It’s no secret that National Day Parades are designed to elicit a overwhelming sense of patriotism, no matter how corny or mawkish it may be, and the annual theme songs are the best representation of its schmaltzy potency.
But even before SG50, National Day songs have been widely spurned for being banal tunes that are as easily forgotten as they are easily disregarded. Gone are the days when NDP songs used to stick in your head like a tumor — you can probably recall the words to “Home” and “Stand Up for Singapore” on command.
This year’s tune, however, is, er, something that wouldn’t even land in an imitation Now That’s What I Call Music! CD.
Not knocking on the songwriting talents of its creators Jay Lim and Lee Wei Song (we’re pretty sure they’re well-accomplished outside of NDP songwriting duties), but damn, dudes, ‘Because It’s Singapore!’ is so painfully bland that it borders on offensive. Awkward lyrics, vanilla melodies, monotonous inflections, overtly cloying romanticism — what is this, amateur night? It’s not even a catchy tune.
Yes, yes, it’s not that easy crafting a song — much less one that needs to bring out the patriot in you and has to have NDP keywords — but honestly, the weight of the tune hits people as hard as a feather.
Blogfather mrbrown may be exaggerating in his rant, but he is right: the music video is beautifully shot, and that’s the only good thing it has going for it.
But hey, at least they didn’t force modern pop tropes like millennial whoops, hyper-sexualised vibes or EDM instrumental choruses. For now, we’ll just have to sit back and remember the only local tune that matters: the MDA rap.
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