75. It Is Dawning

Galia Hacco. Recorded at NSA studio, June 9, 2002. CD Track 39; I-33.

Udayamāy, udayamāy (x1)
Eṟěnāḷ kŏticu nāṃ japica svātandṟyaṃ (x2

1. It’s dawning now; it’s dawning now—
The freedom we were longing for and praying for so long. (x2)
Spreading out its golden beauty, independence came. (x2)
With bravery the freedom of Jerusalem we gained. (x2)

Eṟěs isṟāěl, eṟěs isṟāěl—muḷukki
Pāṭuṃ svātandṟyam—nammaḷ pāṭuṃ svātandṟya

2. Eretz Israel, Eretz Israel—sing out!
A song of freedom sing—our song of freedom sing.

Udayamāy, udayamāy (x1)
Eṟěnāḷ kŏticu nāṃ japica svātandṟyaṃ (x2)

3. It’s dawning now; it’s dawning now—
The freedom we were longing for and praying for so long. (x2)
One flag is rising up; it’s rising up again. (x2)
Chains are breaking; chains are falling, falling from our legs. (x2)

The text of this song is found in notebook S-12, written down by Rivka Yehoshua from Parur, who sang it for Marcia Walerstein-Sibony in 1981 and then taught Galia Hacco how to sing it twenty years later. Our English translation follows the repetitions in Galia’s performance.

The song carries strong influences from Malayalam songs of the “freedom struggle” for Indian independence, both in its melody and its vocabulary (e.g. swatantram as the term for political freedom). The tune for the chorus is still widely used for political demonstrations and street processions in contemporary Kerala. As pointed out by Dileepkumar (2006), the second part of the melody and the insistent cadence of the entire song are reminiscent of the Malayalam song “Varika Varika Sahajare” by Amshi Narayana Pillai, composed in 1930 and sung during Gandhi’s Salt March that year (Andaluttu 1997, 15–19).^[1] Part of the melody also echoes the popular 1940s Hindi song, “Kadam Kadam Badaye Ja,” now the official marching song of the Indian Army.^[2]

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^[1]See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnPyPpNWqow. Accessed May 9, 2023
^[2] See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LsTc3Og41Y. Accessed May 9, 2023.