What country has the best national anthem?
I heard the greek one at a soccer match recently, and it has a very catchy melody.
I always liked the old Soviet anthem. Or didn’t they bring it back with modified words?
I can honestly say that I like the US nat’l anthemn best. It might have something to do with what I do for a living, but I dont’ think so. It really is a beautiful song.
I have a theory that it takes a revolution (or at least a couple of good patriotic wars) to get a decent national anthem.
I’m rather partial to both the US and French tunes… whereas ours (New Zealand) sounds like a Victorian dirge.
I’d have to say “La Marseillaise”. It’s the only one besides “O Canada” that manages to choke me up. Especially in that scene in Casablanca.
And note to the United States - it might be helpful to have a national anthem that doesn’t exceed a normal person’s vocal register.
Anyon who dont lik the AMerican antem can talck to the busness end of my shottgun. Wat are y ou, one of them foriners?
Another vote for the old Soviet anthem. It’s just so rousing it makes you want to join in, with volume. SOYUZ NER…anyway 
Now I just need to find out what the words mean.
To answer the OP: the best national anthem is that of the Netherlands, of course. 
(Well, it’s a nice one, anyway. It IS the oldest used national anthem in the world, though. That’s pretty cool in its own right.)
Other ones I really, really dig are the national anthems of Canada, France (of course, they’ll switch to the German national anthem in a heartbeat if the situation requires it :D), Italy, the old Soviet Union, and admittedly, the United States as well. 
I love La Marseillaise and the old Soviet anthem. Both are proper rousing national anthems.
I also really like the Italian national anthem. It’s ever so slightly silly, which I find very appealing.
Hmmmm. Wasn’t the French one the one that talked of Marching On until an impure blood drenches our soil?
There’s beauty for you. I prefer the rockets red glare myself.
Bunch of sissies. The Danish national anthem praises bashing in Swedish brains:
“King Christian stood by tow’ring mast,
In mist and smoke.
His sword was hammering so fast,
Through Gothic helm and brain it passed
Then sank each hostile stern and mast
In mist and smoke”
- small wonder we’ve lost all of our wars.
S. Norman
Well, I’m American, and I kinda like our anthem, even if it does remind me way too much of having to stand at attention at the local Air Force Base theater before seeing a movie.
I’ll give another vote for the old Soviet anthem and “Oh Canada” (catchy song).
Big on the mist and smoke, those Danes.
Ye Gads, Spiny! And that’s STILL the official version to this day?? Man, them Vikings sure got cojones.
Compare that Skull Slaying Epos to this (the two most sung verses of the Dutch National anthem, 1 and 6 out of a total of 15 (!) verses):
Now, what’s interesting is the line about the loyalty to the King of Spain. That’s pure sarcasm for you. The Republic of the Seven United Netherlands was severely at war with Spain at the time.
Some history:
In all fairness, the song has only been the official national anthem since 1932. Before that, it had a function comparable to Waltzing Matilda in Australia: if you wouldn’t know better, it WAS the national anthem already.
Gotta vote for France and Canada, in that order.
I, too, am not a big fan of the “Star-Spangled Banner” for its terrible melody (in my opinion, at least.) I always wished that “America, the Beautiful” had been chosen as our national anthem (as it almost was.)
- we have two anthems.
The martial “King Christian” is also called the “King’s Anthem” and is primarily used for formal occasions - state visits and the like.
But yup, it’s sung just like that. It goes on to praise two other naval heroes and in the final verse, it addresses the sea itself, in effect making whoever sings it ask for an honourable death in naval battle:
“And lead me brisk thro’ din and rave,
¦: And fright and vict’ry to my grave :¦
in thee.”
Lovely. Just the thing you want the cub scouts singing - or perhaps not. So an additional anthem was made, the somewhat more peaceful song, “Der er et yndigt land”, used for football matches and the like. The tune is completely unsingable for normal people, but the lyrics are as PC as it gets:
“A lovely land is ours
With beeches green about her
Encircled by the sea
Her hills and vales are manifold
Her name, of old, is Denmark
And she is Freya’s home”
Somewhat boring, but the images are at least more comfortable
S. Norman
I think it’s really hard to be objective about this question, when your own state’s anthem is drummed into your head every day. I guess this might make you love a song or hate it, but what I seem to see is that it does cause people to feel more affection for a song rather than less (listen here, you Yanks).
So, ignoring my own nation’s anthem, I cast my vote for the French anthem and the new Russian anthem (not the “old” one), which happens to be the same as the new(er) Soviet anthem (not the really old one).
Following up on Coldfire’s comment re Waltzing Matilda: What were you Convicts thinking???
Which leads me to my brain fart du jour…
Why do people choose such boring/hard-to-sing/forgettable songs for their anthems? If it were up to me, the following would be substituted:
Commonwealth of Australia: Waltzing Matilda
Dominion of Canada: “The Hockey Night in Canada Song” by Dolores Claman (we could hold a contest for lyrics.)
Murrica: “This Land is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie (or maybe “The Power and the Glory” by Phil Ochs)
There’s no such place as the “Dominion of Canada.” The official name of the country is “Canada.” Nothing else.
And the HNIC theme song does not need lyrics. It can simply be sung with the words “Da” and “Bom.” It’s best sung in two groups. Get your altos and sopranos in Group 1, and your tenors and basses in Group 2.
GROUP 1: Da da da da da DAAAAAAAA!
GROUP 2: Bom-bom-bom-bom!
GROUP 1: Da da da da da DA-DAAAAAAA!
GROUP 2: Bom-bom-bom-bom!
BOTH: Da-da-da-da-da DAAAAAAA Da-Da-Da! DAAAAAAA da-da-da, DAAAAAAAAAAA!
That song gets me all teary. Sniff.
If HNIC won’t give us the rights to it, I would suggest “Rock and Roll, Part 2” by Gary Glitter, which is now colloquially known simply as the Hockey Song, and which has the advantage of having even fewer words than the HNIC theme song. Rock and Roll, Part 2 has only one word: “Hey.” It’s about four minutes long, though, which is disadvantageous.
Du gamla, du fria, du fj?llh?ga Nord!
Din tysta, din gl?djerika sk?na…
I dig the tune of the Swedish national anthem pretty nicely. Of course it’s not about bashing in Danish brains, either - but as I pointed out to a Norwegian friend of mine, Scandinavia without Sweden would be basically a map of Russia and Germany. 
I dig the Marseillaise as well, even tho’ it’s lost a lot of its revolutionary meaning over the years.
And for all us Murrkins, you’ve probably seen the Master’s thesis on the origins of the tune of our own national anthem.
Of course, the tune that gets me choked up every time I hear it - no matter what language it’s sung in - is the Internationale. But most of you could probably have guessed that.
And just for you, Mekhazzio:
The inviolable union of free republics
Joined forever by Great Russia:
Long the creation of the people’s will -
The united, mighty Soviet Union!
Chorus.
Praise thee, our free Fatherland!
Faithful bulwark of the friendship of peoples!
The Party of Lenin, the people’s strength
Leads us to the glory of Communism!
As a side note, it seems that the words to both the Star-Spangled Banner and the old Soviet National Anthem fit quite nicely to the tune of “The Irish Washer-woman”. Great for parties!
When that lady sang “Advance Australia Fair” w/the chorus at the opening ceremony of the Sydney Olympics I had tears in my eyes. Really. And I’m not even Australian.
Mexico’s “Hymn Nacional” is very catchy. You can hear it all across the radio dial at sunrise here in Southern California, since Mexican radio stations are required to play it at midnight, when they sign on, or after an address by the Presidente.
Phouchg