EXODUS SONG – Rendition by De Lanerolle Bros and choristers of Trinity College Kandy-by Rochelle Palipane gunaratne

EXODUS SONG

This land is mine
God gave this land to me

This brave and ancient land to me
And when the morning sun
Reveals her hills and plains
Then I see a land
where children can run free.

So take my hand
And walk this land with me
And walk this lovely land with me
Tho’ I am just a man

When you are by my side
With the help of God
I know I can be strong.

So take my hand
And walk this land with me

And walk this golden land with me.

Tho’ I am just a man

When you are by my side
With the help of God
I know I can be strong.
To make this land our home
If I must fight
I’ll fight to make this land our own.
Until I die this land is mine!

“With the commemoration of Children’s Day/ Elders Day and Teachers we were enthusiastic about our collaboration with the Choristers of Trinity College, Kandy. THE EXODUS SONG – which refers to children running free seemed apt in today’s context. We wish to thank Fr. Araliya Jayasundara, Principal of Trinity College, Kandy and Lasantha Tennekoon – Trainer of the choir and our bosom friend, Neranjan de Silva for ticking the ivories.”

It can be viewed on youtube: TCK/DLB/NERANJAN/JONATHAN
The above was a message I received from Ishan de Lanerolle of the De Lanerolle Brothers (DLB) fame recently on Whatsapp and I was awed by this soulful rendition of the Exodus Song. Thus prompting me to call Ishan and request to meet the first old boy Rector of Trinity College Kandy (TCK), Rev. Fr. Araliya Jayasundara OSB who duly obliged me with an appointment. Speaking on his personal vision for the song, he revealed,
“Prior to taking on the current position as the Principal of Trinity College Kandy, I was at St. Anthony’s College Kandy as the Choir Master and the ‘Exodus Song’ holds a special place in my heart. I always envisioned the song for a college as ultimately the child or student lives on a land in school and is integrated to it. The school is not merely a centre of education, it is an acquisition of a culture and this song has all the ingredients; its tune, its words and the aura was meant even for a school. So much so that if you convey the profundity of the song to a child, he will eventually fall in love with the school, its unique culture and the traditions.

I studied at TCK for fourteen years and returning to it as the Principal after a spate of over sixteen years, I was compelled to participate in overlooking the prerequisites for the 150 year celebration of Trinity College Kandy – It is the most loved place and I am drawn to it by chords of love.

Surmise it to say, when the idea of a virtual launch of the celebrations seemed the path to follow, my desire was to incorporate the ethos of the school, in addition to its tradition and culture through this particular rendition of this famous song. I was also immensely blessed to have been acquainted with Nerajan during the training period at the national seminary for Fr. Claver’s choir as he used to accompany us on his piano. Meanwhile Rohan and Ishan assisted me and trained my choristers on many occasions. Hence, a friendship blossomed through a shared passion for music. Moreover, the three of them are an integral part of the Trinity College musical tradition as they have been working in conjunction with our Choir Master, Lasantha. He was elated to partner with DLB and Neranjan once again and they too were equally delighted. Within a month Neranjan, the maestro composed the track and they spent three days in early August recording and capturing the visuals; bringing our dream into fruition.

This song captures the spirit into what we wish to mould the Trinitian into. Further, the song leaves a legacy of kinship towards the land which in this context is their school. I love the part where it says children can run free. The Trinity space is meant for the child and every speck of dust of this land is for the child and we cannot take that right away from them.

Our future seems to be rather bleak from a very human perspective and we have realized that we cannot depend or trust on systemic changes, it is up to us individuals and collectives to make that change and the change starts with separating ourselves from the contamination of society. Schools are about creating value and transmitting those values to the very core of a child, so that they will be responsible human beings. That’s where hope lies for countries like us. In the epic 150 year celebration of Trinity we are looking at a four pillar model; Celebrating the past, mapping the future, service to humanity and care for our common home- environmental consciousness.

These four pillars are combined in a grand vision – exploring vistas of excellence. The very purpose of this vision is to ensure TCK is a paradigm of holistic education, looking at forming responsible human beings – not only towards achieving academic goals but an overall stewardship towards nature. Thus our goal is to be a flagship education mission in which young lives are inculcated with knowledge, wisdom and understanding – eventually enabling each one of them to reach their goals in life as distinguished human beings.”

The origins of the song – excerpt from the web:
The song which was composed by the famous “Pat” Boone (born Charles Eugene “Pat” Boone on June 1, 1934). He was an American singer, actor and writer. He was a successful pop singer in the United States during the 1950s and early 1960s. Among his hit songs were cover versions of black R&B artists’ songs (when parts of the country were segregated). He sold over 45 million albums, had 38 Top 40 hits and appeared in more than 12 Hollywood movies. Boone’s talent as a singer and actor, combined with his old-fashioned values, contributed to his popularity in the early rock and roll era. After hearing Ernest Gold’s orchestral theme to the 1960 film Exodus, Pat Boone added lyrics and recorded a vocal version, which he called “The Exodus Song (This Land Is Mine).” In a Songfacts interview with Boone, he told the story: “It was Christmas Eve, and I was just trying to get an idea for a lyric to submit to a professional writer. I wasn’t thinking of writing it myself then. But when I put the needle down on the record, my wife was begging me to stop doing that and help her get the presents under the tree so we could go to bed. So, when I heard it again for the 40th time [sings melody], the words came – ‘This land is mine.’ And I thought, ‘Wow that is the whole message of Exodus.’ And [sings the melody], ‘God gave this land to me.’ It was like the melody was singing to me, itself.

I started writing it down on the first piece of paper that I could find, so I wouldn’t forget. In 25 minutes, I had written the whole lyric – as if I was taking dictation. I turned over the piece of paper, and it was a Christmas card. Now, that Christmas card is on display on the wall of the Righteous Gentile in Yad Vashem, the holocaust museum in Jerusalem, where they asked if they could have whatever I wrote those words on, because they want every Jewish child in Israel to know those words by heart. And for a Christian Gentile guy from Nashville to have written those words, which have become virtually the second Jewish national anthem, is the milestone in my life.”

Boone made many trips to Israel after releasing this song, which he considers the most important in his catalog. “Not only has it become the second Jewish national anthem,” he told Songfacts, “But it evokes Biblical truth about God calling his people back together after they were dispersed around the world, and they would come and Israel would be born in a day. That’s a prophetic utterance in the Bible that a nation would be born again in a day – and it was, on May 14, 1948.”