Poll Do you know your national anthem?

[Donamy]

And the US national anthem should be played by Manowar. :thumbup:

Jimi Hendrix did it just fine, thankyou ! :tiphat:

 

[Ghostrider]

Everybody knows you cannot truly know the US national anthem until you've heard it in the original Klingon.

 

[lennartsmit]

I know someone who described nationalism as "Stockholm Syndrome".

That's a great comparison!

 

[Notebook]

Mine has something to do with the Queen, I think!

I can hum the first 10 or so seconds of it, but I have no idea what the words are. We never did anything about it in school.

Nobody in Britain ever stands up to it, or puts their hand on their heart for it. It's just not done over here.

Same here.
It used to be played at the end of a cinema performance, and there was a mad scramble for the exits.
Terrible tune, bit of dirge. Wish we had something a bit cheery like the French, I think the Spanish one is a bit lively too?

n.

 

[Urwumpe]

Terrible tune, bit of dirge.

Without it, we wouldn't have had this in history:

 

[Donamy]

Great concert !!

 

[Hmuda]

Here, the anthem is part of a longer poem called "Himnusz" and the official anthem is the first part of that poem. Kids are expected to know the entire thing by heart in early years in their studies, but never really expected to recite it after that (just part of the cirriculum).

However the anthem part of the poem is played at the beggining of every single official ceremony (graduations, national holidays, new years eve at midnight, etc). No need to place our hands on our hearts and no need to sing along, that's up to personal preference. Because it's frequently played (especially in schools), by the time children grow up, they will know the entire thing whether they actively learned it or not.

There is another song called "Szózat" which is played at the end of every ceremony. It can be considered a secondary anthem of sorts. If the anthem was played to open the ceremony, the Szózat will most definitely be played to close it.

 

[Andy44]

I stopped for a different reason:

Now that I'm out of gradeschool, I never have the occasion to say the pledge. Is there anywhere that the pledge *is* performed routinely outside of schools?

I never "pledge allegiance" to anyone or anything. Never saw the point.

 

[Linguofreak]

It is no song for being sung at school in the morning, or for celebrating that the German Army bombed a few Talibans. It is also not suitable for any serious political event, where you should formally show your love of your country. It isn't such a song. It is meant for being sung in a happy atmosphere, together with your friends and one or two tubs of beer. It is a drinking song.

I've heard it said that the Deutschlandlied is a drinking song to the tune of a national anthem, and the Star Spangled Banner is a national anthem to the tune of a drinking song. (You need to be drunk to have the vocal range, or at least not to care that you don't).

There's actually a hymn in English to the same tune. My dad was shocked to find out that "Deutschland, Deutschland über Alles" and "Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken" have the same tune.

BTW, what is this with all these countries where children are instructed to sing the national anthem at school? It sort of freaks me out.

The US pledge isn't the anthem. It's just a few lines of prose, rather exceptionally boring.

Mine has something to do with the Queen, I think!

I can hum the first 10 or so seconds of it, but I have no idea what the words are. We never did anything about it in school.

Nobody in Britain ever stands up to it, or puts their hand on their heart for it. It's just not done over here.

I can actually recite the whole thing. My mom grew up in Canada before "O Canada", and learned "God Save the Queen". When I was younger, being quite the little US patriot, I'd have singing contests with my mom where we'd try and drown each other out with me singing "My Country 'tis of Thee" and her singing "God Save the Queen" (same tune).

Same here.
It used to be played at the end of a cinema performance, and there was a mad scramble for the exits.
Terrible tune, bit of dirge. Wish we had something a bit cheery like the French, I think the Spanish one is a bit lively too?

n.

I actually find it quite cheery.

 

[Urwumpe]

I've heard it said that the Deutschlandlied is a drinking song to the tune of a national anthem, and the Star Spangled Banner is a national anthem to the tune of a drinking song. (You need to be drunk to have the vocal range, or at least not to care that you don't).

There's actually a hymn in English to the same tune. My dad was shocked to find out that "Deutschland, Deutschland über Alles" and "Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken" have the same tune.

Yeah, Von Fallersleben used the tune of a "pop song" of that time, the "Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser" by Joseph Hayden.

 

[Andy44]

Well, I don't think Whitney Houston was drunk when she sang the best rendition of the SSB I ever heard. But then again, she has the vocal range!

 

[Izack]

I know mine in English, but I refuse to learn it in French out of defiance of the totally biased school system I was brought up in. (If by a 1/10 000 chance any of you are from New Brunswick, you might know. Unless you're French. ) No hard feelings to anyone but the Minister of Education and his lackeys.

 

[SiberianTiger]

It is meant for being sung in a happy atmosphere, together with your friends and one or two tubs of beer. It is a drinking song.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoffmann_von_Fallersleben

If we had our most popular driking song, Ой, мороз, мороз (Oh, frosty weather) our anthem, maybe more people would be able to sing through to the slightly erotic stance 6 without getting all maudlin and bursting out with drunken tears over the 1st four! :rofl:

 

[clickypens]

I kinda know my national anthem. I can sing along, mostly. In elementary schools, every Monday there's a flag ceremony where the kids will do a little march and receive the flag from the school director. then everyone sings the national anthem and recites the equivalent to the pledge of allegiance. I never really got into it, so I don't know it. Recently, my state has gotten into the habit of adding on the state anthem after singing the national one. Most people my age and older refuse to learn the state anthem, our current governor is kind of an egomaniac.

Our flag colors are green for independence from Spain, white for Catholicism (so much for freedom of religion), and red for the union between mestizos, natives, and creoles. Then of course the shield, which represents Lake Texcoco, where the Aztecs settled Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City).

 

[Urwumpe]

Our flag colors are green for independence from Spain, white for Catholicism (so much for freedom of religion), and red for the union between mestizos, natives, and creoles. Then of course the shield, which represents Lake Texcoco, where the Aztecs settled Tenochtitlan (now Mexico City).

Doesn't the shield in your flag even show symbols of the whole foundation myth of Tenochtitlan? I remember something about an eagle and a snake there.

 

[Aviator]

I know the Australian anthem and sing it quietly, or just mime it when required mostly since its the polite thing to do, even though i generaly think that patriotism is obselete in the global village we live in these days.

At school they make you sing it at every assembly - and i volenteer in alot of citizenship ceromonies where they would of course ask everyone to sing it as part of the ceromony.

I think most Australians would know it.

 

[tl8]

I think most Australians would know it.

It would be UnAustralian not too.

Personally I like the Jimmy Barnes version

 

[RisingFury]

Official translation:

God's blessing on all nations,
who long and work for that bright day,
when over Earth's habitations,
no war, no strife shall hold it's sway;
Who long to see,
that all men free,
no more shall foes, but neighbours be.

 

[Dambuster]

YouTube- Zdravljica - slovenska himna

Official translation:

God's blessing on all nations,
who long and work for that bright day,
when over Earth's habitations,
no war, no strife shall hold it's sway;
Who long to see,
that all men free,
no more shall foes, but neighbours be.

That is an awesome anthem! :thumbup:

 

[Urwumpe]

Nooo... a bit of bragging should be, it should just not evolve into attacking other countries verbally.