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National anthems


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Neither does the UK,.

I didn't realise that GSTQ wasn't official, although perhaps it's not too surprising since it's consistent with other things like not having an official language. However, Scotland doesn't even have a de facto anthem, whereas GSTQ is consistently considered to be the British national anthem.

Plus it shames me to admit that not many people actually know the words.

I suspect most British people don't know most of the lyrics to God Save The Queen either.

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Bill Bailey has some

on the British national anthem.


More realistically, it should be Land of Hope and Glory (Jerusalem is a better song, but it only applies to England, so that doesn't fly- but that should be the anthem that specifically English sporting teams use, for example).



That, or just say 'fuck it' and use Stairway to Heaven or something.




I second the motion to make Lose Yourself the US national anthem.


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I hail from what is probably one of the least patriotic countries in the world (and I'm probably one of it's least patriotic citizens) and I absolutely hate our national anthem.



For starters there are way to many mentions of "king" in it (as a hardcore republican I detest monarchies) and it's glaringly obvious that it was written by someone from the rich upperclass who all spoke French at the time (the anthem sounds nice in French and also in German but the Dutch version is atrocious).



Still, eventhough I'm not a patriot in anyway it would be nice to have a good national anthem (something more like America the Beatiful. When I was younger I used to think that was the actual American anthem). Although it would be best to just stick to a version without lyrics.


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It is the greatest national anthem ever. Listening to it in the Millennium Stadium gives me chills.

I am not biased or anything...

oh, i love a good rendition of it, i feel strangely comforted when a group of people in the pub will just stand up and start singing it but somehow manage to be pitch perfect, it happened the other day and i was so impressed.
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I think it has at least twice, but it's probably been a while.

For Britain, I think God Save The Queen is a bit of a dirge, I don't like either the tune or the lyrics. I'm not really sure what to replace it with, though.

For Scotland, we don't officially have a national anthem (I suppose that might change soon), there's always been some debate about what it would be. I think Flower of Scotland works fine for sporting events (the combination of being confrontational and wondering if there might possible be a victory at some indeterminate time in the future is perfect for Scottish sport), but I'm not sure a song focusing on events in the 14th Century is the best choice for a national anthem.

As for other anthems, I like the French and Italian anthems. If the Welsh existed they might have a good anthem as well. On the other hand, I do agree the American anthem is rubbish.

Can some one nominate Scotland The Brave?

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More realistically, it should be Land of Hope and Glory (Jerusalem is a better song, but it only applies to England, so that doesn't fly- but that should be the anthem that specifically English sporting teams use, for example).

That, or just say 'fuck it' and use Stairway to Heaven or something.

Land of Hope and Glory would be an improvement on GSTQ. I agree Jerusalem is a better song, but it's a bit odd lyrically for an anthem.

Can some one nominate Scotland The Brave?

It has sometimes been used as an anthem for Scottish sporting teams.

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I think I'm unusual in liking God Save the Queen. I don't think there's anything wrong with the tune; the problem is it tends to be sung very slowly (possibly to elongate it as it's a relatively short anthem by international standards) and usually in what a musical friend of mine identified as a "specifically football hooligan style". To replicate this, take a tune of your choosing, replace all the words with "nuh nuh nuh" and sing it loudly and slightly flat. Once you've got the hang of that, sing the actual lyrics and try to make it sound as much like the previous version as possible.



I think that's what gives it its funereal dirgey overtones. Even then, I'd rather a dirge than some of the endless prancing stuff some other nations seem to have. The horror of having inflicting consecutive playings of the Brazilian and Italian anthems on us was enough to put me off Felipe Massa as a racing driver altogether. Still, I'd rather GSTQ was played at a slightly more sprightly pace; if it's too short, sing a second verse (preferably the third one) - this is an option that's already been taken unofficially at some sporting events, but since it took everyone by surprise they tend just to sing the first verse again.



But if GTSQ were replaced with Land of Hope and Glory, Jerusalem or Rule Britannia I wouldn't complain excessively. The problem there is that the first two are pretty English (rather than British) and Rule Britannia is bloomin' hard to sing and sounds a bit jingoistic (even if I'll defend the actual sentiment behind it extensively).



Casting a sneaky look at other nations' anthems, La Marseillaise is good, and I think The Star-Spangled Banner might well be the best of those I hear frequently. The Internationale has a good tune, too, although the English words are terrible and nobody actually sings it any more.


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For Scotland, we don't officially have a national anthem (I suppose that might change soon), there's always been some debate about what it would be. I think Flower of Scotland works fine for sporting events (the combination of being confrontational and wondering if there might possible be a victory at some indeterminate time in the future is perfect for Scottish sport), but I'm not sure a song focusing on events in the 14th Century is the best choice for a national anthem.

I personally support switching to Evil Scotsman if Independance does come

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During the Olympics one of my favourite sports writers (Brian Phillips) wrote a great article on this topic: http://grantland.com/features/ranking-national-anthems-olympics/

I particularly like his interpretation of the Montenegro Anthem :D.

I hadn't heard the Montenegrin anthem before, but I think it's definitely a contender.

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The Dutch one is a bit boring, especially considering we only ever use a highly condensed version (far too many verses in the full one). But of course it is ancient, and different from a lot of others.


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i feel like there was a best anthem thread. but not a what should anthems be thread.

how about south africa? the current anthem has some solid point, specifically the multitude of languages used, but the lack of afrobeat is a negative.

and i do think that multi-racial is the most significant aspect of south africa, the sound should feature african and european influences.

maybe johnny clegg and savuku - great heart

I disagree with this. As a South African I am proud of our National Anthem and the so called lack of an afro beat does not take away from this. The National Anthem encompasses five out of the eleven national languages of the country. Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika was composed by Enoch Sontonga, a Methodist school teacher, in 1897. It was first sung as a church hymn, but later became an act of political defiance against the apartheid government. The english lyrics of Die Stem van Suid-Afrika were modified from the last four lines of the first stanza and to reflect hope in post-apartheid South African society.

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I like Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika, but it's a bit long.

long? No brah. I've had various issues with it in the past(pronunciation is a pain when you're dealing with 5 different languages) but length has never been one of them.

Out of curiosity, which nation has the shortest national anthem?

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