The "National Patriotic Song" of Ghana was written by Dr. Ephraim Amu. It is more upbeat than the national anthem, and, I think, more well-liked. The title means "This land is our own", and the lyrics tell of the struggle for independence from the British.

Back in the day we would sing it every morning at school, preceded by the national anthem. The other kids would giggle as I tried to wrap my tongue around the unfamiliar sounds of Twi. I would pretend not to notice.


Yεn ara asase ni

Note: Some of the Es and Os below are actually supposed to be epsilons and this one funny letter that looks like a backwards C, but I no longer have a hard copy of the song so I have to go by the kludged Internet versions. Not that it matters.

As with the national anthem, at school we would sing only the first verse, repeating its last two lines twice.

Yen ara asase ni eye aboo dennen ma yen
Mogya na nana nom hwie gui nya de too ho ma yen
Adu me ne wo nso so se yebeye bi atoa so
Nimdeetraso kotokrane ne apesemenkomenya
Adi yen bra mu dem ama yen asase ho do atomu se
Oman no se 'beye yie o, oman no se erenye yie o
Eye nsem da ho se, omanfo bra n'ekyere

Nhoma nimdee huhuugyan ana ade any ara kwa
Ne obrakyew de esee oman na ebo no ahohora
Asoomere ne obu pa yonko yiye di pe daa
Ahofama ntetekwaam ma nnipa biara yiye de
Enonom n'ede asomdwee ne nkoso pa bre oman
Oman no se 'beye yie o, oman no se erenye yie o
Eye nsem da ho se, omanfo bra n'ekyere


Sources:

  • http://www.ghana.com/republic/geninfo/anthem.html
  • http://www.ghanadata.com/reviews/musicinghana/