It depends. If the national anthem was written as a national anthem, then yeah, that’s pretty much how it works, especially as they’re ususally written by committee. But if the anthem was an existing song that was later *adopted *as the national anthem - as with the U.S., France and Israel - then the themes can be a bit more varied.
It’s what makes the Nova Scotia provincial anthem so … refreshingly different. 
“God bless Africa. And South Africa, too, come to think of it”
I think ours might be the only anthem that emphasises the continent first, country second. Pan-africanism will do that to ya.
LOL. Do Canadians really sing it that way? Cuz in the US, it’s a joke in my family to end the singing of the Star-Spangled Banner with “Play Ball!” because it’s played before baseball games.
There’s also a joke where the punchline is “Jose can you see?”
The SSB is a rhetorical question that I rather like. Francis Scott Key had to watch the bombardment the entire night; it must have been quite spectacular. Surely he wondered if the US would be defeated by the British, who (certainly at that time) stood in the American mind for a distinct lack of freedom. The US was just a small country at the time, and Key must have known that only bravery would keep us from defeat.
I also think that the SSB is an ageless call to the country. When we wave the flag about, is it waving over freedom? Is it waving over people brave enough to extend freedom forward to everyone in the country? Are we courageous to do what is right, even if it’s scary or unpopular? What we hailed in times gone by, is it withstanding the test of time, even through hard and challenging times?
Of course, my favorite is the Marseillaise, which basically says “everyone grab your guns, shoot the monsters that are invading our country, then rip them apart and let their blood soak into the ground.” Why don’t they sing that before a hockey game?
Not violent enough.
IF Alaska had a “national” song (and there are some up here wish we were a separate nation) and IF Sarah Palin wrote it (or hired some ghostwriter to do it for her), I suspect it would start:
(Obviously to the tune of “I Can See Clearly Now”)
“I can see clearly now that Russia’s there.
Let’s get our guns and shoot them in the air.
I’m quite the cutie with my '50’s hair…”
and so on, you betcha, by golly, gee whiz!
Panama’s national anthem basically says:
“At last our struggle for victory is over,
Let’s forget our past sorrows.
Now that we are at peace,
Let’s make the dirt fly!”
Panama had just gone through some bloody conflicts as part of a Colombian civil war. It’s own “War of Independence” from Colombia in 1903 was almost bloodless. (There was one fatality, a Chinese shopowner killed in his sleep when a Colombian gunboat briefly bombarded Panama City.) The anthem recognizes the main reason for Panama gaining its independence was so the US could dig the Panama Canal.
WIN!!
Oh, say can you see by the dawn’s early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?
-Sweet, we lived till morning, the fort still look the same as last night?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars thru the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
- Is it our flag, or did the Brits put up the Union Jack?
And the rocket’s red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
- Ours was there last night, I saw it while the Brits were bombing the hell out of us.
Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
-C’mon man is it our flag or the Brits?
When it comes to state songs in Tennessee, we have two of the greatest self-deprecating transliterations:
Rocky Top -
“We are and will always be poor - so let us climb this mountain and drink.”
Tennessee Waltz -
“Fuck.”
More specifically, “Fuck. My friend stole my girlfriend.”
Oh, really, no lyrics? I thought it went: “Franco, Franco, tiene el culo blanco…”
I should mention the Provincial Anthem of Newfoundland. First verse is about summer, and how nice it is. Fourth verse is about how Newfoundlanders have been there forever. Verses 2 and 3 recount how the weather sucks:
"When spreads thy cloak of shimmering white,
At winter’s stern command,
Thro’ shortened day, and starlit night,
We love thee, frozen land.
We love thee, we love thee
We love thee, frozen land.
- As blinding storm gusts fret thy shore,
And wild waves lash thy strand,
Thro’ spindrift swirl, and tempest roar,
We love thee windswept land.
We love thee, we love thee
We love thee windswept land."
All in all, it’s a pretty accurate depiction.
Same!! 
And if you include the Afrikaans and English verses that come from Die Stem, you get “We’ve got impressive geography” and “Unite and fight for freedom”.
I think it was a routine by Albert Brooks complaining about the SSB, saying that not only was it impossible to sing, but it commemorates a war WE LOST. Partly true, since the British were bombarding Baltimore after burning a lot of Washington to the ground, and had captured Detroit and forced the US to abandon Ft. Dearbord (Chicago). Best we could do was raid Toronto.
The war was pretty much a stalemate at the time the Peace conference at Ghent started. Some analysts say America got the better of the treaty of Ghent because the long times it would’ve taken to send correspondence back to States necessitated we give fast-talking diplomats some leeway in negotiating. While the British had to forward every proposal to London and wait a week or so for Parliament to debate it. The end result: our borders were the same as before the war.
And a song that further contributed to worship of the Flag as our national religion.
Well, yes and no. The successful defense of Ft. McHenry led to the failure of the British strategy to link up the RN and the RA. The RA turned its attention to New Orleans, and we all know what happened there.
So, although it is true that we technically lost (the war ended status quo ante, which counts as a tie, but we had started it, which means a tie counts as a loss), Ft. McHenry kept it from being a much more serious loss.
Thailand has two anthems, one national, and one royal, honoring country and king, respectively.
The royal anthem is pretty much:
We are loyal to Your Benevolent Self,
You are the Kingiest of Kings,
Everything good is due to You,
We wish You all Your desires.
The national anthem is less smarmy:
Thailand for Thais and we are united.
We love peace, but kick ass if it’s war
Independence yes, tyranny no.
We’ll die for our nation.
It’s more ‘Our support of him/her is conditional on certain behaviours. Oh, and God, knock seven bells out of the Jacobites.’
Scotland has adopted Flower of Scotland as her national anthem in recent times. It can be summarised thus:
“What’s the matter with us all? Our ancestors defeated the English and we’re a bunch of pansies in comparison! For shame!”
Makes a nice change from the normal gloating over glories past 