Halo!
To celebrate Indonesia’s 79th birthday on 17 August 2024, I’m writing about our National Anthem and some other anthems commonly sung during flag ceremonies.
Indonesia’s national anthem is called “Indonesia Raya”, which can be translated as ‘Indonesia the Great’. It was composed in 1924 by a national hero of ours, Wage Rudolf Supratman (more commonly known as W.R. Supratman), and was first introduced to (selected) mass during the Second Youth Congress on 28 October 1928 in Jakarta. Naturally, as Indonesia had not yet gained independence at that time, some of the original lyrics differ from the one used today. However, the spirit and overall meaning does not change.
The song consists of three stanzas plus one refrain stanza (I have no musical knowledge, is stanza the correct term?) and, as stipulated in our law, must be played during the flag hoisting and lowering part of a flag ceremony (upacara bendera). Other than the ones hoisting the red-and-white flag, all of the other ceremony participants must stand in a perfect stance and, facing the flag pole, raised their right hands on a military salute while singing the lyrics (unless they’re unable to). This part of the ceremony is (supposed to be) carried out solemnly and slowly so as to coincide the end of the song with the time our flag reached the top of its pole. Commonly, though, only the first stanza is sung followed by the refrain part being sung twice.
Honest review from someone who’s done this uncountable times during schooling, the end of this part is usually followed by sighs of relief and a uniform clap of sore arms meeting thighs as we are allowed to lower them back….
Anyway, there’s no official translation of the lyric, so I’ll just post the original lyric in Bahasa Indonesia. You can look them up in Wikipedia if you want, they have the literal English translation posted (at least when I write this post).
Enjoy the song (with the modern version of the lyric):
INDONESIA RAYA
W.R. Supratman
I : Indonesia tanah airku,
Tanah tumpah darahku,
Di sanalah aku berdiri,
Jadi pandu ibuku.
Indonesia kebangsaanku,
Bangsa dan tanah airku,
Marilah kita berseru,
Indonesia bersatu.
Hiduplah tanahku,
Hiduplah negeriku,
Bangsaku, Rakyatku, semuanya,
Bangunlah jiwanya,
Bangunlah badannya,
Untuk Indonesia Raya.
II : Indonesia, tanah yang mulia,
Tanah kita yang kaya,
Di sanalah aku berdiri,
Untuk selama-lamanya.
Indonesia, tanah pusaka,
Pusaka kita semuanya,
Marilah kita mendoa,
Indonesia bahagia.
Suburlah tanahnya,
Suburlah jiwanya,
Bangsanya, Rakyatnya, semuanya,
Sadarlah hatinya,
Sadarlah budinya,
Untuk Indonesia Raya.
III : Indonesia, tanah yang suci,
Tanah kita yang sakti,
Di sanalah aku berdiri,
Jaga ibu sejati.
Indonesia, tanah berseri,
Tanah yang aku sayangi,
Marilah kita berjanji,
Indonesia abadi.
Selamatlah rakyatnya,
Selamatlah putranya,
Pulaunya, lautnya, semuanya,
Majulah Negerinya,
Majulah pandunya,
Untuk Indonesia Raya.
Refrain : Indonesia Raya,
Merdeka, merdeka,
Tanahku, negeriku yang kucinta!
Indonesia Raya,
Merdeka, merdeka,
Hiduplah Indonesia Raya.
Other that “Indonesia Raya”, another song that is almost always played during flag ceremonies is a song called “Mengheningkan Cipta” (‘A Moment of Silence’). However, different from the patriotic and powerful “Indonesia Raya”, “Mengheningkan Cipta” is more soulful and even more solemn as it is done to remind us to always be grateful to God for Indonesia’s independence which was granted through the struggles of our ancestors and the blood of the fallen. Another difference is the stance of the participants, who stood still with clenched fists, shut eyes, and bowed heads for the duration of the song. It is also not sung by the participants, only the choir (or stereo) sung the lyric, so sadly not many actually knows the lyric.
It is admittedly less tiring, though sometimes my eyes need some time to adjust to the sun after re-opening them.
Here’s the lyric, and my free translation of it (I was in the choir during elementary, and I quite like the lyric).
MENGHENINGKAN CIPTA
Truno Prawit
Dengar seluruh angkasa raya memuja pahlawan negara
Nan gugur remaja di ribaan bendera
Bela nusa bangsa
Kau ku kenang wahai bunga putra bangsa
Harga jasa
Kau cahya pelita bagi Indonesia merdeka
[‘A Moment of Silence’
Hear the whole universe praises the country’s heroes
Youths fell upon the flag
Defending homeland and nation
I will always remember you, nation’s sons
The price of your service
You are the light of independent Indonesia]
Other than those two, we usually sing a few more anthems to the end of the ceremony. These anthems, called ‘lagu nasional’ (lit. ‘national song’) or ‘lagu wajib’ (lit. ‘compulsory song’), are chosen based on the occasion and usually only around three songs are sung. For independence-day flag ceremonies, songs like “Indonesia Pusaka” (lit. ‘Sacred Heritage of Indonesia’) by Ismail Marzuki (I love this song!), “Hari Merdeka” (lit. ‘Independence Day’) by Husein Mutahar, and “Berkibarlah Benderaku” (lit. ‘Flutter Away, My Flag’) by Madam Soed are typically chosen.
Some other anthems include:
“Garuda Pancasila” by P. Sudhartono (note: Garuda is a mythical creature whilst Pancasila is our ideology principles which literally means five (panca) points (sila) in Sanskrit, and together they represent our national emblem)
“Bagimu Negeri” (lit. ‘For You, My Country’) by R. Kusbini
“Maju Tak Gentar” (lit. “March Forward Without Fear”) by Cornel Simanjuntak
“Tanah Airku” (lit. ‘My Homeland’) by Madam Soed
“Bendera Merah Putih” (lit. ‘Red-White Flag’) by Madam Soed
“Ibu Pertiwi” (lit. ‘Motherland’) by Ismail Marzuki
“Gagah Perwira” (lit. ‘Gallant Officers’) by Ismail Marzuki
“Rayuan Pulau Kelapa” (lit. ‘Seduction of Coconut Island’) by Ismail Marzuki
“Bangun Pemudi Pemuda” (lit. ‘Rise, Youths’) by A. Simanjuntak
“Satu Nusa Satu Bangsa” (lit. ‘One Home, One Nation’) by L. Manik
“Dari Sabang sampai Merauke” (lit. ‘From Sabang to Merauke’) by R. Suhardjo (note: Sabang is said to be the western-most point of Indonesia whilst Merauke is the eastern-most point)
“Syukur” (lit. ‘Grateful’) by Husein Mutahar
“Hymne Guru” (lit. ‘Hymn for Teachers’) by Sartono (usually sung during Indonesia’s teacher day on 25 November each year)
“Ibu Kita Kartini” (lit. ‘Our Mother Kartini’) by W.R. Supratman (usually sung on or around 21st of April to commemorate one of our female heroes, Raden Ajeng Kartini)
“Kebyar-Kebyar” (lit….‘Sparkling’?) by Gombloh, though this one is very rarely used during flag ceremonies as the melody doesn’t really fit with the solemn atmosphere
If you want to know them, just copy-paste the Indonesian titles into YouTube, I’m sure you’ll get some videos easily.
There are many more anthems that we have, but those are the most common ones. Last year my mother tried to slip an unfamiliar anthem during my village’s independence day celebration, and the result is that no one can sing them….
Right, that’s all for today.
Happy 79th Independence Day, Indonesia!
May you prosper well in the coming years!
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