Favourite National Anthems

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

I decided to take a risk and put this in the Frontroom. Don't disappoint me. ~;)

This is about which national anthems you find most pleasing to the ear. ~:)

My selections:

Deutschlandlied (Germany) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1P7ZnU_wZnM) - I actually find this to be one of the best anthems, not out of patriotism at all.

Hatikva (Israel) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0rVDbYqE7E&feature=related) - Hauntingly beautiful.

Gosudarstvenny Gimn Rossiyskoy Federatsii (Russia) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbjQeW8KRn0) - Possibly the most powerful anthem ever written.

Mila Rodino (Bulgaria) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_ao4MvUboE&feature=related) - Wow. Just wow.

[Adrian II]

Why not make a poll of it?

Oh, and I am going to be sickeningly predictable and say that since the demise of the Soviet Union I have no favourite any more. Their (ice)hockey teams and their national anthem were about the only thing they had going for them, but damn, that anthem was great.

Okay, you're pushing me. It's gotta be the Marseillaise. Aux aaaaaarmes, citoyens!... :charge:

Oops, the Russkis have kept the anthem, haven't they?

*slaps self silly*

[Geoffrey S]

Isn't Moskau currently Russia's anthem? :inquisitive:

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

Why not make a poll of it?

There are far too many countries in the world. ~;)



Oh, and I am going to be sickeningly predictable and say that since the demise of the Soviet Union I have no favourite any more. Their (ice)hockey teams and their national anthem were about the only thing they had going for them, but damn, that anthem was great.

Well, the Russian national anthem now is still the same tune.

[SwordsMaster]

It's has to be the USSR for me also. The thing about the Marseillaise is that, well, I watch the rugby, and I see these big ugly men singing it, and there's just something funny about it...

[PBI]

The Marseillaise, without a doubt. Always makes me wish I was French.

The Welsh one is quite good too.

[Adrian II]

Let say they are remarkably (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpKRd2xQeq8) alike...

[drone]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meLpuF9UMvk
How can you not like this. :bow:

The Star Spangled Banner is just a test to see who can make it through the difficult parts (rockets red glare and home of the free) without croaking.

[Beirut]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meLpuF9UMvk
How can you not like this. :bow:



Love it! :sunny:

[Sasaki Kojiro]

The Star Spangled Banner is just a test to see who can make it through the difficult parts (rockets red glare and home of the free) without croaking.

Unfortunately it's usually sung by show off singers who want to impress people with the number of trills and high notes they can fit in. When it's sung decently it's much better:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ETrr-XHBjE

The dixie chicks version is also decent:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vU5AYcAhvyo&feature=related


Of course, my favorite is "hail, hail freedonia"

[Reverend Joe]

*coughs*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFLy8eGtSYo

It does NOT get better than this. I actually feel proud to be an American when I hear this... moves me to tears.

[Fragony]

Russia

[Martok]

Add one more to the ranks of fans of the Russian anthem; I've always liked it. :yes:

I'm also partial to "God Save the Queen." (In an ironic coincidence, the first time I ever heard the song was on Queen's Live at Wembley Stadium album.) :2thumbsup:

[scotchedpommes]

I'd have to say the Soviet Union and the reinstated Russian anthem also. [The other one (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeaG7rKqaU4) didn't last
too long, did it, decent though it was.]

Slightly outwith the bounds of official national anthems, but I would say, despite not being much of a
rugby fan, I do have a liking for Ireland's Call (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIxe5ooQtqI), and of course our own little much-hated dirge that we
attempt to belt out before being mauled at the football.

[JAG]

The French, American, Italian and German - All are GREAT. I love national anthems - I just wish my own country would have a good one!

[CountArach]

Anywhere but Australia...

[Banquo's Ghost]

Without doubt, the Marseillaise.

The finest provenance, the finest sentiments and the finest tune.

And this is its finest moment (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iYbEPZVVIA).

And this one isn't bad (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJMf6XBS4H8&feature=related) either.

This is the way national anthems should be sung (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItPlLnnol4c&feature=related). Respect, honour and passion.

[Adrian II]

And this one isn't bad (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJMf6XBS4H8&feature=related) either.Indeed not bad, Sir, not bad at all. :bow:

Though I must admit I like this sight (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cle20lQg0Qs&feature=related) a little better.


P.S. Isn't it funny how most of us admire another country's anthem most? Is that because it expresses our sentiments about our country better than our own national anthem? Or because it expresses superior sentiments we do not necessarily associate with our own country, but with our deepest convictions? In my case, the latter makes that the Marseillaise tops everything else - like you said it is a great expression of the finest sentiments, of a world that should be rather than the one that is.

On the other hand I deeply love my national anthem because it reminds me of a shared history that is tied to places and people I love and will never forget or betray. Watching my father cry sometimes when it was played was enough to make it stick in my mind. It also reminds me of a country that, to my mind, is long gone. Of schools and swimming pools and sports pitches that have long been torn down and replaced by ugly, anonymous pomo offices and shopping malls. A memory of a social fabric that used to be, and of a youth in the 1970's that will never return, a time of careless travel and experiment, first loves, and undefiled freedom: sexual liberty without AIDS, experimenting with pot and other substances without the horrible criminality that comes with it today, great music without today's horrible commercial and celebrity circus, etcetera.

So there's two national anthems I love even though the countries they represent do not exist. Can anyone sort me out here?

[naut]

Anywhere but Australia...
Agreed. What were they thinking! :no:

[Craterus]

*coughs*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFLy8eGtSYo

It does NOT get better than this. I actually feel proud to be an American when I hear this... moves me to tears.

I agree. It's a pretty good anthem once you get rid of the lyrics.

[PBI]

Without doubt, the Marseillaise.

The finest provenance, the finest sentiments and the finest tune.

And this is its finest moment (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_iYbEPZVVIA).

And this one isn't bad (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJMf6XBS4H8&feature=related) either.

This is the way national anthems should be sung (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItPlLnnol4c&feature=related). Respect, honour and passion.

I think the first link has to be one of the finest two minutes of film ever made.

For the third, I think the nicest thing I noticed was that as far as I could tell, for both anthems the opposing fans respected the anthem and kept quiet. It is so vulgar to hear in football matches, when the fans seem to think it appropriate to boo and jeer throughout the other team's anthem.

I must say, I am not at all nationalistic, but there is certainly something about the singing of a national anthem, any national anthem, if it is done with pride and passion, that is very moving.

[Centurio Nixalsverdrus]

Portugal has the nicest anthem. But France is also very nice.

[Conradus]

I like the French "allons enfants de la patrie, le jour de gloire est arrivé"
But I prefer our own Flemish one. Just hearing the blood and violence in that one (of which only a part is the 'national' anthem) chills me.


De tijd verslindt de steden, geen tronen blijven staan:
De legerbenden sneven, een volk zal nooit vergaan.
De vijand trekt te velde, omringd van doodsgevaar.
Wij lachen met zijn woede, de Vlaamse Leeuw is daar
Zij zullen hem niet temmen, zolang een Vlaming leeft,

[Time consumes the cities, no thrones remain
Armies are destroyed, a people will never perish
The enemies marches, surrounded by death
We laugh at his anger, the Flemish Lion is there
They won't tame him, as long as a Flem? lives]

[cmacq]

A wee bit off topic, but if anyone has the chance, and find yourself in town, I highly recommend the Edinburgh Tattoo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7k6VYGtm8g&feature=related). No anthem here, but the band of Swiss can be proud. And, indeed those krazy kiwi (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXFvs3FRzOs&feature=related) do seem to march to the sound of their own drum. As here a ’by your leave’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KR5Iu9gyLXo&feature=related) is more than asking for a short trip home.

[Ferret]

I second that recommendation, saw it the year before last and remember it like it was yesterday :yes:

[pevergreen]

I like the song that should be the anthem of Australia. Land Down Under by Men at Work.

Theres a song you can be proud of!

[Ronin]

this is how you sing an anthem...

like so (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Jg68IUjQ0Q&feature=related)

The Russian one also sounds very nice....


another interesting questions is....just suppose that you had to pick a song to replace the national anthem of your country....what would you choose?

i´d go with

Moonspell - Alma Mater (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pC77cuATEQ)


Mother tongue speaks to me
In the strongest way Ive ever seen
I know that she sees in me
Her proudest child, her purest breed

She speaks to me in colours
That I cant really understand
I only know that they are ours
And to those Ill proudly bend

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

To replace the German national anthem?

Die Wacht Am Rhein (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnlHHHo8DHo)

OK, sure, it's a little anti-French, but it's still a wonderful patriotic song.

Wir Sind Wir (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-ISTsRAdw8)

I don't easily show sadness, but I almost cried when I first saw this.

[Adrian II]

Wir Sind Wir (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-ISTsRAdw8)

I don't easily show sadness, but I almost cried when I first saw this.Wow...

I never saw that before. Great little clip, that. 'Aus Asche wa'm Wir Gold gemacht / Aber wollten Wir nicht eigentlich viel mehr?" That's the postwar world in a nutshell, only the experience is much more pronounced in Germany.

Thank you. :bow:

[Sigurd]

I must be patriotic and put ours at the top :
Ja vi elsker (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhhStVKawbk&feature=related), best with an choir arrangement and a cappella.

The Russian anthem is high on my list: Soviet version (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndZwEUfdWs0&feature=related) sung in Russian which sounds a bit like Swedish? :jester:
I have a predilection for Scotland, Scottish and pipes & drums. The Scottish anthem (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRNPZDaImtE&feature=related) is best with pipes & drums and Scotland the Brave (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4905GdqSv2Q&feature=related) is a second (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffZN6Gf36-c&feature=related) favorite.

I have been to the military tattoo in Edinburgh twice, one of them with HKMG (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7xvMnrteMM&feature=related) and their drill troop.

And finally, if Bergen was a city state in Norway, our national anthem would have been Udsigter fra Ulriken (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7TQF1TYLeI) written by Johan Nordahl Brun in 1791 and melody by Jean Baptiste Lully.


Brann e bæst... (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lv28O0hcTgU)

[Dâriûsh]

Hatikva (Israel) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0rVDbYqE7E&feature=related) - Hauntingly beautiful.
True. It is amazing.

The singer is Enrico Macias, by the way.

[Martok]

I must be patriotic and put ours at the top :
Ja vi elsker (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhhStVKawbk&feature=related), best with an choir arrangement and a cappella.
Gah! How could I forget that one?? :oops: I learned it when I attended Norwegian camp in the summers (back when I was in high school). I never knew more than the first verse, though.

I don't suppose you could translate it to English, could you? (It's been so long since I took Norwegian, I've forgotten most of what I learned. :embarassed: ).



I have a predilection for Scotland, Scottish and pipes & drums. The Scottish anthem (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRNPZDaImtE&feature=related) is best with pipes & drums and Scotland the Brave (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4905GdqSv2Q&feature=related) is a second (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffZN6Gf36-c&feature=related) favorite.
Ah, yes. I love Scotland the Brave; definitely one of my favorite bagpipe pieces of all time. :2thumbsup:



And finally, if Bergen was a city state in Norway, our national anthem would have been Udsigter fra Ulriken (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7TQF1TYLeI) written by Johan Nordahl Brun in 1791 and melody by Jean Baptiste Lully.
Very nice, Sigurd! The song is already beautiful, but the singer herself has a very pretty voice as well. :beam:

[Sigurd]

I don't suppose you could translate it to English, could you? (It's been so long since I took Norwegian, I've forgotten most of what I learned. :embarassed: ).

I am gonna be lazy and give you a link (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ja,_vi_elsker_dette_landet) with a tranlation of the anthem.
The first is more or less directly word for word and loses its poetic language, whilst further down the translator made it more poetic like it is in Dano-Norwegian.

[Martok]

:2thumbsup:

[Kagemusha]

Personally i like the best the Soviet/ Russian and Japan´s also:

Here´s Japan:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-L4C4b0RitY

Our own anthem is nice but picking it was a mistake when we could have had one which Sean Sibelius composed as Finnish anthem. Interestingly because some UN related stuff the Song from Sibelius, "Finlandia hymn" almost became national anthem of Namibia.

Here is Finnish anthem "Maamme Laulu":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swK0_123RqA&feature=related

And the "Finlandia hymn":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afUFvbVwq-I&feature=related

[Kamakazi]

Loyal to my country i say americas and it does bring tears to my eyes any way

[Gaius Scribonius Curio]

Anywhere but Australia...


Agreed. What were they thinking! :no:

I echo this sentiment! Is there any Australian alive that actually knows the (extremely boring) second verse?

[Pannonian]

Indeed not bad, Sir, not bad at all. :bow:

Though I must admit I like this sight (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cle20lQg0Qs&feature=related) a little better.


P.S. Isn't it funny how most of us admire another country's anthem most? Is that because it expresses our sentiments about our country better than our own national anthem? Or because it expresses superior sentiments we do not necessarily associate with our own country, but with our deepest convictions? In my case, the latter makes that the Marseillaise tops everything else - like you said it is a great expression of the finest sentiments, of a world that should be rather than the one that is.

On the other hand I deeply love my national anthem because it reminds me of a shared history that is tied to places and people I love and will never forget or betray. Watching my father cry sometimes when it was played was enough to make it stick in my mind. It also reminds me of a country that, to my mind, is long gone. Of schools and swimming pools and sports pitches that have long been torn down and replaced by ugly, anonymous pomo offices and shopping malls. A memory of a social fabric that used to be, and of a youth in the 1970's that will never return, a time of careless travel and experiment, first loves, and undefiled freedom: sexual liberty without AIDS, experimenting with pot and other substances without the horrible criminality that comes with it today, great music without today's horrible commercial and celebrity circus, etcetera.

So there's two national anthems I love even though the countries they represent do not exist. Can anyone sort me out here?
It's not just a matter of admiring another country's national anthem simply because they're an "other", but more because it "feels" better. Here's an unofficial anthem (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ0oCmDXrVk), that beats the hell out of the British anthem in sentiments and patriotism, and has been adopted by Englishmen of all walks as the "true" depiction of the England that was, is, and could be.

Jerusalem

And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England's mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen?

And did the Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among these dark Satanic Mills?

Bring me my bow of burning gold!
Bring me my arrows of desire!
Bring me my spear! O clouds, unfold!
Bring me my chariot of fire!

I will not cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand,
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant land.

[Mediolanicus]

Russia and Romania.

[KrooK]

To be a bit nationalistic I love my anhem.
Sadly on Euro there were quite bad versions.


I like Russian and German anhems too - serious songs talking about serious issues.

[Beefy187]

Love the Turkish national anthem:2thumbsup:

http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=Qu6tnM7Oscs

Sound like those communist songs? so what?

[Sigurd]

Here's an unofficial anthem (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ0oCmDXrVk), that beats the hell out of the British anthem in sentiments and patriotism, and has been adopted by Englishmen of all walks as the "true" depiction of the England that was, is, and could be.


I know the British like to be reserved and modest. :beam:
But IMO two great British anthems/songs that should be candidates to the current national anthem, would be:

Land of Hope and Glory (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THYgeETrkPs&feature=related) (5 min out in the clip for the impatient)

Land of Hope and Glory,
Mother of the Free,
How shall we extol thee,
Who are born of thee?
Wider still and wider
Shall thy bounds be set;
God, who made thee mighty,
Make thee mightier yet
God, who made thee mighty,
Make thee mightier yet.

Rule, Britannia (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMRvZTk7QYE&feature=related)(3 min out in the clip)

Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves!
Britons never, never,* never shall be slaves!
Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves!
Britons never, never,* never shall be slaves!

[Omanes Alexandrapolites]

The anthem of Uzbekistan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Anthem_of_the_Republic_of_Uzbekistan) and the anthem of Kazakhstan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Kazakhstan_(anthem)) are my personal favourites. I'm also fond of Belarus' anthem (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:My_Belarusy_vocal.ogg) and, as mentioned already, Russia's/the Soviet Union's (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Anthem_of_Russia) (they are identical tunes with different words). Indeed most of the former Soviet nations have very powerful anthems.

~:)

[Lt Nevermind]

Like many others, I also like the Russian anthem. This version is perhaps the best of it which I've heard, really bringing stars from the heaven itself within the reach of your fingerstips: Russian anthem (http://folk.ntnu.no/makarov/temporary_url_20070929kldcg/anthem-russia-2000-state_symph_orch__choir_bolshoith_choir_musicalth_2002.mp3).

And once the stars have been reached it's good to settle down with something more calm, but in my opinion quite equally beautiful in its own way: Swedish anthem (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvkIKECju_w&feature=related). (This would be better with a clear and strong female voice but couldn't find any non-interpreted ones :thumbsdown:)

[Samurai Waki]

Mongolia National Anthemhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhU7acz_Dro&feature=related

[Adrian II]

It's not just a matter of admiring another country's national anthem simply because they're an "other", but more because it "feels" better.Well yeah, but isn't that the same I said when I wrote that the better anthem 'expresses superior sentiments we do not necessarily associate with our own country, but with our deepest convictions'?
Here's an unofficial anthem (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ0oCmDXrVk), that beats the hell out of the British anthem in sentiments and patriotism, and has been adopted by Englishmen of all walks as the "true" depiction of the England that was, is, and could be.Beautiful, very compelling. Speaks of the future, unlike many anthems which glorify the past.

Come to think of it, that longing for Jerusalem is the sort of exalted sentiment that surpasses king and country. Aren't we in agreement then?

And thanks for the link. :bow:

[Flying Pig]

1. The French. It's actually quite scary seeing their rugby team singing the qu'un sang impur... bit before engaging in legalised warfare:laugh4:

2. Mae Hen Gwlad fy Nhadau, which translates roughly (courtesy of The Pig) as 'Ancient Ancestral Land' from Wales (Cymru). Pessimistic (Dros ryddid collasant eu gwaed) but good enough to write around a coin.

[Mouzafphaerre]

.
Germany, being a Haydn, comes first. :yes:

US (brothel song, yea, but beautiful), Belgium, Wales, UK.
.

[Subedei]

1. France/ Russia (nothing but listening to fans singing along the Marsaillese (sp?); I like the version of the Red Army Choir)
2. UK (a classic)
3. Germany (it sounds cool I think)