Anthems: The good, the bad and the stupid

Gene Weingarten of the National Post wrote and published on March 23, 2011 the following article.

“I've lately been listening to dozens of foreign national anthems to try to understand why the American one is so bad. I now know ours (Canada’s) could be a lot worse.

I began this hideous chore after watching the Super Bowl, where Christina Aguilera performed an electrifying, throaty, sultry, unforgettable butchery of the lyrics of "The Star Spangled Banner." After eliminating the ramparts entirely, she sang -and I quote verbatim -"what so proudly we watched at the twilight's last reaming."

Because the anthem is famously difficult to sing, many people gave Christina a pass. I do not. If you pay someone, say, $250,000 to build a house, it is reasonable to expect that the toilets will not empty into the dining room. If you pay someone, say, $250,000 to sing 81 words, it is likewise reasonable to expect her to assemble them in reasonably good order.

Still, even when sung correctly, the Star Spangled Banner is a mess: Fifteen dangling clauses that seem more or less mix-and-match interchangeable (Oh, say! can you see / through the perilous fight / o'er the land of the free / by the dawn's early light ... ), all of it amounting to a single, convoluted question that is then ... not answered. The printed lyrics actually end in a question mark.

Does the flag still wave? As yet undetermined! The answer doesn't arrive until the second stanza, which no one knows because it is mostly sung in creepy, hyper-patriotic gatherings of, say, ladies who are direct descendants of Cotton Mather, or during secret Masonic initiation rites involving men wearing aprons.
(FYI: Yes, it still waves.)

The tune and the lyrics are so out of sync that the singer is forced to comically elasticize words: "Oh, say! does tha-hat star-spangled ba-ner-er ye-het way-hayve ...

As most American schoolchildren know, this song was written by Francis Scott Key, whose name perseveres mostly on the uniforms of the Frederick Keys, a minor league baseball team in Maryland whose fans, during the seventh-inning stretch, in a timeless ritual of respect for their country's history, in unison jingle their car keys.

Anyway, as I said, I have been listening to other nations' anthems to the point where I like ours more, by comparison.

One thing you notice is that the smaller and crappier a country is, the more soaring and grandiloquent is the music of its anthem, even where the lyrics don't say a lot because the country doesn't have much to brag about inasmuch as it has a turnip-based economy. These anthems all tend to sound like this:

Hail Zpjockland!
Noble and good!
(crash of cymbals)
On rocks and dirt we stand!
(Cannons, trumpets, fluegelhorns) And we eat food!

Countries without particularly majestic or recognizable natural resources must go with what they have, which creates actual verses such as this, from the Cameroon anthem:

"From Shari, from where the Mungo meanders / From along the banks of lowly Boumba Stream, / Muster thy sons in union close around thee, / Mighty as the Buea Mountain be their team."

Some more ancient anthems suffer a bit from their quaintness. Based on an old legend that does not appear to be well buttressed by science or anecdotal evidence, the Japanese anthem is based almost entirely on the contention that, given enough time, pebbles grow into boulders.

Perhaps the most famous and stirring anthem is France's "Marseillaise," which Americans generally hear in French, which is fortunate because French sounds so elegant, poetic and high-minded. The song, in fact, warns its citizens that savage enemies are arriving "to cut the throats of your sons and consorts," regrettably requiring that these rude and violent foreigners be massacred in such a way that French farmland is irrigated by their blood -which, being non-French, is "impure."

So, for the moment, I'll stick with our stupid ramparts. And by "for the moment," I mean "until next week," when, in this here space, as a service for generations to come, I'll rewrite the whole thing.” unquote

My thoughts about four national anthems:

Let me draw your attention to the American National anthem. It mentioned by Mr. Weingarten, it was composed by Francis Scott Key, and titled by him as "In Defense of Fort McHenry" in September 1814. Congress proclaimed it as the U.S. National Anthem in 1931. Here is the wording of the anthem.

Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thru the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:
Tis the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

It is really a rather nice poem put to music, but I question as to whether or not that as an anthem, it should really be boasting about a particular battle when the Americans were victorious in greater battles to come.

As Mr. Weingarten also pointed out, it is grammatically a mess. If a child in school wrote that poem in a English grammer class, that child would get an F. Writing poetry doesn’t give poets a pass to butcher the style of English writing of poetry.

He implied that the Canadian National Anthem isn’t any better. I disagree with that observation. Here it is in English.

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.

On Canada Day, July 1, 1980, 'O Canada!' was proclaimed the National Anthem of Canada, 100 years after it's debut performance in 1880 for St. Jean-Baptiste Day celebrations. Composed by Calixa Lavallée, French lyrics were written by Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier. Many English versions followed, but the current 'official' lyrics are based on a version written in 1908 by Mr. Justice Robert Stanley Weir. The official English version, shown above, includes the changes recommended by a Special Joint Committee on the Senate and House of Commons in 1968.

What I like about the Canadian National Anthem (aside from its rousing music) is that it is brief and and speaks of patriotism. What I don’t like about it is the reference to the true north. It doesn’t make sense other than the fact that Canada is north of the United States. People around the world already know that Canada is north of the United States. They don’t need an anthem to tell the Americans that.

I think that many Americans would rather have the song, America as their national anthem. The words are as follows:

My country, 'tis of Thee,
Sweet Land of Liberty
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims' pride,
From every mountain side
Let Freedom ring.
My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free,
Thy name I love;

I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills,
My heart with rapture thrills
Like that above.
Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees
Sweet Freedom's song;
Let mortal tongues awake;
Let all that breathe partake;
Let rocks their silence break,

The sound prolong.
Our fathers' God to Thee,
Author of Liberty,
To thee we sing,
Long may our land be bright
With Freedom's holy light,
Protect us by thy might
Great God, our King.
Our glorious Land to-day,

'Neath Education's sway,
Soars upward still.
Its hills of learning fair,
Whose bounties all may share,
Behold them everywhere
On vale and hill!
Thy safeguard, Liberty,
The school shall ever be,
Our Nation's pride!
No tyrant hand shall smite,

While with encircling might
All here are taught the Right
With Truth allied.
Beneath Heaven's gracious will
The stars of progress still
Our course do sway;
In unity sublime
To broader heights we climb,
Triumphant over Time,
God speeds our way!

Grand birthright of our sires,
Our altars and our fires
Keep we still pure!
Our starry flag unfurled,
The hope of all the world,
In peace and light impearled,
God hold secure!

With all respect to the Americans, I really believe that the words of that song are much better than words of the current American National Anthem. Further, the first verse is much easier to remember in America than in the national anthem. By the way, the music is also the same as the national anthem of Great Britain in which the first three lines of that song are;

God save our gracious queen,
God save our noble Queen,
God save our Queen.

One of the truly beautiful songs ever written and one that many Americans would love to have as their national anthem is titled, America, the Beautiful. It was written more than a hundred years ago by Katherine Lee Bates, an English professor at Wellesley College. The words are as follows;

1. O 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!

2. O beautiful for pilgrim feet
Whose stern impassion'd stress
A thoroughfare for freedom beat
Across the wilderness.
America! America!
God mend thine ev'ry flaw,
Confirm thy soul in self-control,
Thy liberty in law.

3. O beautiful for heroes prov'd
In liberating strife,
Who more than self their country loved,
And mercy more than life.
America! America!
May God thy gold refine
Till all success be nobleness,
And ev'ry gain divine.

4. O beautiful for patriot dream
That sees beyond the years
Thine alabaster cities gleam
Undimmed by human tears.
America! America!
God shed His grace on thee,
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea.

When I head that sung by a large choir accompanied by a large orchestra, I was moved to tears. And I am not even an American. Popularity of the song increased greatly following the September 11, 2001 attacks; at some sporting events it was sung in addition to the traditional singing of the national anthem.

‘Advance Australia Fair’ is the national anthem of Australia. A revised version of a late nineteenth century patriotic song, it was officially declared the national anthem on 19 April 1984. Peter Dodds McCormick, a Scot, composed ‘Advance Australia Fair’ under the pen-name ‘Amicus’ (amicus is the Latin word for ‘friend’). It was first performed in Sydney on Saint Andrew’s Day, 1878. An amended version was also sung by a choir of 10,000 at the inauguration of the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January, 1901. In 1907, the Australian Government awarded McCormick £100 for his composition.

But alas, it doesn’t have the kind of music that inspires Australians like Waltzing Matilda. It is Australia's most widely known bush ballad, a country folk song, and has been referred to as "the unofficial national anthem of Australia" The music to this song is incredibly beautiful and enough to raise the spirits of anyone listening to it or singing it. Unfortunately the words to it would not be suitable as a national anthem. The words are as follows;

Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong
Under the shade of a coolibah tree,
And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me"

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me"
And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled,
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".

Down came a jumbuck to drink at that billabong,
Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee,
And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker bag,
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me"
And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker bag,
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".

Up rode the squatter, mounted on his thoroughbred,
Down came the troopers, one, two, three,
"Where's that jolly jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?"
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me"
"Where's that jolly jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?",
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".

Up jumped the swagman and sprang into the billabong,
"You'll never catch me alive", said he,
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong,
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me".

Waltzing Matilda, Waltzing Matilda
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me"
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong,
"You'll come a-Waltzing Matilda, with me."

The song narrates the story of an itinerant worker making a crude cup of tea at a bush camp and capturing a sheep to eat. When the sheep's ostensible owner arrives with three policemen to arrest the worker, he drowns himself in a small lake and goes on to haunt the site. To waltz Matilda is to travel with a swag, that is, with all one's belongings on one's back wrapped in a blanket or cloth.

Obviously one could hardly use the words as Australia’s national anthem but the music is so beautiful and powerful. I am sure that if the Australians put patriotic words to that song, they might very well choose it as their national anthem.

As an interesting aside, I remember that it was only in the mid 1960s that movie theatres stopped playing O’Canada just before the movies began and God Save Our Queen right after the movies began. Everyone was expected to stand up during the playing of those two songs. However, I don’t remember anyone singing them while they were being played in the movie theatres.

Well, there you have it; my thoughts on the national anthems of four nations.