National Day Parade Discussion - NDP Songs from 2012 - Present (compiled)

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Just now, bluerunner said:

I like this very much. Better than the one sang by Fandi’s daughter. 

 

Totally agree! Haha.

The medley of past NDP songs at the end was definite 'more patriotic' and everyone knew how to sing along - this was one of my favourite parts (other than the parade and fireworks), haha.

 

[bluerunner]

1 minute ago, sphere said:

 

Totally agree! Haha.

The medley of past NDP songs at the end was definite 'more patriotic' and everyone knew how to sing along - this was one of my favourite parts (other than the parade and fireworks), haha.

 

Yeah. The part where everyone sing along is very heartwarming. Suddenly, I feel so patriotic! 

[sphere]

S’porean asks if anybody else thinks the NDP 2026 songs are ‘really, really bad’

Singaporean wonders if anybody else thinks the NDP 2026 songs are bad

A Singaporean Redditor has sparked a discussion over this year’s National Day Parade (NDP) songs, asking if anyone else thinks they are “really, really bad”.

OP feels NDP songs are getting worse

The post was shared on subreddit r/askSingapore on 8 Aug and has since attracted more than 250 upvotes.

 

The Original Poster (OP) stressed that they are Singaporean, adding: “No hate, I was born and bred here.”

 

According to the OP, they felt that NDP songs have been declining in quality over the years.

 

Of the three songs released this year, they considered ‘Sparkle’ the best of the bunch, describing it as “marginally catchy” and less reliant on autotune.

 

However, they still criticised its lyrics and parts of its music video.

Source: Reddit

 

‘Giants’ received a more mixed review, with the OP saying its melody and lyrics might not appeal to everyone. They also criticised its use of autotune.

 

But ‘You’ll Be Okay’ was singled out for the harshest criticism. The OP claimed its chorus sounded similar to Kelly Clarkson’s 2004 power ballad ‘Since U Been Gone’.

 

They also complained about its lyrics and heavy use of autotune.

 

“No offence to the singers. I’ve never made a song, it’s probably hard as heck to even make half-decent ones but offence to the songs,” the OP said.

 

Not vibing with the new NDP songs

In the comments section, most netizens seem to agree with the OP about the new NDP songs.

 

A netizen said that the lyrics in ‘Giants’ are “neither poetic nor meaningful”, and felt “forced” instead.

Source: Reddit

 

A commenter said there hasn’t been a good NDP song for 20 years, and questioned the need for new songs every year.

Source: Reddit

 

A Redditor shared that the new NDP songs are not “necessarily bad” but just that they “don’t fit the context of National Day”.

Source: Reddit

 

OP felt that one NDP song would suffice

The OP, Yvette Wang, 15, a student, told MS News that she was pretty shocked after hearing the new NDP songs as she had been “expecting better stuff”.

 

Yvette shared that many people had also told her that the 2025 NDP song sounded quite bad too, especially for a 60th-anniversary song.

 

However, she personally did not think it was that bad.

 

“I don’t often have very strong feelings about NDP songs,” she said.

 

“I’ve just noticed more and more people around me complaining about the quality of the songs,” she added.

 

She also felt that having three NDP songs this year was “redundant” and that one song would have been sufficient. She also disliked how ‘Giants’ and ‘You’ll Be Okay’ sounded overly autotuned.

 

Yvette also felt the government’s attempt to experiment with new music styles this year was unsuccessful.

 

When asked if she had a favourite NDP song, she quipped: “I don’t really have one but I do like ‘The Road Ahead’ and ‘Home’. I like their melodies.”

 

 

[source: here]

 

[sphere]

‘Harder to sing’: Music industry veterans Dick Lee and Jeremy Monteiro weigh in on NDP 2026 songs debate

Some commenters say this year's NDP tracks don't feel like traditional National Day anthems. Local music industry icons Dick Lee and Jeremy Monteiro weigh in on the debate and the role of younger voices in shaping Singapore's musical identity.

Dick Lee (left) and Jeremy Monteiro are veterans of the Singapore music scene. (Photo: Instagram/@dickleeparadise, Facebook/Jeremy Monteiro)

 

National Day may be over, but the debate over this year's National Day Parade (NDP) songs is still playing out online, with veterans from the local music scene – singer-songwriter Dick Lee and jazz pianist and composer Jeremy Monteiro – weighing in with their thoughts on the debate.

 

The discussion centres on the three original theme songs released for NDP 2026: Giants, performed by Iman Fandi and written by Weish; Sparkle, performed by Gareth Fernandez and Dru Chen; and You'll Be Okay, performed and co-written by Jasmine Sokko.

 

The songs form the three-track Go Beyond: NDP 2026 Album, the first time the NDP's musical soundtrack has been presented as an album. Music director Bang Wenfu said the wider range of musical styles was intended to reflect Singapore's diversity and offer different song choices for Singaporeans.

 

Online, some people have questioned whether the songs work as NDP anthems, with comments coming from people of different ages and backgrounds.

 

Some said the songs were "too heavily autotuned" to sing along to, while others felt they were less immediately memorable than past NDP songs. One commenter wrote that the songs were “difficult to sing along with, compared to previous years' songs”, while another said they “don't sound or feel like NDP songs, but just normal songs about home and Singapore”.

 

At the same time, others welcomed the opportunity for younger local singers and songwriters to contribute to the NDP soundtrack.

 

MAKING SPACE FOR YOUNG VOICES 

Veteran musician Monteiro, who was the musical arranger for the Hugh Harrison-penned songs Stand Up For Singapore in 1984 and Count On Me, Singapore in 1986, and who was awarded the Cultural Medallion by the National Arts Council in 2002, weighed in on the discussion in a Facebook post on Monday (Aug 10).

 

He acknowledged one of the more common criticisms: that some newer NDP songs are harder for large crowds to sing.

 

“Some of the newer songs are genuinely harder to sing. That complaint is fair,” he wrote. “They are often written for trained voices, with intervals and runs that suit a soloist on a stage more than a crowd on a field, and many of us in the older generation simply cannot get our voices around them.”

 

But Monteiro argued that this does not necessarily mean the songs have failed to connect with younger Singaporeans.

 

He pointed to younger songwriters and performers behind more recent NDP songs, including The Road Ahead in 2021, Not Alone in 2024 and Here We Are in 2025, and argued that younger Singaporeans are more comfortable with the musical language of these songs.

 

“Our young people can sing them. Easily, from memory, with feeling, because that is the musical language they grew up speaking,” he wrote.

 

He compared this with the way songs such as Stand Up For Singapore resonated with his own generation.

 

His broader point was that NDP songs, like Singapore's musical tastes, will inevitably evolve and that younger voices are crucial to shape that soundtrack.

 

Instagram link

 

A PUBLIC COMMITTEE DECIDING SONGS FOR SINGAPORE 

Singer-songwriter and composer Lee, who composed the songs We Will Get There in 2002 and Our Singapore in 2015, and was also awarded the Cultural Medallion in 2005, offered a different proposal in an Instagram Reel posted on Tuesday.

 

Lee argued that the selection of NDP theme songs should involve a broader cross-section of the public, rather than being decided by the changing creative teams behind each year's parade.

 

He suggested forming a special public committee made up of “ordinary citizens and musicians”, with people from different ages and backgrounds.

 

The committee could then select a song that it believes would resonate across a broader section of Singaporeans, he said.

 

Lee also stressed that other Singapore songs should continue to be included in the NDP, even if they are not selected as the official theme song. These songs, he said, can help “colour the parade”.

 

NDP SHOULDN'T BE THE ONLY EVENT THAT INSPIRES LOCAL SONGWRITERS

Both Lee and Monteiro's comments point to a bigger question about what happens to Singapore's music beyond August each year.

 

Lee said: “It's very important for us to create and build our song bank. We're such a young country.”

 

He cited songs such as Bunga Sayang, which he composed in 1995, and the classic track Home, composed in 1998, as examples of Singapore songs that were not written specifically as NDP theme songs but have nevertheless become closely associated with the country.

 

Monteiro echoes the sentiment, stating: "Our catalogue is an inheritance, still growing, with room in it for everybody. These songs make us feel Singaporean. They make us feel our rootedness. They make us feel our togetherness."

 

Lee added: “It shouldn't be just NDP that inspires local songwriters to write songs about Singapore for Singapore. 

 

"It's important to have that sense of place of where we come from in our songs and music anyway. So keep writing.”

 

 

[source: here]

 

[Guest Not Impressed]

The tunes were self written to amuse passerby, on the street, who might donate a few pennies before leaving with headphones and listening to other authentic music.  When you asked them what they remembered about the song, they all merely shrugged and said nothing more than to provie the artists a small token of support.  To use them for ND song makes me wonder who were they trying hard to please, not me of course