Why do we have a rubbish National Anthem?

[kurtz]

How come all these other countries have great national anthems such as;

USA The Star spangled Banner, rockets bursting in air...all that very stirring

France Le Marselies (apologies for spelling) blood of invaders spilling on to the ground...way to go

Germany German Women, German Wine, German Song...prefer red myself so I'll pass on the Reisling...

and what do we have? Some dreary little ditty asking some deity of middle eastern provenance to look after some unelected foriegner who's been placed in charge of us.

Now I've got some suggestions;

Jerusalem, I know this kind of negates what I said about the present National Anthem, but it's a great singalong kind of song. In fact I think the British citizenship test should be to be able to sing both verses of this, then eat a pork pie and drink two pints of bitter (possibly mild) in a half hour ladies can have lager (in half pint glasses!) anyway I digress, onwards

I vow to thee my country, I'd drop the last verse though, smacks of godbothering

Rule Brittania, trouble is I think people from other countries might point at us and laugh given the current state of the navy.

Land of Hope and Glory, ditto Music far better though (IMHO).

an honourable mention goes to Billy Bragg's Between the Wars, I'll put it on the poll just in case.

Okay any other suggestions post them with comments, I'll put a don't know and I'll redo the poll if there are any other sugestions.

Mike.

[The Avon Lady]

Originally Posted by kurtz

and what do we have? Some dreary little ditty asking some deity of middle eastern provenance to look after some unelected foriegner who's been placed in charge of us.

Where in "God Save the Queen" is this mentioned?

[kurtz]

Originally Posted by The Avon Lady

Where in "God Save the Queen" is this mentioned?

Where it says "God Save the Queen"

[The Avon Lady]

Originally Posted by kurtz

Where it says "God Save the Queen"

Aha!

[Smaragdadler]

Originally Posted by kurtz

Where it says "God Save the Queen"

The term god has nothing to do with the Jewish יהוה.

Etymology of the name God:
http://wahiduddin.net/words/name_god.htm

Names of God in Judaism:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_God_in_Judaism

In old German dialects, 'got' was the general term for a numinous being - the kind of primal power that affected everything, without having a definite shape of its own. 'Got' was not to be mixed up with Wotan or Odin, which were already concrete formulations. 'Got' thus corresponded to the Indian 'Atman', while the gods were seen as mortal beings.
----
The earliest written form of the Germanic word "god" comes from the 6th century Christian Codex Argenteus. The English word itself descends from the Proto-Germanic *ǥuđan. Most linguists agree that the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European form *ǵhu-tó-m was based on the root *ǵhau(ə)-, which meant either "to libate" or "to call, to invoke".

The capitalized form "God" was first used in Ulfilas' Gothic translation of the New Testament, to represent the Greek Theos, and the Latin Deus (etymology "*Dyeus"). Because the development of English orthography was dominated by Christian texts written in Latin, the capitalization (hence personalization and personal name) continues to represent a distinction between monotheistic "God" and the "gods" of polytheism.
The name "God" now typically refers to the Abrahamic God of Judaism (El), Christianity, and Islam (Allah). Though there are significant cultural divergences that are implied by these different names, "God" remains the common English translation for all. The name may signify any related or similar monotheistic deities, such as the early monotheism of Akhenaten and Zoroastrianism.

God at wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God

Here's a good national anthem for the world i think!

[The Avon Lady]

I'm speechless.

[Chock]

I think we should replace the United Kingdom's national anthem with Joe Dolce's Shaddappayourface, or possibly the Birdy Song.

Yes they're crap, but so is our national anthem, so why not? :rotfl:

Alternatively: Nothing wrong with preposterous innaccurate lyrics in an anthem, so nothing wrong with using Rule Britannia, even though we don't actually rule any waves further than about 300 yards off our beaches. After all, look at the French national anthem, bloody brilliant, very stirring stuff, but goes on about forming battallions and manning barricades etc, which is not exactly what they did in most wars, however you don't see any lyrics in their anthem mentioning dropping your rifle at the first sign of a German tank and then waiting for everyone else in Europe, Russia and America to come and rescue you while you're busy running a cafe and serving Germans cheese and wine.

So yeah, Joe Dolce, or possibly Rule Britannia.

Chock

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by kurtz

Germany German Women, German Wine, German Song...prefer red myself so I'll pass on the Reisling...

Just for the record, that 1st and 2nd verse of that song is cleaned from the German anthem. Only the 3rd verse is accepted, and it goes like this:


Unity and Rights and Freedom
For the German Fatherland
Let us all strive for that
Brotherly with heart and hand
Unity and Rights and Freedom
Are the foundation for happiness
Bloom in the glow of happiness
Bloom German Fatherland

[CCIP]

I don't know, my favorite anthem is still the Soviet/Russian one, and while the lyrics to it were and are utter bull***t, I just love the music. Who cares about words :p

[Camaero]

You guys should totally use the main theme to star wars!

[dean_acheson]

Originally Posted by Camaero

You guys should totally use the main theme to star wars!

Oh my. That was funny!

[d@rk51d3]

Originally Posted by dean_acheson

Oh my. That was funny!

That brought a smile to my face too, but I prefer the Emperors theme tune......

Naa naa naa, na na naaaaaa na na naaaaaaaaaaa.

[Sea Demon]

Originally Posted by CCIP

I don't know, my favorite anthem is still the Soviet/Russian one, and while the lyrics to it were and are utter bull***t, I just love the music. Who cares about words :p

I gotta admit, that anthem makes one want to march.

Originally Posted by Camaero

You guys should totally use the main theme to star wars!

Good one!

[Onkel Neal]

Originally Posted by CCIP

I don't know, my favorite anthem is still the Soviet/Russian one, and while the lyrics to it were and are utter bull***t, I just love the music. Who cares about words :p

Yes, a very stirring anthem I think the removed the Stalinist lyrics a few years ago.

French national anthem is damn good, too.