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) - I actually find this to be one of the best anthems, not out of patriotism at all.

Hatikva (Israel) - Hauntingly beautiful.

Gosudarstvenny Gimn Rossiyskoy Federatsii (Russia) - Possibly the most powerful anthem ever written.

Mila Rodino (Bulgaria) - 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!...

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

*slaps self silly*

[Geoffrey S]

Isn't Moskau currently Russia's anthem?

[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 alike...

[drone]

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

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.

Love it!

[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=vU5A...eature=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.

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.)

[scotchedpommes]

I'd have to say the Soviet Union and the reinstated Russian anthem also. [The other one 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, 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.

And this one isn't bad either.

This is the way national anthems should be sung. Respect, honour and passion.

[Adrian II]

And this one isn't bad either.

Indeed not bad, Sir, not bad at all.

Though I must admit I like this sight 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!

[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.

And this one isn't bad either.

This is the way national anthems should be sung. 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. No anthem here, but the band of Swiss can be proud. And, indeed those krazy kiwi do seem to march to the sound of their own drum. As here a ’by your leave’ 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

[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

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

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

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

Wir Sind Wir

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

[Adrian II]

Wir Sind Wir

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.

[Sigurd]

I must be patriotic and put ours at the top :
Ja vi elsker, best with an choir arrangement and a cappella.

The Russian anthem is high on my list: Soviet version sung in Russian which sounds a bit like Swedish?
I have a predilection for Scotland, Scottish and pipes & drums. The Scottish anthem is best with pipes & drums and Scotland the Brave is a second favorite.

I have been to the military tattoo in Edinburgh twice, one of them with HKMG and their drill troop.

And finally, if Bergen was a city state in Norway, our national anthem would have been Udsigter fra Ulriken written by Johan Nordahl Brun in 1791 and melody by Jean Baptiste Lully.


Brann e bæst...