aka The Vinyl Villain incorporating Is This The Life?
#4: Yma O Hyd by Dafydd Iwan ac Ar Log
After examining some of Wales’ younger contingent in the past few weeks, today we’re going for something a bit older from a true Welsh legend; a song that has become a second national anthem.
Dafydd Iwan was born in the west Wales town of Brynamman and spent much of his youth in Bala in the north, before relocating south to attend university in Cardiff. He soon became known for his political activism and protest music. In 1969 he wrote the satirical song Carlo for the investiture of Prince Charles as Prince of Wales. The following year, his activism for Cymdeithas yr Iaith – the Welsh Language Society pressure group – got him imprisoned following a campaign of defacing English language road signs. His songs have taken in subjects including Welsh devolution, the Falklands war, The Troubles in Northern Ireland, the Gulf War and the Tiananmen Square massacre.
But in 1981 he returned to the topic of the Welsh language by penning the defiant anthem Yma O Hyd. Over the years, this song has taken on a life of its own. Yma o hyd means ‘still here’ in Welsh, and the song hails the resilience of the language to withstand the numerous attempts to obliterate it (and Welsh culture in general) against all the odds. Sports fans have adopted it as a rallying call, and most recently, it has become a pre-match ritual at Wales football internationals. Of course, the Wales national football team is currently experiencing its most successful period in history. Following them plummeting down the world rankings at the start of the century, Yma O Hyd is bellowed by fans. “We are still here/In spite of everyone and everything.”
40 years on, Yma O Hyd has become Wales’ second national anthem. In Dafydd’s own words: “It all started at the Austria game in March 2022, when The Red Wall propelled the song onto the world stage. After the second performance before and after the Ukraine match, the song was on its way to the World Cup as the Welsh Team’s official anthem. But what has happened since is even more significant, with people all over Wales singing the song, and people from other countries seeing Wales on the world stage.”
The album ‘Yma O Hyd’ enjoyed a 40th anniversary re-issue last November which also coincided with Dafydd Iwan’s 80th birthday.
MP3: Yma O Hyd – Dafydd Iwan ac Ar Log (from ‘Yma O Hyd’, 1983)
Here’s the rendition Dafydd referred to above, where he is joined by “the Red Wall” prior to Wales’ World Cup qualifying play-off semi-final against Austria in Cardiff. Rousing, moving, inspirational. Astonishing!
The Robster
PS : a quick reminder that there is still time to enter the competition associated with Welsh Wednesdays #3. Click here for all the info and details.
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