The school prefect stood straight before his mates and gave a simple command. At once, like the eruption of thunder, the students began to sing: God Bless Our Homeland Ghana … and they sang it religiously.

This ritual is repeated throughout the country routinely-in schools, at conferences, on soccer pitches, at durbars, on radio and television, and even as caller-tunes. But what does the national anthem really mean? What role does it play on our national psyche?

The author shows how relevant the national anthem is to us. He believes that it evokes patriotism and fellow-feeling, but it also tests our words and actions.

In his down-to-earth manner of writing, the author invites you to journey with him along the poetic phrases and lines of all three stanzas of the Ghana National Anthem. Enjoy this literary-style exposition and commentary, the hidden meanings and implications of the anthem, and their links to certain sacred songs of the land such as the national pledge.