Pincez tous vos koras, frappez les balafons (Everyone strum your koras, strike the balafons) is the national anthem of Senegal, adopted in 1960. The lyrics were written by Léopold Sédar Senghor, who became Senegal’s first president, and the music by Herbert Pepper, who also wrote the national anthem of the Central African Republic, “La Renaissance”. The kora (a type of harp) and balafon (wooden xylophone) are Senegalese musical instruments.
Click here to listen to the National Anthem of Senegal
English Translation
Everyone strum your koras, strike the balafons.
The red lion has roared.
The tamer of the savannah
Has leapt forward,
Dispelling the darkness.
Sunlight on our terrors, sunlight on our hope.
Stand up, brothers, here is Africa assembled.
Chorus:
Fibres of my green heart,
Shoulder to shoulder, my more than brothers,
O Senegalese, arise!
Join sea and springs, join steppe and forest!
Hail mother Africa, hail mother Africa.
Senegal, you the son of the lion’s froth,
Sprung from the night to the gallop of horses,
Give us, oh! give us the honour of our ancestors,
Splendid as ebony and strong as muscle,
We say it clearly – the sword has no flaw.