Theme Song Music Video
The NDP 2021 Theme Song, titled “The Road Ahead”, is written and composed by Linying and Evan Low, under the direction and supervision of Music Director, Dr. Sydney Tan. Additional guitars were provided by Sano Shimano. The Music Video is performed by Linying, Sezairi Sezali, Shye-Anne Brown and Shabir.
Linying was named in Spotify Asia’s 25 most influential artists under 25, and has had songs featured on Billboard, BBC Radio 1, HBO, Netflix, USA Today and more. She was also the recipient of the “Top English Pop Song” COMPASS Award 2019 for the most royalties generated, and has garnered over 80 million streams on international collaborations with Felix Jaehn and Lost Frequencies.
Evan is an MDA Media Education Scheme Scholar and Berklee Achievement Scholarship Recipient, as well as a music director for The Sam Willows, Benjamin Kheng and iNCH. In 2020, he won a The Straits Times’ Life Theatre Award for Best Sound, for iNCH’s ‘Til the End of the World, We’ll Meet in No Man’s Land. Evan’s own artist moniker “evanturetime” has amassed more than 2 million streams and has entered Singapore and Malaysia’s Spotify Top Hits Playlist.
Linying was inspired to write “The Road Ahead” because she wanted to encourage Singaporeans to count on one another in these challenging times where, for many listeners, the road ahead remains uncertain. Paired with Evan Low’s production, the song reminds us that Singapore has faced adversity time and again in our history, and we have overcome the odds each time. Its refrain tells Singaporeans that we can overcome the challenges in our present time as well as in the unknown future (“come whatever on the road ahead, we did it before, and we’ll do it again”). Together, each of us can contribute to a larger collective effort (“one man on an island, one drop in the sea, all it takes to set a wave in motion is a single word, an action”), to build a Singapore that we want to see (“the change that we’ve been longing to see, for our home, our land, our family”).
Accompanying Music Video
Directed by Huang Junxiang and Jerrold Chong, this year’s National Day Music Video invites Singaporeans on a visual odyssey. Singers Linying, Sezairi Sezali, Shye-Anne Brown and Shabir take us through a journey that recalls Singapore’s growth, and reflects on our shared values carrying us through even as we work towards our future. This is the first NDP Music Video to blend live-action and animation. The Music Video carries a sense of hope and looks to inspire Singaporeans with a shared sense of both determination and optimism, in spite of the challenges at the present.
Music and Lyrics by Linying and Evan Low
Production and arrangement by Evan Low and Linying
Performed by Linying, Sezairi Sezali, Shye-Anne Brown and Shabir
Directed by Huang Junxiang and Jerrold Chong
One man on an island
One drop in the sea
All it takes to set a wave in motion
Is a single word, an action
A hope that we can be
The change that we’ve been
longing to see
**Pre Chorus**
For our home, our land, our family
It’s all within our reach
**Chorus**
See this island, every grain of sand
Hear this anthem, it’s the voices of our friends
Come whatever on the road ahead
We did it before, and we’ll do it again
**Verse 2**
When the moments turn to hours
And the day’s last light is gone
Look around us always and remember
There were times we were uncertain
But we just kept walking on
It’s always darkest just before the dawn
**Chorus**
See this island, every grain of sand
Hear this anthem, it’s the voices of our friends
Come whatever on the road ahead
We did it before, and we’ll do it again
**Bridge**
Our home, the home we share
Where the garden always grows toward the light
Though the road ahead is daunting,
I know we’re gonna be alright
**Chorus**
See this island, every grain of sand
Hear this anthem, it’s the voices of our friends
Come whatever on the road ahead
We did it before, and we’ll do it again