Music in the Bahamas
In the Bahamas there are many different forms of music such as calypso, soca, reggae and rake n' scrape. Rake n' Scrape is an old form of making music using a handsaw as the main instrument, along with other instruments such as a box guitar, concertina, triangle, accordion and different kinds of drums.Have you ever heard the song "Who Let the Dogs Out". It was sung by a pop group called the Bahamen from the Bahamas. You can also hear songs by the Bahamen on the DisneyMania albums. Many of their songs have been used in movies such as Rugrats In Paris, Miss Congeniality, and Garfield: The Movie.
The music of Junkanoo is very primitive, but very intense and rythmic. The basic musical instruments are drums, cowbells, horns, whistles, scrapers and horns and other brass instruments.
Bahamas National Anthem Lyrics
Lift up your head to the rising sun, Bahamaland,
March on to glory, your bright banners waving high,
See how the world marks the manner of your bearing;
Pledge to excel thro' love and unity.
Pressing onward, march together, to a common loftier goal;
Steady sunward tho' the weather hide the wide and treacherous shoal.
Lift up your head to the rising sun, Bahamaland,
'til the road you've trod lead unto your God, March on Bahamaland.
Lyrics and Music: Timothy Gibson, 1972
Adopted as Bahamas National Anthem: 1973