Please note the three aspects contained in that question. One song. One country. Your opinion. The only way to get that wrong is if you skip any of those three aspects just to shoehorn your pick. If you pick a “used-to-be” country, the song you pick must represent the country it used to be.
My immediate reaction was The USA, Greg Kihn’s Cold Hard Cash - likely due to the chorus repeating, “Gimmee gimmee my money!”
But, like I said, just an immediate reaction with little thought.
Nearly half a century after first released, when the Australian cricket team walk out to this anthem, or when played in a pub and the patrons start singing it, you have a cultural icon.
Great Southern Land - Icehouse
I feel the need to first dispense with the cliches:
Italy: Funiculì, Funiculà
Russia: Katyusha
France: La Vie en Rose
Brazil: Girl from Ipanema
Cuba: Guajira Guantanamera
Greece: Zorba’s Dance
Just looking for the best personal single pick for any one country, but thank you.
El Jarape Tapatio - Mexico
Mas Que Nada - Brazil
My Australia song is the one by The Kinks. Long before reading Bryson’s In a Sunburned Country it spawned daydreams of traveling down under. I eventually managed to make those dreams come true on two separate trips. I had a wonderful time and met some great people.
As far as the song goes, I love the Beach Boy-esque harmonies in the lines We’ll surf like they do in the USA/We’ll fly down to Sydney for our holiday/On sunny Christmas day/Australia.
Those ARE the songs that best represent those particular countries, to me. They’re also cliches.
The word that is in play here is “song”.
You mean you wanted one song per post? Sorry. I thought you meant one song per country.
My song that best represents Australia is Tim Minchin’s White wine in the sun.
It evokes Australia’s mid-summer, pretty much non-religious Christmas time, and particularly the way we construct it around family and food, and the experience of having ex-pat kids all over the world.
Italy:
Adriano Celentano - Azzurro
For a certain Spain that hopefuly no longer exists it must be ¡Que viva España! by Manolo Escobar.
No, I don’t like it. Too cheesy. But I could sing along.
The USA: Steve Miller “Livin’ in The USA”
Somebody get me a cheeseburger!
Doot do do do do doot doot baby
It encapsulates the 70s aesthetic of America. “Come on try it, you can buy it, you can leave it next week, yeah”
Also, our melting pot, and the best part of working together as a country:
“I see a yellow man, a brown man
A white man, a red man
Lookin’ for Uncle Sam
To give you a helpin’ hand”
but
“everybody’s kickin’ sand
Even politicians”
Tried to think of all sorts of Aotearoa New Zealand songs that might be representative, but not too on the nose. This was the one I couldn’t get away from. Six Months In A Leaky Boat from Split Enz.
Mexico:
Egypt: “Inta Omri”:
Ireland: “Whiskey in a Jar”.
Last one for now:
Yemen: “Im Nin’alu”.
This one may be a bit controversial, because it’s in Hebrew, not Yemeni, but it’s a traditional Yemenite Jewish folk song, so I think it counts:
For Mexico, I think it’s *Jalisco No Te Rajes* as performed by Vicente Fernandez.
