Remember to lie facedown respectfully with your hand over your crotch when it plays.
Just out of curiosity I looked up the Indian national anthem, and what it means:
“Jana Gana Mana”
“Thou art the ruler of the minds of all people,
Dispenser of India’s destiny.
Thy name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sindh,
Gujarat and Maratha,
Of the Dravida and Orissa and Bengal;
It echoes in the hills of the Vindhyas and Himalayas,
mingles in the music of Jamuna and Ganges and is
chanted by the waves of the Indian Sea.
They pray for thy blessings and sing thy praise.
The saving of all people waits in thy hand,
Thou dispenser of India’s destiny.
victory forever.”
I really didn’t have any idea that every line of it, from beginning to end, was religious! Kind of annoying - “dispenser of India’s destiny” I would think would be the millions of people who lived and died for it, but that’s just me.
Don’t worry. It’s really about the British Crown… not that that’s better.
Fun fact: Tagore is the only person to have written the national anthems (music and lyrics) of two countries.
Really? Odd it was adopted as the Indian national anthem three years after the British cleared off, then.
That is far, far worse. Really? Damn Brits! Are you sure about that?
Apropos of nothing, my massi (aunt) once asked me if I knew my national anthem (USA). I answered “yes” without really thinking about it…I mean, I know it, at least the first stanza. She looked oddly satisfied and surprised, and went on to rant about how kids don’t know their anthems these days.
Then she wanted to know if I knew “Jana Gana Mana” and I gave her a deer-in-headlights look. I know…the first two lines. Maybe.
So what happens to the poor slob ferriner and atheist who, attending a baseball game, doesn’t stand up for America the Beautiful? A beer shampoo? Dragged out of the park by the bubble-gum cleanup crew and deported?
Remember when I was 15, I was in a one month stay in an American family in South Dakota. We got to a rodeo show, they started to play the hymn, and I saw everyone rising up and touching their breasts. That felt weird. Really, really weird.
Join the Pod People or be destroyed.
Nah, I’m just kidding. 
There’s a sort of conspiracy theory about it but it’s almost certainly not true. My grandmother used to tell me stories about Tagore to illustrate how torn Indian people were about the British back then.
Yeah, like the old Russell Peters joke when the Brits left:
(Indian to the Brits) “Nonono, where are you going? We’re coming with you. What are you going to eat?”
Showing respect for my country makes me a pod people?
It would have felt weirder if they all stood up and touched your breast.
No. At worst, it makes yo a Pod Person.
I don’t really care if someone does or not (for whatever song - I just don’t care). I’ll stand and take my hat off for the anthem, but I don’t tocuh myself or sing. If I happen to be walking and carrying something (beer and nachos), then I’ll just keep going.
But I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone get “destroyed” for not doing so, although almost certainly there have been greater reactions than what is called for (that would be zero).
They won’t sell you any crappy beer without producing your passport. 
Thank you for the correction, that is what this site is about …getting rid of ignorance.
In the decade that i’ve lived in the United States, i’ve been to a bunch of baseball games in various parts of the country. Often, when the national anthem is played at the beginning of the game, i’m still at the concession stand grabbing some snacks, but if i’m in my seat i just sit there while the anthem is played.
I have never been hassled by a stranger about this; no-one has ever told me to stand up, or called me a commie or an asshole, or threatened violence, or thrown peanuts at me. I’ve received a few looks of mild annoyance, and a couple of fairly obvious hostility, but no-one takes it any further than that.
The only person who has ever confronted me about it was a guy who i attended a game with once. I went with a friend of mine, and he brought along a friend of his, someone i had never met. Just before the game, our mutual friend went off to get some beer, leaving me and the guy i had just met alone in our seats. When the anthem started to play, he stood and i didn’t. At the end, he asked me why i didn’t stand, and i just said that i see no need to stand for the playing of national anthems. He didn’t get in my face about it, but he made it clear that he didn’t like it, and he basically didn’t say anything to me for the rest of the game.
Another thing worth noting about baseball crowds: nearly everyone stands for the anthem and for God Bless America, but there are plenty of people who stand up but then proceed to spend the whole of the song chatting with one another or gabbing on their cellphones. At least when i stay seated, i do it in silence so that i don’t interrupt the ritual for those who want to participate.
I think that has a lot to do with the weird American tradition of inviting B-list musicians to perform the anthem, whereas in other countries they just pipe in the tune (or occasionally, have a band play it) and let the crowd do the singing.
It’s way more fun, and a million times more tasteful.
Part of that has to do with the fact that the American anthem is simply not a very democratic one, in terms of its musical delivery. Most national anthems are incredibly simple, with a very narrow range, and can be sung fairly competently by even the most mediocre of singers. The Star-Spangled Banner requires considerably more vocal talent, both in terms of the range and the length of some of the notes.
I’m no fan of national anthems in general, but you can’t help but be impressed by 60,000+ people singing God Save the Queen at Wembley or Twickenham. It makes the hairs on your arm stand up.
You must not have watched a hockey game. Trust me, there are some shitty singers out there performing “O’ Canada” as well.
(I think the last actual GOOD singer I witnessed was the girl at the Flames vs. Pens game in Calgary.)
Meh. Regardless of how difficult it is to sing the Star Spangled Banner, it’d still sound a damn sight better being sung by half the crowd at Arrowhead Stadium (or wherever) than being sung by last year’s Idol runner-up.
I meant American there in the broader geographical sense, rather than the narrow nation-state sense. That said, I’m not sure how they do it in Mexico outside of World Cups.
I’m sure you’re right.
What really irritates me about the professional singers they get in the US is that too many of them see it as a chance to demonstrate their vocal abilities, and instead of just singing it nicely, they add all sorts of bullshit warbling and extra notes just to show how awesome their voice is.
I was actually quite impressed by Zooey Deschanel’s performance at the World Series game in Texas the other night. She has a very nice voice, and didn’t feel the need to ruin the anthem with stupid improvisation. The only thing that annoyed me was that her presence was so clearly an advertising ploy by FOX to cross-promote its other TV shows. The cameras also spent an inordinate amount of time on the casts of New Girl and Glee who were sitting in the stands. Of course, all of these great baseball fans were gone from their seats by the sixth inning.
YES YES YES YES.
“Brave” is set to ONE FUCKING NOTE. You are a professional fucking singer; you can read sheet music.