful melodic line and subtle chord substitution calls out to them. Others like Dick Lee prefer to look at the big picture, such as the meaning behind the lyrics and how well it gels with the theme.

For Benjamin Kheng, frontman of pop band The Sam Willows, it is all about the stories told in the songs.

To him, a memorable NDP song should tell the truth while retaining an element of catchiness. Conceptually, it needs to either tell an old story from a fresh perspective, or one that is yet unheard of.

He sings high praise for Charlie Lim’s 2018 reimagining of ‘We Are Singapore’, calling it “king” for the anecdotes it presents.

Charlie Lim had roped in the likes of Vanessa Fernandez, Aisyah Aziz, Shak'thiya Subramaniamm, THELIONCITYBOY, and Joanna Dong to put a spin on the classic national favourite. They rearranged the chorus of the original 1987 version and topped it off with a new opening verse and a rap of the National Pledge.

The lines “I know I gotta be the change I want to see” and “Nothing’s ever perfect, but I still call you mine” stood out as lines all Singaporeans should remember.

When asked about what NDP songs mean to him, Benjamin Kheng says, “They connect me to different snapshots and memories of home, like my childhood kopitiam or first love.”

“More than anything, I feel connected to a larger tapestry of people, and I say this in the least contrived way,” he adds.

This sense of belonging and community seems resonate with many. Celine Wong, a finalist in local Chinese singing competition SPOP Sing, believes that NDP songs serves the purpose of unifying Singaporeans.

NDP songs may seem seasonal to many, playing on the radio and in shopping malls only when National Day is around the corner, but she listens to “My Island Home” even when National Day is still many months away.

Explaining her love for the song, she says, “It makes me feel like I’m right at home, like I belong here, like I’m always at this place where I can call home. It just makes me feel good.”

She also considers NDP songs to be what ties Singaporeans together through the hustle and bustle of city life by bringing people together to sing a song that they are all familiar with.

Dawn Puah, 22, agrees with this statement. The final-year student at Nanyang Technological University says, “No matter how nice the song is, if you can’t participate then you just don’t feel like you’re part of the group and you don’t feel like you’re celebrating with them for Singapore.”

If given the chance, how would this generation take on a patriotic melody for the masses? With their treasure trove of crisp ideas, the future of NDP songs sparkles bright.

Ms Wong’s gripe with NDP songs are how indistinguishable the songs are by their years, and hopes to change that if given a chance. She hopes that one can listen to an NDP song and be able to identify the specific year it is from through the memories it brings back.

If she were to write an NDP song, she says she would focus on the happenings that all Singaporeans can remember as the representative highlights of that particular year, likening her concept to Youtube Rewind, an annual video series produced by Youtube to showcase everything that went viral each year.

If Peng Sing were to write an NDP song, it would definitely feature lots of guitar and electrifying riffs.

He wishes to acknowledge the uncertainty and struggles in our lives, and inspire Singaporeans to have faith and hope and not become defeatists.

As an afterthought, he adds that the NDP organising committee could place more emphasis on the artiste’s expression of creativity.

“The artiste isn’t working independently, there’s probably 20 other people breathing down his neck and the song always becomes super watered down. I think NDP should let the artiste have their own voice more,” he suggests.

On the other hand, Benjamin Kheng fancies something closer to the heart. He expresses that NDP songs now are now paired with videos that are saturated with glamourous shots, but he would like to see more stories of grit and sacrifice, ones like his father’s, who worked multiple jobs without a word of complaint.

“I would write about a more personal story, something that hits home differently to everyone who listens to it, the same way a radio DJ never says “you guys”,” he says.

He also quips that he would fight very hard to include the term teh tarik.

Ms Puah feels that NDP songs could benefit from exploring a more comical narrative, such as Singlish, and have “more storytelling in the videos.

“Singlish is a funny language, we laugh about it, but it’s not anywhere. We seem like very prim and proper and actually Singaporeans are very lup sup,” she laughs.

Whether we love or laugh at them, whether we will see fresh faces performing or renowned artists making comebacks, whether the tunes will continue to evolve or pay homage to the ones that came before them, one thing is for sure - NDP songs are here to stay for many decades more.