I’m Scottish, and the anthem thing is complex. I remember Commonwealth games in the seventies when Scotland used “Scotland the Brave” and England used “Land of Hope and Glory”. England quite purposely didn’t use “God Save The Queen”, as it is the national anthem of the UK.
Now we have a situation where for football, rugby, Commonwealth games etc Scotland uses “Flower of Scotland” and England uses “God Save the Queen”.
“Flower of Scotland” is stirring if done correctly, and everyone knows the words (to the first and third verses, anyway). “God Save the Queen” is a dirge, has some questionable lyrics, and ultimately boils down “One entity I don’t believe in save another entity I don’t believe in”.
I don’t care for The Star Spangled Banner either - too hard to sing. (Most songs are too hard to sing for me.) I would prefer “My Country Tis of Thee” but it will probably never get changed at this point.
One of my favorite national anthems is the tune of Duetschland Uber Alles because I like Hadyn.
And I actually kind of like the Japanese anthem. The first time I heard it was at the 1984 Olympics, when a Japanese gymnast named IIRC Gushiken won a gold medal in gymnastics, after years of trying. And watching him stand there, with tears running down his face, bursting with pride for what he had done for himself and his country while his anthem played was a moment of insight. Japanese people felt, and he felt. like I did when US players won. It drew me into his pride and his patriotism. That’s what the Olympics are supposed to be about, patriotism, not nationalism.
Like a number of my British compatriots, I find our national anthem somewhat drab, dirgey and uninspiring. There’s one I’d like to suggest as a replacement – jolly, upbeat tune; good-humouredly chauvinistic sentiments; and some hilariously awful wordplay / forced rhymes.
There’s a YouTube video (tune and words), which I lack the skill to link to: The Snug Little Island aka The Island – performed by P.M. Adamson.
Nah, that’s the USA’s national anthem. The five patriotic American tunes (particularly “The Star-Spangled Banner”) are sometimes mistaken for being their national anthem.
