Which National Anthems do you really like, or really hate, and why?
A National Anthem ought to be an uplifting song, expressing the very best qualities of the nation in question.
The best: French. A jaunty little tune, and a song celebrating the overthrow of tyranny.
The worst : British. An awful tune that sounds more like a funeral dirge. A song expressing sentiments that many Brits resent. “God save the Queen” indeed. Many people don’t believe in God, or admire the Royal Family. The next few verses describe how much the English hate the Scottish. This is not a good song to represent a United Kingdom.
Second worst : American. Nice tune, even if notoriously difficult to sing well. But the sentiments expressed are not so great. It commemorates the war of 1812, which America lost. And takes its tune from the country that defeated them. And it celebrates a flag that is no longer in use, both the name and the design have changed since then. Oh, and considering that Slavery was abolished in the British Empire a few years previously, who was the real “Land of The Free” then?
“The Star-Spangled Banner” is hard to sing with a tune all over the place, and is a tad martial for my tastes. If we were writing a national anthem today, I bet we would scrupulously avoid the use of the word “bombs.” Still, I have a special place for it, and the last line always gets me kind of right here, ya know. Plus, how often do you get to say “spangled” in an average day? That’s just fun. Spangled, spangled!
I really like the Canadian anthem, even thought I can only ever remember the first two verses. It’s just, I don’t know, happy. I had always thought “Caledonia” was Scotland’s anthem, but Wikipedia says that’s not so, it’s just one of several contenders for unofficial anthem. Hearing “Caledonia” sung can bring a tear to me eye, especially if I’ve had a wee drop of the aul aqua vitae, if ye ken my drift.
I’ve always kind of admired Germany’s directness. You’ve got other countries waxing beatific about the homeland, or the flag, or the river, or arising to glory, or what have you, but Germany just gets right down to it and lets you know what they’re all about:
On the other hand, it’s much better if sung to the Gilligan’s Island theme. Try it:
*Australians all let us rejoice
For we are young and free
We’ve golden soil and wealth for toil,
Our home is girt by sea:
Our land abounds in nature’s gifts
Of beauty rich and rare,
In history’s page let every stage
Advance Australia fair,
In joyful strains then let us sing
Advance Australia fair.
Beneath our radiant Southern Cross,
We’ll toil with hearts and hands,
To make this Commonwealth of ours
Renowned of all the lands,
For those who’ve come across the seas
We’ve boundless plains to share,
With courage let us all combine
To advance Australia fair.
In joyful strains then let us sing,
Advance Australia fair.*
I don’t think it holds a candle to America the Beautiful, but I’ve always thought the American national anthem is quite pretty. Of course, being non-American, I’ve never been expected to try to actually sing the thing.
No it doesn’t.
1
God save our gracious Queen,
Long live our noble Queen,
God save the Queen:
Send her victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us:
God save the Queen.
2
O Lord, our God, arise,
Scatter her enemies,
And make them fall.
Confound their politics,
Frustrate their knavish tricks,
On Thee our hopes we fix,
God save us all.
3
Thy choicest gifts in store,
On her be pleased to pour;
Long may she reign:
May she defend our laws,
And ever give us cause
To sing with heart and voice
God save the Queen.*
Peter Morris’s acknowledgement of The Marseillaise brought to mind Allen Sherman’s famous parody song regarding the French Revolution, “You Went The Wrong Way, Old King Louis,” which begins with the following lines, sung to the Marseillaise:
For majesty, I think nothing quite equals the old Tsarist imperial anthem of Russia “Bozhye, tsarya khrani” (“God save the tsar”), written by Alexis Lvov. The tune will be familiar to churchgoers as the music to the hymn “God the Omnipotent” and to practically everyone not allergic to popular classics as a leitmotif in much of Tchaikovsky’s work, including particularly the 1812 Overture.
“America the Beautiful” is out of the running, as not an official anthem, but for my money combines music and sentiment to carry an important message better than almost any other piece.
And thanks to The Loaded Dog for finally giving me a clue as to why an old online friend on another board from Australia whom I don’t see any more had as his “location” field "the land that’s girt by sea.
Germany has actually dropped that part (the whole first two verses actually) of the Deutschlandlied from the national anthem. From the Bundestag website:
So it’s now just about “unity, right and freedom” - not quite so stirring, although the music is still good!
4 .
God grant that Marshall Wade,
May by thy mighty aid, victory bring,
May he sedition hush,
and like a torrent rush,
Rebellious Scots to crush,
God save the King.
I always thought that verse 2’s enemies specifically referred to Scotland. ICBW.
Not to be nitpicky, but didn’t we have a thread very much on the same subject quite recently? It may have been titled something like “Favourite National Anthem”. I’ll see if the search function will be nice to me. Wouldn’t want it to crush me, or anything. :eek:
Ofcourse that verse was popular for about 5 yeras after the Jacobite rebellion, but wasn’t part of the anthem when it was adopted as the national anthem towards the end of the 18th century.
Ah, I’m not going mad just yet: here is the other thread I mentioned. Similar title. I seem to recall the French one and the South African one came out quite well.
My favorite one, musically anyway, is the old Soviet anthem. We’re not hearing it anymore at the Olympics; OTOH, it’s been immortalized in The Hunt for Red October.
Worst anthem: Japan’s “Kimi ga Yo,” which is tainted by wartime associations with militarism and emperor-worship. But at least it’s very short. Interestingly, one of the leading sources of criticism of the anthem in Japan today are their public schoolteachers! (According to that Wiki article.)
Not a national anthem, but Ontario’s provincial anthem, “A Place to Stand,” is rather intriguing. It was originally written as the theme music for an Oscar-winning movie of the same name filmed for Montreal’s Expo '67 worlds fair. The song’s author, Dolores Claman, also wrote the theme for “Hockey Night in Canada.” And it was a regular part of the performances of Barenaked Ladies.
Ecuador has a similar situation to England - their national anthem has four verses, but they only sing two of them these day, and try to kind of sweep the other two under the rug. Of the two forgotten verses, one details how they kicked Spaniard butt to win their independence, and the other is a stern warning that Spain better not try it again.
Unless I’m mistaken, several of the former Gran Colombia countries (Colombia, Venezuela, Bolivia) have similar issues going on.
