Robert Cyril Gladstone Potter composed the music, while the lyrics were authored by Archibald Leonard Luker.

[1] During the run up to independence in the early 1960s, several attempts were made by government committees to select the text to the new national anthem, but they all resulted in an impasse.

Finally, in 1965, a fresh contest was held, and a new committee was formed, composed of individuals who possessed "broad literary and poetic backgrounds".

[2] The criteria they formulated for the anthem was that it should be august, inspire a love of country and evoke its unique characteristics, while at the same time be uncomplicated enough so that it could be comprehended by children.

Green land of Guyana, our heroes of yore, Both bondsmen and free, laid their bones on your shore.