# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/81 "2019-06-30T18:39:15Z")
From the US, born and raised. I don’t care for it. Too corny, although a tastefully done instrumental version is fine with me. ---
**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:** [June 30, 2019, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/82 "2019-06-30T19:16:38Z")
Star Spangled Banner: Goes on for much too long, has too wide a range of notes (very low lows and very high highs.) Song should be cut in half. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2019, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/83 "2019-06-30T19:44:29Z")
I like L’internationale. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/84 "2019-07-01T05:18:41Z")
The Spanish anthem has the bestestest lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/85 "2019-07-01T08:14:49Z")
As this has been dredged up, and in light of the current state of the nation, I hereby propose that we replace the British National Anthem with Jakkity Sax. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/86 "2019-07-01T08:31:10Z")
> [@Haldurson](#): > > I prefer Woodie Guthrie’s response to that song, ‘This Land is Your Land’. It’s much more in the spirit of what America ought to aspire to (obviously, IMHO). [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmiUloNblaY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmiUloNblaY) This land is your land, this land is my land From California, to the New York Island From the redwood forest, I pay my property tax So they don’t foreclose on me 😉 ---
**Author:** ![GreedySmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a698b9/32.png) [@GreedySmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreedySmurf)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/87 "2019-07-01T09:04:41Z")
I’m ambivalent about Advance Australia Fair, not great, but not the worst either. > [@kambuckta](#): > > Our anthem SHOULD be ‘GOD BLESS AUSTRALIA’ to the tune of Waltzing Matilda, our unofficial national song. Anything else is just bullshit. I’m pretty ambivalent about God Bless Australia as well. But a big hell no on any connection to Waltzing Matilda. A great Australian song yes, something we want to project to the world at large, no way. ---
**Author:** ![Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@Go\_Arachnid\_Laser\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Go_Arachnid_Laser_1)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/88 "2019-07-01T09:22:18Z")
> [@GreedySmurf](#): > > But a big hell no on any connection to Waltzing Matilda. A great Australian song yes, something we want to project to the world at large, no way. What’s wrong about a song about a charming hobo who drowns himself before he’s killed by a sheep owner and-? Yeah. Wait. I think I see what you mean. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/89 "2019-07-01T10:19:32Z")
I never understood certain people’s obsessions with The Star-Spangled Banner being war-like, it’s almost always from people who don’t realize most national anthems are war-like or involve violence. It’s like getting mad the American Flag as red on it that could represent blood when most countries have red in their flags. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/90 "2019-07-01T10:35:00Z")
Can we get some love here for “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing”? The African-American national anthem. It’s a terrific song that should replace the SSB. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/91 "2019-07-01T11:13:04Z")
If it wasnt connected to the Confederacy I would prefer the song “Dixie”. Its a catchy tune with an upbeat tempo one can almost dance to. Most national anthems are somber but not Dixie. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/92 "2019-07-01T11:24:53Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > I never understood certain people’s obsessions with The Star-Spangled Banner being war-like, it’s almost always from people who don’t realize most national anthems are war-like or involve violence. The SSB is less about war and more about the enduring permanence of the nation. I wonder how many people understand its origin in [the Battle of Baltimore?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Baltimore) The lyrics do mention rockets and bombs, but only in the context of their light allowing Key to see that the flag still flew at Fort McHenry - indicating, much to his relief, that the American forces had not been defeated, and that Baltimore would not be burned [as Washington recently had.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burning_of_Washington) ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2019, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/93 "2019-07-01T23:41:53Z")
I really, really like the US anthem. It is far better than the several other alternates I have heard proposed. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2019, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/94 "2019-07-02T14:16:23Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > As this has been dredged up, and in light of the current state of the nation, I hereby propose that we replace the British National Anthem with Jakkity Sax. You mean [**Yakety Sax**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnHmskwqCCQ), right? Not a bad idea. Forgive me for putting words in your mouth, but I assume the thinking is to convey the idea of absurd, ridiculous running about and achieving nothing, much like [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zat9CRfUr-E) (and many similar Benny Hill chase sketches). j ---
**Author:** ![MacSpon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/34f0e0/32.png) [@MacSpon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacSpon)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2019, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/95 "2019-07-02T21:51:50Z")
Kiwi here, and I’m quite fond of “God Defend New Zealand.” ---
**Author:** ![Marlonius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@Marlonius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlonius)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2019, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/96 "2019-07-02T22:57:24Z")
Canadian here. Not crazy about “O Canada”. I find it tough to sing well and I don’t like the reference to God in it. ---
**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:** [July 3, 2019, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/97 "2019-07-03T05:45:52Z")
> [@Treppenwitz](#): > > You mean [**Yakety Sax**](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZnHmskwqCCQ), right? Here’s another famous suggestion for the UK: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/i9nnnM-__JQ/hqdefault.jpg "Billy Connelly : National Anthem") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9nnnM-__JQ) But if one’s looking for something that unites the vast majority of us, republicans and secularists, royalists and religious, it would have to be: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/SE5IfIkl_oA/hqdefault.jpg "A Nice Cup of Tea - Binnie Hale") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SE5IfIkl_oA) ---
**Author:** ![MarvinKitFox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ba0ec/32.png) [@MarvinKitFox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarvinKitFox)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2019, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/98 "2019-07-03T08:03:53Z")
I’m South African, and our national anthem SUCKS. It sounds like a funeral dirge. It is in five different languages. Very, _very_ few citizens would understand all five. Yet it still omits the _other_ seven official languages. (yes, we have 12 official languages.) It is strongly christian, despite supposed religious freedom in the country. It conveys no message _at all_ ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2019, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/99 "2019-07-03T08:45:06Z")
The US anthem is fine. Most of the other common patriotic songs are worse; people have mentioned America the Beautiful, which IMO is somehow both too saccharine and too funereal at the same time. I like the general thrust of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, but it’s obviously _far_ too religious. My favorite patriotic song is the Battle Cry of Freedom, and I’d like our anthem to explicitly celebrate the vanquishing of the slaveholders’ rebellion, but let’s be realistic, that’s not going to fly in a country where millions still identify with the racist treason flag. Also, there’s an alternate set of lyrics celebrating said flag, which would surely become the de facto lyrics for many of those people. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2019, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239/100 "2019-07-03T11:33:26Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > 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. I love the Israeli national anthem, and the music that it’s excerpted from. Don’t like the U.S. anthem. There’s more to our country than our ability to win wars. _America the Beautiful_ would be great! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-like-your-national-anthem/813239.md?page=6)