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Gazetteer Extract: ZETA CYGNI NATIONAL ANTHEM
SEARCH COMPLETE: OCTOBER 10, 2407
"Our Home, Zeta"
(National Anthem of the Republic of Zeta Cygni)
Lyrics: W.A. von Fahrvergnügen (original German)
Benjamin D. Hutchins (Standard translation)
Music: Tōryu Fuyuki
Zeta (Cygni)
Zeta (Cygni)
Zeta! Zeta Cygni!
Zeta! Zeta Cygni!
Far off in the dark of space
She shines, freedom's star
Our home, Zeta
Our own, Zeta
Alone, Zeta
Zeta! Cygni!
You guide us home with your beautiful light
Zeta Cygni, 'til the end!
Zeta! Zeta Cygni!
Zeta! Zeta Cygni!
Gruesome tyrants covet her
But we'll never yield
Our home, Zeta
Our own, Zeta
Alone, Zeta
Zeta! Cygni!
We stand on guard through the unending night
Zeta Cygni, we'll defend!
Zeta! Zeta Cygni!
Zeta! Zeta Cygni!
Freedom ever flowers in
Her welcoming light
Our home, Zeta
Our own, Zeta
Alone, Zeta
Zeta! Cygni!
Righteous and strong, against all who love wrong
Zeta Cygni, forever free!
History
The patriotic lyrics to "Our Home, Zeta" actually pre-date the existence of the Republic of Zeta Cygni as a recognized polity by quite a few years. Wedge Defense Force founder and backer Baron Wolfgang Amadeus von Fahrvergnügen composed them in 1979, a full decade before the Empire of Salusia recognized the Republic as a nation and sponsored its membership in the United Galactica, the primary galactic superpolity of the era. What's more, von Fahrvergnügen's version was written in his native German ("Unser Land, Zeta"). It was not until 1992, when the rest of the WDF founders arrived at Zeta Cygni from Earth and the WDF truly got off the ground, that they received an English translation, which would eventually evolve into the modern Standard translation.
What few people outside some hardcore science fiction enclaves on Earth, Tomodachi, and Ishiyama know, however, is that the music to "Our Home, Zeta", is even older. It was composed in 1967 as the theme to the now-obscure Japanese science fiction television program Ultra Seven, and was adapted by von Fahrvergnügen - both melody and instrumental backing line - after he heard the Ultra Seven theme in a collection of music one of his proto-WDF technicians owned. It's said that von Fahrvergnügen didn't even know what the original music he heard was, nor what the original lyrics meant; he just liked the opening horn fanfare and adapted the rest of the piece to suit.
Customary usage
As with most modern national anthems, "Our Home, Zeta" is performed at official and unofficial functions taking place within, or involving significants persons from, the country it represents. In addition, since the Republic of Zeta Cygni is the official home of the Wedge Defense Force and the International Police Organization, it is played at major WDF and IPO functions along with the anthems of those organizations.
It is customary for only the first verse to be performed on most occasions. The major exceptions are New Avalon's Foundation Day, the official ceremonies celebrating which are always kicked off with a performance of the complete song by the Wedge Defense Force Band, and home games of the New Avalon Knights, where, for reasons now unknown, it is traditional for the second verse to be sung.
Anachronisms
Though the Standard lyrics to "Our Home, Zeta" have not changed since 2002 - indeed, have not changed substantially from their 1992 English incarnation - several details have since become incorrect. For instance, the star does not do particularly much shining in the dark of space since its enclosure within a Dyson sphere in 2374, nor - since the addition of territories in the Sol system and several neighboring star systems in the Cygnus sector to its loose protective confederation - does Zeta Cygni stand alone. However, the spirit remains.
End of Text Data Extract
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