# Do you like your national anthem? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 27, 2018, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239 "2018-04-27T20:14:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2018, 10:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/21 "2018-04-28T10:03:24Z")
I don’t care much for _Ô Canada_, it’s not very melodious. And there’s the whole [issue](http://www.encyclopediecanadienne.ca/en/article/o-canada/) of who it was written for vs what it symbolises now. In general, I think flag-waving and anthems are a negative thing. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2018, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/22 "2018-04-28T10:31:45Z")
I’m partial to both the tune and lyrics of the Bangladesh national anthem. ["Amar Shonar Bangla" - Bangladesh National Anthem Bangla & English lyrics - YouTube](https://youtu.be/zVjbVPFeo2o) ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2018, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/23 "2018-04-28T10:48:54Z")
I’m Israeli, and I actually like my anthem, although it’s not really designed to be “liked”. It’s a lot more emotional and downbeat than most other anthems. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2018, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/24 "2018-04-28T10:50:55Z")
> [@kambuckta](#): > > I’m Australian, and gaaah. Our ‘new’ anthem is the pox. > > Our anthem SHOULD be ‘GOD BLESS AUSTRALIA’ to the tune of Waltzing Matilda, our unofficial national song. Anything else is just bullshit. I only like the Mondegreen’d version \* “Australians all eat ostriches For they are yum for meeeeeee!”\* ---
**Author:** ![Covfefe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee7513/32.png) [@Covfefe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covfefe)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2018, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/25 "2018-04-28T10:59:08Z")
To me the US anthem can be so much more tolerable when sung in [under 90 seconds](https://youtu.be/HkinzV7pxn4). It’s bottom of the barrel when subjected to the slow motion caterwauling. ---
**Author:** ![scruffycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scruffycat/32/200_2.png) [@scruffycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scruffycat)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2018, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/26 "2018-04-28T11:15:46Z")
UK here, and I hate our national anthem, a pretty rotten tune that glorifies the royal family and says nothing about the country at all really. Awful. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2018, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/27 "2018-04-28T11:46:10Z")
> [@scruffycat](#): > > UK here, and I hate our national anthem, a pretty rotten tune that glorifies the royal family and says nothing about the country at all really. Awful. I agree. I’m completely ambivalent about the royal family and think the idea of the UK is about so much more than an arbitrary accident of birth I gave a few suggestions up thread but when considering what an anthem should “say” about a country I think [“Nimrod”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhnMd1Jl7SA) takes some beating with evoking ideas through music alone. It is forever associated with remembrance Sunday but it is contemplative, regretful, thoughtful and ultimately hopeful, not bombastic. You can’t sing it, it won’t accompany any military march or parade. You can’t use it to glorify the monarchy but all the same it is intensely moving. Perhaps it is best left unsullied by nationalism and it might get diminished through overuse as an anthem but, it is one of my favourite pieces. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2018, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/28 "2018-04-28T11:58:08Z")
The American anthem is more martial than I’d prefer, but at least it was a defensive action in a defensive war that it’s glorifying. And I don’t know any other national anthems well enough to compare. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2018, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/29 "2018-04-28T13:35:11Z")
I like the SSB just fine. One of the appealing features of it is that it can be played at several different tempos and works for both a soloist doing it a cappella and for a marching band. To me, it sounds fine as a torch song or an “in your face…we won this medal” anthem. How often do you feel the need to sing your national anthem anyway? It’s certainly not one of my personal shower songs. ---
**Author:** ![chaika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chaika/32/405_2.png) [@chaika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaika)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2018, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/30 "2018-04-28T15:12:50Z")
I don’t like the US anthem. Musically jarring and difficult to sing. Even good singers can barely manage it. And the lyrics aren’t exactly inspiring. I love the Russian national anthem from a musical perspective, less so from a political angle (resurrecting the Soviet anthem was just one part of the orchestrated effort to create a new national mythology for rather nefarious purposes). I don’t know the new words by heart, so I always sing along with the old lyrics: the party of Lenin leading us to the triumph of Communism, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2018, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/31 "2018-04-28T15:22:35Z")
Canadian and I love ours, both French and English. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2018, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/32 "2018-04-28T15:31:35Z")
> [@susan](#): > > I’d prefer “America the Beautiful” as an anthem. Yeah, this. It’s a beautiful song that mostly celebrates good stuff. The Star Spangled Banana not only has the problems people have already spoken of (operatic range, bombastic and pretentious, war-celebrating), it also has the problem that the lyrics work badly with the melody, creating a lurching awkward thing. The rhythm of the words is amateurish and clumsy. ETA: I swear I didn’t write banana on purpose! ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2018, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/33 "2018-04-28T16:28:17Z")
> [@Covfefe](#): > > To me the US anthem can be so much more tolerable when sung in [under 90 seconds](https://youtu.be/HkinzV7pxn4). It’s bottom of the barrel when subjected to the slow motion caterwauling. In addition, some ballgame singers seem to think it’s a game where you are supposed to sing every single note above or below what the actual notes are. They will lilt above, lilt below, but deliberately never hit the actual note. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2018, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/34 "2018-04-28T17:46:14Z")
> [@susan](#): > > I’d prefer “America the Beautiful” as an anthem. That song sucks. Especially _“Thine alabaster cities gleam, undimmed by human tears.”_ ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2018, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/35 "2018-04-28T18:11:11Z")
_The Star-Spangled Banner_ is bombastic and belligerent. _America The Beautiful_ praises the natural wonders of the part of North America that is the United States, and praises humility and togetherness. I prefer the latter. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2018, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/36 "2018-04-28T19:58:55Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > We aren’t short of British composers with suitable pieces. No indeed. No end of great tunes, for hymns as well as grand choral works, but our problem is words. If I had to, I think I would go with Parry’s setting of Jerusalem (yes, it references England, but you could conveniently replace those with “this our”/“these our” without throwing out the scansion) - but even then, someone would kick off about the religious dimension, I suppose. If I were Welsh, I’d have no problem. [Great singalong tune](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XiSpdeVbbw), inspiring but inoffensive words about the language and the land. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Bredin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@John\_Bredin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Bredin)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2018, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/37 "2018-04-28T20:08:01Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > I’m in the UK, so god no. Ours is a dirge. We aren’t short of British composers with suitable pieces. Any section from Elgar’s "[pomp and circumstance"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0PHWKRFgZ0) would be better, Or Purcell’s “[trumpet Tune and Air](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuHtLxxuJsY)” Or Holst’s [Jupiter](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koNxs54pSMI)( and it would be put to popular vote when I become benevolent dictator. Being such though, I would of course fix the vote to ensure it aligned with my favourite.) I thought “Land of Hope and Glory” (tune of Pomp & Circumstance) was used as an alternate national anthem, analogous to “America the Beautiful”. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2018, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/38 "2018-04-28T20:12:51Z")
> [@Arrendajo](#): > > I’m an American and I think our national anthem sucks. Impossible for normal people to sing, archaic in lyric and melody, and glorifies war… Perhaps, but when done right… [http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x28chl](http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x28chl) ---
**Author:** ![The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2018, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/39 "2018-04-28T21:01:08Z")
The Star-Spangled Banner sounds terrible when sung by non-professionals, its lyrics are clunky, its melody is stolen, and it has a mad, deformed nephew of a racist third verse that we have to keep locked in the attic. No, I don’t believe I like it. Any of Albert Brooks’ suggestions would be an improvement. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2018, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/40 "2018-04-28T21:19:48Z")
> [@John\_Bredin](#): > > I thought “Land of Hope and Glory” (tune of Pomp & Circumstance) was used as an alternate national anthem, analogous to “America the Beautiful”. 😕 not to the best of my knowledge, it is certainly a favourite patriotic song and probably has an unofficial standing with the population but nothing official as far as I know. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239.md?page=3)