The Prideful March of the Righteous People

The Prideful March of the Righteous People (Traditional Chinese: 義海豪情人民進行曲) is the national anthem of the Lands of Nicholas. It is a musical march primarily written for Cantonese lyrics. It has been adopted into the Constitution of the Kingdom since 1993, but thus far only the Cantonese version has been adopted. The English language, despite being the other of the two official languages in the Kingdom, currently does not have an official national anthem. English-speakers typically use a set of non-recognized translated lyrics as the national anthem.

As of October 2012, the English version is being reviewed by the parliament in Nicholas City, and is currently in progress to get the English version of the anthem adopted by the nation and entrenched into the constitution.

Origins of the anthem
The anthem originated in the Second World War (World War II), around 1941. At that time, the Imaginary Lands of Nicholas was in a state of terror and turmoil, facing invasion from Imperial Japan, as well as various Western countries in attempt to colonize the "newly discovered continents". The once united kingdom was falling apart, and almost every cities and towns are in war.

This song was originally named "The Pride of the Righteous People" (Traditional Chinese: 義海豪情). The melody of the song is inspired by the cries of despair of children, and the bravery of the men at war heard in major cities. In addition, various sounds made by weapons, such as artillery, gunfire, aircraft, etc. was incorporated into the song.

The song later incorporated with Cantonese lyrics. The lyrics is largely based on a true story of a family, in particular, a couple, who lost each other and all their respective family members during wartime. The central theme revolves around this couple and brings out the message that people are willing to fight for their country, bearing the pain of losing loved ones. The lyrics described the citizens of the Imaginary Lands of Nicholas, stood up and helped out each other, even at the times of hardship during the war. The lyrics also hinted and praised the people who went, fight, and even sacrificed to protect their homeland, while bearing the sadness of losing their loved ones.

The song was published in late 1942, and because the lyrics matched so many people's story during wartime, it was widely spread among the public, and it became a popular folk song across the continent. The areas under Imperial Japan and some Western countries attempted to censor this song, by banning humming a similar tune or saying similar lyrics in the occupied territories.

A public orchestra performance of the song was held in the Great Nicholas Opera Hall in Nicholas City, at the end of the World War II when the Japanese surrendered on 2 September, 1947.

Today, it still remains to be a popular folk song among the elder population in the country.

Becoming an anthem
In the 1970s, during the cold war, because of the Imaginary Land of Nicholas' political structure into autonomous countries, there were threats of its autonomous countries becoming independent and become separate from the kingdom, since each autonomous country is taking different sides in the cold war. A politician suggested to adopt a national anthem in 1979, "to better unite the country and to make each autonomous country feel belonging to one united kingdom of the Imaginary Lands of Nicholas". It was widely supported by the public and politicians, especially the king and federalists.

In the 1980s, there are a few popular folk songs suggested to become the national anthem, many of these were overruled since they are too "localized in nature and does not reflect the true values of the nation as a whole", as noted by the king in the 1982 National Conference. The song that was left over after overruling the others was "The Pride of the Righteous People". In a referendum whether to adopt this song as a national anthem in 1990, 72% of the public was supporting this song in becoming an anthem, 18% opposed it, and 10% did not vote (or invalid votes). An independent committee of different people from different age groups and different parts of the kingdom was formed. The committee was in charge of reviewing the lyrics, making changes as necessary to better reflect the nation's values. In favour of this song, this song was entrenched into the constitution in June 1992, and to make the song a better identification of the nation, it was renamed as "The Prideful March of the Righteous People" (Traditional Chinese: 義海豪情人民進行曲). The King pronounced it being the official anthem of the nation beginning the next Nicholas Day, which was April 2, 1993.

Since this song originated as a Cantonese folk song, the current official version is only available in Cantonese. Since Cantonese is a Chinese language, the song is also sang in Mandarin in the exact lyrics in Mandarin-speaking parts of the kingdom, though this is not officially recognized. Unofficial English and French versions were also being translated by the different autonomous countries in the kingdom. As aforementioned, the English version is expected to become official soon as it becomes entrenched in the Constitution, likely to be in 2013. A committee is also set up to revise the lyrics, as well as to make any changes in the tune to better accommodate the English lyrics.

The use of the anthem is governed by the Constitution of the Imaginary Lands of Nicholas Article 29. It requires the national anthem to be accurately performed pursuant the official music sheet published in 1942 anywhere within the Imaginary Lands of Nicholas, and anywhere the nation is being represented internationally. It also prohibits the lyrics from being altered. Willfully failing to follow the sheet music or altering the lyric when performing the national anthem in public is criminally punishable by imprisonment of up to 3 years or up to 360 day-fines.

Lyrics
Since Simplified Chinese is not recognized in the nation, all printed copies of the song's lyrics are in Traditional Chinese and in English (despite the English lyrics is yet to be recognized).

The first stanza (lyrics above the line in the table below), is normally observed. The full length of the song is rarely sung, although it will be in some major occasions like Nicholas Day.