I really like the Finnish national anthem. I don’t know the Finnish words, but many of us Christians sing it as “Be Still, My Soul, the Lord is on Thy Side.”
About the Finnish national anthem – I forgot to mention that it was composed by Jean Sibelius, another brand-name composer.
Slithy Tove, that video is from Finnish band Lordi’s “Hard Rock Hallelujah.” The music is just dubbed in, here’s the original: http://youtube.com/watch?v=TdItwaLrv1U
It’s my opinion that the best national anthems are violent. I’ve never heard that Denmark one, but it wins my stamp of approval. The very end of the song sounds a bit too much like the end of Star Spangled Banner though.
Amhrán na bhFiann is pretty good, but there is no shortage of bloody nationalist songs that could replace it in a pinch. “Follow Me Up to Carlow” reminds me of the Denmark one. As a bonus, it references events way in advance of the Troubles.
From Tassagart to Clonmore,
There flows a stream of Saxon gore
Oh, great is Rory Oge O’More,
At sending loons to Hades.
White is sick and Lane is fled,
Now for black FitzWilliam’s head
We’ll send it over, dripping red,
To Liza and her ladies.
Japan’s anthem is one of the most boring, at least to this Westerner’s ear. And as for the lyrics, I hope the original Japanese is better than the English translation.
*May the reign of the Emperor continue for a thousand, nay, eight thousand generations and for the eternity that it takes for small pebbles to grow into a great rock and become covered with moss. *
I’m partial to the Ukrainian national anthem. Turkey is fun too.
Finland is good. Biafra took a chunk of a better Sibelius piece when it was around.
When I was a kid I lived for the Olympics every four years. I was always excited when the Soviets won a gold medal because I knew I’d get to hear their national anthem. I guess theirs has always been my favorite.
Number 2 and 3 would have to be Germany and France, respectively. Those are quality anthems as well.
I’m Canadian. I am quite found of the instrumental version of our anthem but I personally can’t stand the lyrics. I’d definitely vote for the lyrics RickJay came up with.
FWIW, when my parents bought a Magnus Chord Organ, the first song I learned was “The Maple Leaf,” followed by “Hatikvah.” Not because I was Canadian or Jewish, but I liked the tunes.
(looking at my downloads) Edith Piaf? The WHORE! (deleting the file)
I really like The Star Spangled Banner. As a tune it’s not so great, but the story behind it is so great. Francis Scott Key and others were taken prisoner onto a British ship in Baltimore Harbour. Not sure who or what significance they were… Anyways, as the British Ships fired cannon at Fort McHenry all night, they watched. Seeing the flag still waving. As dawn dawned, it still was there. After that the anthem is the prisoners thumbing their noses and razzing their British captors.
Oh! Say! Can you see, by the dawn’s early light, what so proudly we hailed at the twilights last gleaming?
Nyah nyah nyah! 
A lot more? I’m not so sure. Here’s an excrutiatingly literal and un-poetic translation:
O, Canada, land of our ancestors
Your brow is decorated with glorious flowers
For your arm knows how to carry the sword
It knows how to carry the cross
Your history is an epic of the most brilliant exploits
And your valour, steeped in faith
Will protect our homes and our rights
It does a tremendous job of completely mis-representing Canada in its current state. Land of our ancestors? Military might? Christian faith? Epic history? What country was this again?
That’s pretty much what it says in the original too. There’s just a slight nitpick in that the term sazare-ishi in the original is often translated as “pebble”, but it’s more accurately a type of conglomerate rock that looks like this. The lyrics are very old, dating at least to the 10th century CE. There’s a theory that this particular poem was chosen because it sorts of mirrors God Save the King. Incidently, it won first prize at the 1903 National Anthem Competition.
Of course, I’m biased, but I have to agree. The best bit? It never mentions South Africa at all, just Africa. The worst bit, IMO, is that it’s a hymn, so I find it a bit exclusionary. Still, a lot of anthems mention God, so what can you do?
Although that Danish one comes a close second, now. I love the sword-helm-brain lines. If only I’d seen this before my wife left yesterday for Aalborg. She’d have gotten a kick out of this.
Actually the Finnish national anthem was composed by Fredrik Pacius. You might be confusing the finnish anthem and Finlandia wich was composed by Sibelius and considered by many finns as our second national anthem.
I have always liked the fact that God Defend New Zealand is sung in both Maori and English each time.
And then later is followed by the even cooler* haka*.
The words of the Mexican anthem are pretty warlike too.
http://www.inside-mexico.com/anthem.htm
But the Danish anthem still sounds more graphic.
I’m patriotic but I think “God Save the Queen” is a dirge.
My favourite is the European anthem "Ode to Joy"by Beef Oven.
It’s “Die Wacht Am Rhein” They wanted to use “Horst Wessel Lied” but it was still in copyright and WB figured they’d have trouble getting clearance. Cite
Yeah, it really is awful.
I should say, up front, that i’ve never been a big fan of national anthems in general, either the songs themselves or the (often jingoistic) ideas behind them.
But, like them or not, anthems are supposed to belong to the people of a nation, and to that end should be relatively easy for a non-professional to sing. The American anthem requires a much larger vocal range than most anthems, making it very difficult for regular people to sing without sounding terrible. Which means that, at sporting events and public ceremonies and other occasions where the anthem is sung, the crowd generally leaves the singing to some professional singer and just stands there.
What’s even worse is that the professional often uses the singing of the anthem as an excuse for showing off his or her range and improvisational ability, so the anthem gets butchered even further just because some over-rated pop star feels the need to show off. Luckily, this sort of thing seems to have become less frequent over the past few years.
I think Israel’s national anthem stinks. It sounds like a funeral dirge. You have lyrics about hope being sung in a depressing monotone.
That’s one of my pet peeves. But a couple of times I’ve been pleasantly surprised.
The Oak Ridge Boys, in tuxedos no less, did the SSB at the opening of the sixth game of the World Series in 1985. I saw these guys come out and groaned, wondering how they were going to butcher the anthem. But they didn’t. They sang in four part harmony, at a normal tempo, and really sounded great.
Toni Teneille(sp?) did the anthem at a Dodgers game, and instead of doing it “star style” she opened by speaking to the audience “Won’t you all please join me in singing our national anthem?” Then she sang it along with everyone, not as a solo.
Back when my older son was following Formula 1, and Michael Schumacher was winning about every other race (at least it seemed that way…), I used to love annoying him by singing the University of Pittsburgh alma mater while the award ceremony was on TV. Same Haydn melody. Alma mater, wise and glorious / Child of Light and Bride of Truuuuth…
Good times, good times 
The chorus of the Venezuelan anthem is also used as the melody for a popular lullaby. Make if it what you want. Venezuelans are (used to be, at least) very proud of this fact. There is even a popular song about the musical spirit of the Venezuelans that has the line “we calm our babies to sleep with our national anthem”.
I have always interpreted the lyrics of the US anthem as a bunch of scared soldiers spending the night in a trench hole waiting for sunlight to find out if they are still in the battle or have already been routed. Something must be getting lost on translation.