in its place. Lyrics The lyrics of "" promotes the worthiness of "dying for the freedom" of Armenia. Its discussion of death, however, has led several commentators to complain that the anthem is overly "wimpy" and "gloomy". Specifically, some members of the National Assembly are of the opinion that the song – written at the time of the first fight for independence – does not accurately reflect the present era of triumph and success. However, none of the proposals to replace "" have come to fruition, as the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) – which were part of the coalition government – have so far resisted efforts to change the national anthem, especially proposals to replace it with one based on the music of the anthem of the Armenian SSR. Current text Original text "" is based on the first, third, fourth and sixth stanzas of Nalbandian's poem The Song of an Italian Girl". In popular culture The title of the national anthem is used as the name of a television channel for Armenian expatriates residing in Russia. Mer Hayrenik TV is based in the city of Novosibirsk, the administrative centre of both Novosibirsk Oblast and the Siberian Federal District. Notes References External links State symbols of Armenia Vocal version of "Mer Hayrenik" in MP3 format Armenian part of nationalanthems.info: includes midi, lyrics, a music sheet Armenian music National symbols of Armenia Asian anthems European anthems National anthems National anthem compositions in F major National anthem compositions in E-flat major