Island Home

Island Home is the official anthem of the municipality of Sudalto, adopted on April 28, 2008 after a competition to select an anthem that would represent Sudalto in events where its own identity is required. Written and composed by shopkeeper Alexei Kalinkov in 2002, he entered it in the competition in 2007. Kalinkov explained that he was inspired by 19th century music from the Bible Belt that was more "lowbrow" and sung whilst farming, as well as how he felt that "how gloomy the damned place is, I need to give them some sunlight in their life."

Competition

In June 2007, the City Council of Sudalto started a search for a local anthem with a law setting an "Anthem Competition for the City of Sudalto," and issued a list of rules for the anthem competition. English was chosen to be the language due to how multicultural the town is and to avoid bias.

• The anthem shall only have English as its official language and as such must be submitted in its English form
• It cannot refer to any foreign country at all; that includes Vyvland and Luziyca
• It must assert a strong bond to the island so the citizens can feel the sense of a common bond with the island
• The melody shall originate on the island, and not other areas.
• It shall not sound militaristic nor jingoistic.
• The sheet music shall be submitted along with the lyrics
• The performance must be dignified and suitable to represent Sudalto where its identity is needed (e.g. football matches, beginning and conclusions of City Council sessions, beginning of the school day, and state visits)

With the guidelines in place, submissions began on July 3, 2007, and closed on Sept. 3rd. They were sent by mail, and on Sept. 10th, the committee announced that 23 valid entries have been submitted and an anthem festival will be held in November to see what the audience thought of the best anthems.

On November 12th, 2007, the festival was held, and in the end, Island Home, Song of the Islanders, and Land of the Windswept Rock were the top three contenders and the Luziycan Naval Band made compositions for the three anthems.

On February 1, 2008, the City Council saw the military band perform the three anthems live at LAFB Sudalto, and then on February 3rd, they voted to adopt Island Home as the anthem 9-3-1 (9 ayes, 3 nays, 1 abstention) to take effect April 28, 2008. On April 28, 2008, the anthem was performed at noon by the Sudalto Fropbaand, and it was officially adopted on that date.

Lyrics

English (official)

Ours is an Island home
Firm on rock and strong by sea
Loyal and proud in history,
Our thankful hearts are
Raised to God for Sudalto.

The beauty of this land
Long inspires both eye and mind.
Ours the privilege to guard its shore
So help we God that
Sudalto might through grace endure.