I’ve voted for the Soviet anthem in every national anthem thread so far, so why not again? 
The lyrics for the song (or at least Wikipedia’s translation) in its current form as the Russian national anthem are quite nice too. Makes Russia sound like a lovely place…
There simply is no better national anthem than La Marseillaise. If you want a stirring rendition other than the classic one from Casablanca, go to YouTube and search for “Alagna Marseillaise”.
Any national anthem that talks about watering furrows with impure blood goes right to the head of the class in my book! (side note: I occasionally joke with my students about having a furrowed brow when thinking, then suggest that the furrows be watered with impure blood; sadly, the reference usually is a whoosh)
The Welsh national anthem at the rugby in the Millennium Stadium is spine-tingling.
Are you thinking of “I vow to thee my country” - words by Cecil Spring-Rice, music adapted by Holst from Jupiter? It’s been suggested as a new English national anthem instead of “God Save the Queen”.
*I vow to thee, my country, all earthly things above,
Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love;
The love that asks no question, the love that stands the test,
That lays upon the altar the dearest and the best;
The love that never falters, the love that pays the price,
The love that makes undaunted the final sacrifice.
I heard my country calling, away across the sea,
Across the waste of waters she calls and calls to me.
Her sword is girded at her side, her helmet on her head,
And round her feet are lying the dying and the dead.
I hear the noise of battle, the thunder of her guns,
I haste to thee my mother, a son among thy sons.
And there’s another country, I’ve heard of long ago,
Most dear to them that love her, most great to them that know;
We may not count her armies, we may not see her King;
Her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering;
And soul by soul and silently her shining bounds increase,
And her ways are ways of gentleness, and all her paths are peace.*
For some reason people skip the middle verse :dubious:
It sounds like that should be it, but I don’t see any confirming online audio.
Try here- Katherine Jenkins giving it full blast - or this one from the Festival of Remembrance a few years ago.
I heard that Spike Milligan submitted an entry to the anthem competition, and did quite well at keeping the lyrics sensible and patriotic, right until the end:
Australia, Australia! We love you from the heart!
And the liver, and the lungs, and every other part.
I always think the Dutch one has rather curious lyrics for a national anthem. It starts out thus:
“William of Orange, I am of German blood” and then the first verse ends with William saying: “I’ve always honoured the King of Spain”.
So basically our national anthem says our king isn’t actually Dutch and he intends to do what the Spaniards tell him. Way to go for chest-thumping patriotism there. But I suppose that’s the Dutch for you.
Scotland, like Wales, isn’t an independent nation, but it needs something for national sports events. Recently that’s been the Corries’ song “Flower of Scotland”. The refrain has a wonderfully understated quality among all the chest-thumping anthems out there:
…that stood against him
Proud Edward’s army
And sent him homeward
Tae think again.
One traditional rival anthem, “Scots Wha Hae”, wins the prize for Anthem Most Direly in Need of New Music. Burns’ rousing death-or-freedom lyrics really deserve better than the traditional dirge of a tune.
My goodness Paul Robeson had an amazing voice. Check out these:
Gloomy Sunday
Summertime
Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child
I think the Star-Spangled Banner is one of the best national anthems there is. The melody soars, but the words matters more. Those who say it celebrates war are missing the point. It celebrates survival, not conquest, and it begins and ends with a question, demonstrating that nothing should be taken for granted. And unlike other patriotic songs sometimes suggested as replacements, it doesn’t boast of our natural resources or special relationship with a particular deity, but simply asks us to be courageous and stand up for freedom.
(Yes, I’m aware that the poem has additional verses that undercut much of what I wrote, but I think what’s important when discussing anthems is the song as it is actually taught and performed.)
Any reasonably competent professional singer should be able to get through it without accident. Most amateur singers can’t get through “Happy Birthday to You” without straying off pitch. The reasons we have so many blooper tapes include (1) it’s performed at more public, recorded events by a wider variety of performers than just about any other song in the English-speaking world, (2) singers insist on showing off and embellishing the melody, making it more difficult than it should be (and making it virtually impossible for anyone to sing along with them), and (3) for reasons I can’t fathom, people perform this song at major events without adequately rehearsing, warming-up or even making sure they know the damn words.
What you’re saying is true, and it’s fine as a patriotic song, but I always thought it didn’t quite work as a national anthem. You have to think too hard about what the lyrics are supposed to mean. “Can you see by the dawn’s early light what so proudly we hailed…” what? You already lost me. “The bombs bursting in air gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.” Still where? What’s this about a flag now? “Land of the free and home of the brave” is probably the most national-anthem-worthy line. The rest of the song is awfully vague for a national anthem, almost incomprehensible. It requires you to know so much background information in order to make any sense out of it at all. It doesn’t even mention what country it’s talking about. It’s fine though, we’re all used to it by now, so no use changing it at this point.
I never really liked Hatikvah. I know the lyircs are optimistic, but hearing the music makes me feel like I’m going to a funeral. I’d prefer something that sounds a bit more uplifting.
I think Hatikva’s one of the better ones. At least it’s something a normal person can sing (I’m looking at you, Star Spangled Banner).
Something to be said for slightily esoteric lyrics. They’re more evocative that way, I don’t know what half of the Star Spangled Banner is referring to, but it sounds cool.
Try this one on for size:
“Our home is girt by sea”
Cool. Our national anthem thought it necessary to let everyone know we live on an island. Presuming they know what the hell girt means!! :rolleyes:
We’re still lucky to get that I suppose, at the time that ‘we’ decided Australia needed our own national anthem (previously we had just used God Save the Queen), the ‘populist’ choice seemed to be Waltzing Matilda. I grant you it’s a fine song and holds strong cultural significance for Australia (having been written by one of best and most famous playwrights).
But should a nation really have a national anthem which in summary is about an itinerant worker stealing a sheep, and then killing himself rather than be arrested for theft. Would have been an interesting choice. (Entirely populated by criminals indeed 
)
Well, Wilhelmus van Nassouwe never was actually king, but he was born in what is today Germany. However, that it says ‘ben ik van Duitsen bloed’ does not refer to the nation of Germany as it exists today or to him being born there. No clear distinction between The Netherlands and Germany existed at the time, and neither did a clear distinction between Dutch and German. A variety of dialects that evolved into either of them were collectively referred to as ‘diets’, which is the origin of both ‘Duits’ in our (I, too, am Dutch :)) national anthem and the word ‘Dutch’ in the English language referring to the language of the low countries (Nederlands), not that of Germany (Deutsch).
As far as honoring and respecting the Spanish king is concerned: Rebellion and sedition was heavily frowned upon in those days as it is now, and to question and undermine the authority of the sovereign (which was given by god) was seen to lead to some slopes so slippery, that they could justifiably be called *very *slippery. As a result, Willem van Oranje (and Marnix van Aldegonde writing about him) was keen to stress his continuing allegiance to the Spanish King (note again that he himself was not a King but a placeholder, or stadhouder, stad here meaning stead (cf. German statt) rather than city, as it does in modern Dutch) and to underplay the extent to which he was a rebel with a cause.
I disagree. For one thing, that’s not what they sing, or what they sang in the past. For another, while the translation may sound contrived, and while it obviously touches upon the conventional themes for a national anthem, I find the text of the Russian national anthem (and even more so the Soviet one before that) particularly stirring, a perfect match to the overwhelming music.
Well since many people mentioned the Soviet anthem we shouldn’t forget that there were two. Which Soviet anthem do you all prefer? The Internationale or the 1944 anthem and its many later revisions?
:smack:
Should have figured that out myself, really. Living abroad in a place where people sometimes don’t have very good English, there are many people who think I’m German if I say I’m “Dutch” (I usually say “I’m from The Netherlands” these days.) and now I more or less made the same mistake myself with regard to the national anthem.
Thanks for the other info, too.
The problem isn’t singing off pitch (like that would be a problem for the pros who tend to use autotune), it’s having a consistent vocal quality throughout. That 1.5 octave range is hard to sound the same. One vocal coach I know says that being able to sing it properly all the way through means you’re better than half of the pop singers today.
Of course, I’m leaving off the more classically trained singers. But I haven’t heard it sung classically in a long time.