# Non-USA national anthems **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 29, 2016, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-usa-national-anthems/773351 "2016-11-29T01:38:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [November 29, 2016, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-usa-national-anthems/773351/21 "2016-11-29T12:47:40Z")
The UK version is used sparingly and in a shortened version. Thankfully. It is a depressing dirge. Still at least we don’t do what the USA does and invite our most elaborate singers to make it even worse by warbling all over the top of it and attempting to make it about them rather than the song itself. Best anthems are France, Italy and Russia in that order. Don’t know about Italy, France tend not to flaunt their anthem too widely but are very dignified and respectful when they do. And I can’t see Putin being too enamored with anyone buggering around with theirs. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2016, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-usa-national-anthems/773351/22 "2016-11-29T13:30:29Z")
Best national anthem is Land of Hope and Glory. Sadly England hasn’t yet formally adopted it. Next in line would be Rule, Britannia! ---
**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:** [November 29, 2016, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-usa-national-anthems/773351/23 "2016-11-29T13:40:17Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > That would certainly work with the British national anthem. Apparently 68% of Britons know at least the first verse by heart, but hardly any, including me, could go much further. I suspect that few people even realise that there are six verses. To be pedantic, there might have been six, or more or fewer, at the time of the Jacobite risings, and the verse in praise of Wade apparently disappeared from general use fairly quickly. There have been different sets of words over the years, and nowadays custom and practice sticks to the one, or occasionally (as with the Britten version) two. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God\_Save\_the\_Queen](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_Save_the_Queen) ---
**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:** [November 29, 2016, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-usa-national-anthems/773351/24 "2016-11-29T13:49:19Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Best anthems are France, Italy and Russia in that order. Don’t know about Italy, France tend not to flaunt their anthem too widely but are very dignified and respectful when they do. And I can’t see Putin being too enamored with anyone buggering around with theirs. I thought - but maybe I’m not up to speed on the latest developments - Russia still hadn’t got words to go with the tune, since they re-adopted the old Soviet one? All a matter of taste, but I think Land of My Fathers is a fine old belter. The problem with national anthems is twofold - finding a tune that’s uplifting/inspiring AND not too demanding on people who don’t normally sing much and may not have much of a range, and finding words that also uplift and inspire without raising too many potential controversies. Elgar’s “big tune” from Jupiter would be fine, but it can be a bit of a stretch to sing since it ends towards a high note, and the words given to it (“I Vow To Thee My Country”) won’t please all tastes. We’ve got masses of great tunes in the UK, but finding the right words is another matter (that’s why Land of Hope and Glory is out for me, and of course Parry’s Jerusalem is England-centred; the hymn-like tune from Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance No. 4 might do very well if anyone were to write some suitable words). But if you’re looking for a song we can all sing about something that clearly unites us all, we might have to [settle for this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SE5IfIkl_oA). ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2016, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-usa-national-anthems/773351/25 "2016-11-29T14:45:54Z")
Since this is about music, let’s move it over to Cafe Society. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**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:** [November 29, 2016, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-usa-national-anthems/773351/26 "2016-11-29T14:49:14Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > We’ve got masses of great tunes in the UK, but finding the right words is another matter (that’s why Land of Hope and Glory is out for me, and of course Parry’s Jerusalem is England-centred; the hymn-like tune from Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance No. 4 might do very well if anyone were to write some suitable words)… I’ve got a fondness myself for Purcell’s["trumpet: tune and air"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pPdeKYnGVI) or, of course the sublime [“Nimrod”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF4iLmuU_bM). The latter is utterly wonderful but perhaps suffers from being too closely associated with remembrance Sunday, plus it does need to be played in its entirety to gain the full effect, there simply is no logical stopping point along the way. ---
**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:** [November 29, 2016, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-usa-national-anthems/773351/27 "2016-11-29T15:36:34Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > I’ve got a fondness myself for Purcell’s["trumpet: tune and air"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pPdeKYnGVI) Good luck getting your average football crowd to sing a trill - and that high in the range, too! ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2016, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-usa-national-anthems/773351/28 "2016-11-29T16:20:16Z")
The Peruvian national anthem has an official score and it’s obligatory to sing in like that, in F, in all official ceremonies. Schools usually sing it in D and it’s common in the weekly school activities. In sports in almost never sung, except for the official games of the football national team. We don’t normally have a single singer for the anthem, it’s usually a choir or nobody at all. When it’s only one guy/gal then try to go strictly by the book. Every once in a while somenone tries the “melisma all over the place”, but it never works, especially since it’s played with a military band (or track). ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2016, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-usa-national-anthems/773351/29 "2016-11-29T16:49:43Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Asimov once wrote a mystery story where a German spy is caught by the fact that he knew all three verses of the Star-Spangled Banner. No true American would know them, only someone who was studying too hard on how to look American. Hey, I know all four. Learned them back when I was in fifth or sixth grade. I also know all of the verses to the British, German, and Soviet anthems. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2016, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-usa-national-anthems/773351/30 "2016-11-29T17:01:46Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > I thought - but maybe I’m not up to speed on the latest developments - Russia still hadn’t got words to go with the tune, since they re-adopted the old Soviet one? Yes, there are lyrics to the new version. I’ve only heard the first verse, but it’s mostly about the natural beauty of Russia instead of Lenin, the Party, and killing Germans. Putin’s brand of Soviet Lite. Back in the '90s, Russia used **this tune** by Glinka. Yeltsin’s government held a contest to see who could come up with the best lyrics for it, but they never got around to making any of them official. Pity; this one is \*\*so \*\*much better than “_Soyuz nerushimyi_.” I hope whoever succeeds Putin reinstates it. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FsRPWg6y_0) ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2016, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-usa-national-anthems/773351/31 "2016-11-29T17:02:20Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Best anthems are France, Italy and Russia in that order. I’d replace Italy in that sequence with Wales. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/AM4mIlYKG9s/hqdefault.jpg "Welsh National Anthem just before Wales beat England 30 - 3.Saturday 16th march 2013") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AM4mIlYKG9s) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2016, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-usa-national-anthems/773351/32 "2016-11-29T17:22:18Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > Elgar’s “big tune” from Jupiter would be fine, but it can be a bit of a stretch to sing since it ends towards a high note, and the words given to it (“I Vow To Thee My Country”) won’t please all tastes. Sorry, but that’s not Elgar. It’s from _ **The Planets** _ by Gustav Holst. The name of the full piece is “Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity.” Elgar’s work is brilliant. I love his Enigma Variations and Pomp and Circumstance marches, especially No. 4.: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Qnuzwex55eI/hqdefault.jpg "Pomp and Circumstance March No. 4") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qnuzwex55eI) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2016, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-usa-national-anthems/773351/33 "2016-11-29T17:34:23Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > …It was a standing - and familiar - joke that at the end of the evening in the cinema, when a film clip of the monarch came up with the national anthem, an increasing number of people would be pushing, shoving and doing the steeplechase to get out before the pubs closed or they missed their bus, while some stalwart patriots would be blocking everyone’s way by standing to attention… And see: [Running for the exits at the national anthem - Ireland? - Factual Questions - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=539146) > [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > It’s been done [http://twentytwowords.com/the-haunting-effects-of-a-minor-key-on-the-u-s-national-anthem/](http://twentytwowords.com/the-haunting-effects-of-a-minor-key-on-the-u-s-national-anthem/). I prefer it. Not bad. Igor Stravinsky had a go at it in 1944, too. Not awful, but a bit odd, IMHO: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1taQl-wOmo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1taQl-wOmo) And see the fourth paragraph here: [Igor Stravinsky - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Igor_Stravinsky#Life_in_the_United_States) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2016, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-usa-national-anthems/773351/34 "2016-11-29T17:36:01Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Hey, I know all four. Learned them back when I was in fifth or sixth grade. I also know all of the verses to the British, German, and Soviet anthems. Nothing can beat the second verse of the Ankh-Morpork Civic Anthem: _We bankrupt all invaders, we sell them souvenirs We ner ner ner ner ner, hner ner hner by the ears Er hner we ner ner ner ner ner Ner ner her ner ner ner hner the ner Er ner ner hner ner, nher hner ner ner (etc.) Ner hner ner, your gleaming swords We mortgaged to the hilt_ _It was written by a widely travelled vampire who noticed that in every country, all patriots know only the first verse of the national anthem and then mumble along and sing the bits they do remember very loudly to give the illusion they know it all. Thus inspired he decided to cut out the middleman, as it were, and write the version that would be sung by patriots regardless of the officially sanctioned version._ ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2016, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-usa-national-anthems/773351/35 "2016-11-29T17:41:50Z")
I’ve never met a Scot who didn’t think _ **O Flower of Scotland** _ should be their national anthem, and it is a great song! ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2016, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-usa-national-anthems/773351/36 "2016-11-29T17:49:44Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > I’ve never met a Scot who didn’t think _ **O Flower of Scotland** _ should be their national anthem, and it is a great song! I don’t like it at all. I don’t like the tune, and I don’t like the words. ---
**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:** [November 29, 2016, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-usa-national-anthems/773351/37 "2016-11-29T17:51:52Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **terentii** : > > Hey, I know all four. Learned them back when I was in fifth or sixth grade. I also know all of the verses to the British, German, and Soviet anthems. Ah, so you’re an _international_ spy, then! And while we’re at it on tunes shared by multiple anthems, there’s [“This is my Song”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8FPOjgX07c), which manages to be patriotic towards every nation at once. Oh, and this might be what prompted the OP in the first place, but [Get Fuzzy](http://www.gocomics.com/getfuzzy/2016/11/14) spent the last couple of weeks critiquing various national anthems. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2016, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-usa-national-anthems/773351/38 "2016-11-29T18:10:51Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > (I suggest the US should mark the election of Donald Trump by officially transposing The Star-Spangled Banner to a minor key.) [In case you wonder what that would sound like (in a kinda rock vocal style)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_PtnvVQhqA). ---
**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:** [November 29, 2016, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-usa-national-anthems/773351/39 "2016-11-29T18:15:41Z")
[quote=“Baron\_Greenback, post:31, topic:773351”] I’d replace Italy in that sequence with Wales. [/QUOTE] did it have to be \*THAT \*occaision ☹ Still, we’re better now and yes, it is a terrific anthem and never better when sung before the rugby. I think “Flower of Scotland” is great too and both would be right up there. ---
**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:** [November 29, 2016, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-usa-national-anthems/773351/40 "2016-11-29T18:16:55Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > I don’t like it at all. I don’t like the tune, and I don’t like the words. but apart from those two _minor_ details? 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-usa-national-anthems/773351.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-usa-national-anthems/773351.md?page=3)