My Macedonia

Music & Lyrics: John Forster

Intro: The world has changed. There are a lot of new countries out there--the former Soviet Union has given us 15 at last count; Yugoslavia could yield as many as 6 or 8; and Puerto Rico is always a possibility. Like any entrepreneur, I see this situation as an opportunity. I'm a songwriter and these new countries are all going to need national anthems.

Maybe not all. Biggies like Russia will probably just take the old anthem out of mothballs. But the need will exist.

So a couple of months ago, just as I'm trying to find the country that's right for me, I open the Times and read that Macedonia, the smallest, poorest, most down-trodden province of Yugoslavia, has just declared independence. 2400 years ago Macedonia produced Alexander the Great and has barely been heard of since. So my heart went out to it. I said, "This is where I'm needed." I sat down and came up with some stirring music, cause that's what matters in a national anthem.

[Play Intro]

But I had no idea what to say in the lyric. How does a New York songwriter speak directly to the hopes and aspirations of the Macedonian people? I thought, "OK, I'd better look at some models." I immediately fell in love with the national anthem of Senegal, which begins "Pluck your koras, bang your balaphones." But that's not the kind of lyric you can fake. I said, "Let me find something more conservative, more generic." So for my model I finally settled on the national anthem of Fiji. Oh, you know the one: "Fiji, my Fiji, how beautiful thou art."

Well, I think it was a good call, because the new National Anthem of Macedonia has turned out so well that I'd like to share it with you tonight--

Macedonia, my Macedonia,
You're not big and strong, like Estonia.
You're not enlightened, like Romania.
You're not chic and cosmopolitan, like Albania.

But Macedonia, my native nation,
Though your single greatest product is inflation,
Somewhere down the line
You are going to shine
Even brighter than Liechtenstein.

When you've got autonomy
Who needs an economy?

And then I had absolutely no idea how to end it so I just went--

M-A-C-E-D-O-N-I-A,
Macedonia, OK, All right, Hey hey, Hip Hip Hooray!

(c) Limousine Music Co. (ASCAP)