THE NATIONAL SONG
(To the Editor.) Sir, —And why shouldn't the National Centennial Committee approve of Tom Bracken's "God Defend New Zealand" as the national song for 1940? It has done more than many prize compositions by professional composers and poets—it has won popularity more and more with the passing of the years and is now sung as a national song all over our Dominion by schoolchildren and at gatherings where women most do congregate —which is the best and truest test of national sentiment. And that is all that should matter with the council when making its choice. The only two contributions of Tom Bracken that have survived and are still well remembered, "Not Understood" and "God Defend New Zealand" (which is no more unfortunate and ambiguous than "God Save the King") wefe written under hours of stress, and consequently were written in sin- j cerity; not for a prize competition.—l am. etc., TJj,M. Feilding, 21/12/38.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19381223.2.50.2
Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 151, 23 December 1938, Page 8
Word Count
157THE NATIONAL SONG Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 151, 23 December 1938, Page 8
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