Glory to Hong Kong becomes city’s new protest anthem

Hong Kong protesters now have an original song to sing during their numerous demonstrations.

The song Glory to Hong Kong, composed by an anonymous musician last month, has quickly swept across the city, with supporters singing it on the streets, at protests in shopping malls and even during soccer games.

Since protests erupted in June, young Hongkongers have produced all kinds of artwork to advocate their cause: from cartoons Airdropped to subway passengers to animated videos to "Lennon Wall" message boards.

But until recently, the protesters had few musical options. The repetitive Christian hymn Sing Hallelujah to the Lord was an early unofficial protest anthem.

The famed Do You Hear the People Sing? from musical Les Miserables and the '90s Canto-pop hit Boundless Oceans, Vast Skies have also been heard occasionally during the protests, but they're more closely identified with the 2014 pro-democracy movement.

Released online just two weeks ago, Glory to Hong Kong has surpassed them all in popularity.

In an interview with Hong Kong news site Stand News, the composer, who used the pseudonym "T," said he had been trying to write a song since the protests began in June.

T said he took inspiration from Baroque music, the national anthems of the UK, the US and Russia, as well as patriotic songs like the Battle Hymn of the Republic.

While working on the song, he told Stand News, he would often visualize scenes from the protests.

After finishing a demo version of the song last month, T recruited users of the online forum LIHKG, a platform commonly used to plan demonstrations, to record it. There are Cantonese and English versions of the song.

Internet users also helped polish the lyrics by incorporating the popular protest slogan "reclaim Hong Kong, revolution of our times."

Other anonymous musicians and filmmakers later made music videos, which have been collectively viewed more than 1 million times on YouTube.

The latest video features a choir and an orchestra with participants dressed like protesters in black shirts, helmets and gas masks.

A Hong Kong composer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the song became popular due to its simple structure and inspirational lyrics, although many may find it hard to sing because of the wide vocal range required.

"The song is an effective one in creating a heroic, patriotic and hopeful feeling, which is psychologically very important. It encourages Hong Kong people to keep fighting for democracy, freedom and justice," she said.

The song, dubbed by some as Hong Kong's "national anthem," will likely further upset the Chinese government, which has accused the protesters of creating chaos and pushing for Hong Kong independence.

But others have objected online to calling the song a national anthem, arguing the independence connotation will distract people from the pro-democracy aim of the protests.

Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China, with its own legal, government and financial systems different from mainland China.

At Tuesday night's 2022 World Cup qualifier in Hong Kong, some soccer fans booed China's national anthem, March of the Volunteers, before belting out Glory to Hong Kong together.

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