National Anthems

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I'm from Norway, and you can read my anthem here .

It's quite silly in English actually, but it rocks on norwegian

 

hmm that site said Scotland has no official National Anthem, but its "Flower of Scotland", well anyway heres the lyrics:

O Flower of Scotland,
When will we see
Your like again,
That fought and died for,
Your wee bit Hill and Glen,
And stood against him,
Proud Edward's Army,
And sent him homeward,
Tae think again.

The Hills are bare now,
And Autumn leaves
Lie thick and still,
O'er land that is lost now,
Which those so dearly held,
That stood against him,
Proud Edward's Army,
And sent him homeward,
Tae think again.

Those days are past now,
And in the past
They must remain,
But we can still rise now,
And be the nation again,
That stood against him,
Proud Edward's Army,
And sent him homeward,
Tae think again.

O Flower of Scotland,
When will we see
Your like again,
That fought and died for,
Your wee bit Hill and Glen,
And stood against him,
Proud Edward's Army,
And sent him homeward,
Tae think again.

 

Let's see: I'm not clean shaven, I'm not blonde and I'm not that tall. I cannot sing very well. At least, I can drink. Am I german?

@ Dendri: *cough* That's the bad verse.
And actually not our anthem. Our anthem is the 3rd verse (and it sounds not so arrogant):

Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit
für das deutsche Vaterland!
Danach laßt uns alle streben
brüderlich mit Herz und Hand!
Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit
sind des Glückes Unterpfand;
blüh' im Glanze dieses Glückes,
blühe, deutsches Vaterland.

Translation:
Unity and justice and freedom
for the German fatherland;
This let us all pursue,
brotherly with heart and hand.
Unity and justice and freedom
are the pledge of happiness.
Flourish in this blessing's glory,
flourish, German fatherland.

Text: August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben
Music: Joseph Haydn (who actually wrote a song to the the austrian emperor)

 

Oh no!
I suspected I should leave this to someone who knows better...

The bad verse. My apologies.

 

First off I'll start with the english version:

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

And now the french:

Ô Canada!
Terre de nos aïeux,
Ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux!
Car ton bras sait porter l'épée,
Il sait porter la croix;
Ton histoire est une épopée
Des plus brillants exploits.
Et ta valeur de foi trempé
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits;
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.

And Splunge, no matter how much we hope, that won't be the anthem any time soon!

 

@Splunge what tune is that sung to? I must try singing it aloud!

 

Blog, it's a actual song, and it's sung to its own tune.

 

Something like:

Poland has not yet died
So long as we're alive
What foreign might took from us
With sabre we shall reclaim

March, march Dabrowski
From Italian land to Poland
Under your command
We shall join the nation

Yea, I know what this sounds like, but it's barely translatable at all, let alone rhymes and stuff.

 

I believe I concur with Blackhawk. I'm an American... but I'll post the anthem of my section of the country.

Dixie
I wish I was in the land of cotton,
old times there are not forgotten,
Look away, look away, look away, Dixie land.
In Dixie land where I was born in, early on a frosty mornin',
Look away, look away, look away, Dixie land.

Chorus:

Then I wish I was in Dixie, hooray! Hooray!
In Dixie land I'll take my stand, to live and die in Dixie,
Away, away, away down south in Dixie,
Away, away, away down south in Dixie.

Old Missus marry Will de Weaber, Will-yum was a gay deceaber,
Look away, look away, look away, Dixie land.
But when he put his arm around her,
smiled as fierce as a forty pounder.
Look away, look away, look away, Dixie land. (Chorus)

Dars buckwheat cakes an' ingen batter, makes you fat or a little fatter,
Look away, look away, look away, Dixie land.
Den hoe it down and scratch your grabble to Dixie's land
I'm bound to travel,
Look away, look away, look away Dixie land. (Chorus)

His face was sharp as a butcher's cleaver
but that did not seem to grieve her;
look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie land.
Old missus acted the foolish part,
and died for a man that broke her heart.
Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie land.

Now here's a health to the next old missus
and all the gals that want to kiss us;
look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie land.
But if you want to drive away sorrow,
come and hear this song tomorrow,
look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie land.

 

@Dendri: I looked it up. All of the song counts still as our anthem. But the first two verses aren't played for obvious reasons. You were partially right.

 

Just to add to Reepnorp's post, the English and French versions of the Canadian anthem are actually two separate sets of lyrics: they are not exact translations. So here is the litteral translation of the French version (which, I believe, was written first - anybody know for sure?).

Ô Canada! [O Canada!]
Terre de nos aïeux, [Land of our ancestors,]
Ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux! [Upon your forehead rest glorious florets!]
Car ton bras sait porter l'épée, [For your arm can wield the sword,]
Il sait porter la croix; [As well as the cross;]
Ton histoire est une épopée [Your history is a saga]
Des plus brillants exploits. [Of the most brilliant feats.]

Et ta valeur de foi trempée [And your glory, etched in faith,]
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits; [Will protect our homes and our rights;]
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits. [Will protect our homes and our rights.]

There are clear religious references that, shall we say, haven't aged very well!

[ December 17, 2003, 19:56: Message edited by: Djieff ]

 

OK, let's not be behind I'll post my National Anthem... Beware.. It's on latin, because we are using the cyrillic as the Serbian, Macedonian and other countries...

Mila Rodino
Gorda Stara planina,
do nei Dunava sinei,
slunce Trakia ogriava,
nad Pirina plamenei,

Pripev:
Mila Rodino,
ti si zemen rai,
tvoita hubost, tvoita prelest,
ah, te niamat krai.

Padnaha borci bezchet
za naroda nash liubim,
maiko, dai ni muzhka sila
putia im da produlzhim.

Translation:
Proud Balkan mountains,
next to them the Danube flows,
the sun sheds its light over Thrace,
shining over Pirin.

Chorus:
Dear native land,
you are paradise on earth,
your beauty and your charm,
ah, they never end.

Many fighters gave their life
for our dear nation,
Mother, give us strength
to follow in their steps.

 

Y'know, I have to admit that I have always enjoyed listening to the Canadian National Anthem - it has a really nice melody.

... it sounds great when Terrance and Phillip sing it on Southpark too!

[ December 18, 2003, 18:27: Message edited by: Blackhawk ]

 

Well here goes the national anthem of Finland. Though many (including me) feel that Finlandia hymn by Jean Sibleius should be the national anthem of Finland but that's perhaps a bit too "dark" for a national anthem and this isn't all that bad.

Oi maamme, Suomi, synnyinmaa,
soi, sana kultainen.
Ei laaksoa, ei kukkulaa,
ei vettä, rantaa rakkaampaa,
kuin kotimaa tää pohjoinen,
maa kallis isien.
Ei laaksoa, ei kukkulaa,
ei vettä rantaa, rakkampaa,
kuin kotimaa tää pohjoinen,
maa kallis isien.

 

God save our gracious Queen,
Long live our noble Queen,
God save the Queen:
Send her victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us:
God save the Queen.
Thy choicest gifts in store,
On her be pleased to pour;
Long may she reign:
May she defend our laws,
And ever give us cause
To sing with heart and voice
God save the Queen.

(When there is a King, the preceding two lines become: With heart and voice to sing / God save the King.)

O Lord, our God, arise,
Scatter thine (or her) enemies,
And make them fall:
Confound their politics,
Frustrate their knavish tricks,
On thee our hopes we fix:
God save us all.

Not in this land alone,
But be God's mercies known,
From shore to shore!
Lord make the nations see,
That men should brothers be,
And form one family,
The wide world over.

From every latent foe,
From the assassins blow,
God save the Queen!
O'er her thine arm extend,
For Britain's sake defend,
Our mother, prince, and friend,
God save the Queen!


Lord grant that Marshall Wade
May by thy mighty aid
Victory bring.
May he sedition hush,
And like a torrent rush,
Rebellious Scots to crush.
God save the Queen!*

The British National Anthem
Interesting facts about it are:
This is a commonly sung anthem adopted by many but in reality the UK is one of the only nations to not have an official anthem. the song has not been recognised by parliment.
The tune has been used by many European countries as their anthem and is still used by Liechtenstein.

 

Dendri, I could read most of that without refering to the english at the bottom. Think I have some German in me?

Anyone heard the Dead Kennedys song - California Uber Alles? Thats pretty well how I got the first lines...

 

Baezlebub
Do you have an obscure affinity for odd leather trousers?
Feel like your neighbours ground should actually belong to you?
Are you a tall, blond, clean-shaven dwarf?

Yes? Willkommen im Verein.

*runs*

 

I wish our anthem in the U.S. was more like New Zealand's. That's beautiful. The Swiss and Swedish ones are lovely too. Ours is about a battle we lost, for crying out loud.

There's been something of a movement for a while over here to change our anthem to the following song, whose lyrics more people know. It's also actually singable even by those not trained in opera, and not violent. Here it is:

Oh beautiful for spacious skies
For amber waves of grain
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain
America, America
God shed His grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea

There are a whole lot more verses (which people don't know)
here: http://www.fuzzylu.com/falmouth/bates/america.html

 

I found this on wikipedia's site, nice thing is that it sounds good in english...

Croatian national anthem:

Our beautiful homeland,
Oh dear, heroic land,
Fatherland of ancient glory,
May you always be happy!

Dear, as much as you are glorious,
Only you are dear to us.
Dear, where your land is flat,
Dear, where it is mountainous.

Flow Drava, Sava flow,
Nor you, Danube, lose your power!
Azure sea, tell to the world
That a Croat loves his nation!

As long as the sun warms his ploughed land,
As long as storms lash his oak trees,
As long as graves hide his dead,
As long as his living heart beats!

 

Great anthems all, but I have always found the anthem of the defunct USSR to be awe-inspiring!

Go Nikolai Volkoff!