Comments on: Grading every country’s national anthem, part one

By: philippos42

philippos42 — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 22:11:48 +0000

“… instead they all voted for this song, which nobody in the entire country really likes (which is not surprising since it is, shall we say, boring) but which they feel is more “anthemy.” This tells you a lot about Australia.”

Sounds like the likely attitude in more countries than Oz.

By: RosyRonyver

RosyRonyver — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 08:33:26 +0000

DELETE THIS TOPIC!!

By: Ana

Ana — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 23:39:46 +0000

I think he graded Dominican Republic to low, he didn’t even got a legitimate reason for the low grade. Dominican Republic is one of the prettiest anthem on the planet second only to France’s.

By: EJ

EJ — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 06:16:51 +0000

Pretty much all US citizens secretly love “Oh Canada” – it’s probably the main reason we watch hockey. Not sure why, since our own national anthem is pretty distinctive and excellent; I think it’s just that nobody bawls out their anthem with the same enthusiasm Canadians do; it’s hard not to get swept up in it.

I hope you reserve a spot for defunct anthems. Some of the old Soviet anthems, Kazakhstan in particular, are absolutely epic. Russia was smart just to change the words but keep the old tune for their anthem. Also, nobody sings it anymore of course (except for maybe North Korea?), but the Internationale is a fantastic song.

By: caroline

caroline — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 19:10:07 +0000

You guys definitely have a bitchin’ anthem. I get pretty excited when we play Canadian teams, because Jeff Jimerson (Pittsburgh’s go-to anthem man) gets to rock the shit out of Oh Canada.

By: herp derp

herp derp — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 14:05:31 +0000

As a Bosnian, I would like to thank you for completely making my day.

By: -ink

-ink — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 06:39:42 +0000

This was hands-down one of the most entertaining things you’ve posted in months. I am strangely excited to see the next installation.

By: njs

njs — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 19:10:53 +0000

Regarding flags, surely I’m not the only one here to be familiar with that internet classic, “The world’s flags given letter grades”? I just assumed it was one of the inspirations for this post.

http://www.otago.ac.nz/philosophy/Staff/JoshParsons/flags/intro.html

By: Aardy R. DeVarque

Aardy R. DeVarque — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 03:28:43 +0000

I’d suggest similarly rating the U.S. state anthems, but half of them are simply “O Tannenbaum” with the state name swapped out for the bit about the Christmas Tree, and the other half are either repurposed college fight songs, or are so forgettable that even the state residents don’t know what they are.

By: bzdclark

bzdclark — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 02:00:34 +0000

just to note, the brazilian anthem at the link is wrong, officially. at any game, they will play that shortened version which doesn’t even cover the first verse entirely. officially, the first and second verses should be sung and there are many more written somewhere…

By: Klytus

Klytus — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 23:26:01 +0000

I cant wait till you get to the badass themes like turkey. lyrically it is so awesome

By: tavella

tavella — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 07:25:27 +0000

As rated by my personal “buying random but cool flags to stick on a pole as group locators on the National Mall”, Wales and Albania win. Dragon, and two headed eagle black on red.

And the SSB is pretty awesome, which is why I’m always annoyed by people wanting to change in the much blander America the Beautiful as our anthem. Yes, it’s hard to sing solo, but it sounds pretty good when a stadium is belting it out, and without words it says ANTHEM. Francis Scott Key knew to steal the best, man.

By: Eric S. Smith

Eric S. Smith — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 02:08:14 +0000

South Korea is easily in the top 5 for flags.

Also, nuts to anyone who tries to dismiss Canada’s as a “modified tricolour”: we’re top 10 material.

By: thornae

thornae — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 20:24:31 +0000

(Tried to post this last night – let’s see if it works tonight).

As an Australian, I think I should point out two things:

First, the original second, officially dropped, verse begins “When gallant Cook from Albion sailed…” and ends “… Britannia Rules The Waves!”

As a Canadian, you might see how this lost some popularity last century. The other one also mentions Britannia, and is a bit jingoistic for our tastes, ya know?

Secondly, the vote thing – Waltzing Matilda is about the suicide of a sheep rustler. Not entirely appropriate for a National Anthem, although some countries may disagree. Nonetheless, Australia for once voted sober, and put paid to the idea.

Trivia: There is a small organisation of intellectuals (i.e. doomed) with the stated aim of instituting the somewhat-prettier-less-nationalistic-but-still-referencing-Britain “Song of Australia” as the national Anthem: http://www.southaustralianhistory.com.au/song.htm

By: Ed (Jack Norris)

Ed (Jack Norris) — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 20:13:58 +0000

Andrew:
“Seriously; Austria’s anthem is beautiful, stirring, layered and complex, and you’re scoring it under an anthem that could be played on a vuvuzela.”

I don’t see how “complexity” is an advantage, or ease of play for any citizen a disadvantage, for a national anthem.
I’d say the need for formal training or a naturally gifted voice is actually a strike against an anthem. Anyone being able to play it, especially on as simple and primitive an instrument as a vuvuzela, is a plus.