WHAT do you make of national anthems? I suppose they’re there to rouse the soul or embody the national character. To that end, tastes can change. “Land of Hope and Glory” used to be the English anthem at the Commonwealth Games, now it’s “Jerusalem”.
If you’re sad like me, and spend a lot of time on the internet, you might be tempted to try looking at lyrics. And believe me, you’ll be surprised by what you find. For example, take our chums from Australia.
In 1984, to stress their independence, they got rid of “God Save the Queen” and adopted “Advance Australia Fair”. Yet what do you think is included in one of the verses they’ve seen fit to ditch? “Britannia then shall surely know, beyond wide ocean’s roll, her sons in fair Australia’s land, still keep a British soul.” That kind of adds a different gloss, doesn’t it?
Let’s move on to France. Their anthem is “La Marseillaise” which was originally called the War Song of the Army of the Rhine. It’s a martial melody and I have to admit that it’s a stirring tune. If you don’t believe me, watch the scene in “Casablanca” when it’s sung to drown out some Nazi soldiers.
But it kind of loses it’s effect when translated into English and reads: “Do you hear in the countryside, those ferocious soldiers roaring? They come up to our arms to slit the throats of our sons and wives. To arms citizens, form your battalions. Let’s march, let’s march, so that the impure blood should water the furrows of our fields.” What?
The Dutch anthem, believe it or not, talks about loyalty to the king of Spain – it dates back to the days when the Spanish ruled the area – while the Spanish themselves have no official words to their national anthem, “The Royal March”, because the various bits of the country can’t agree on a set that suits them all.
Remember the Soviet Union? Their tune started with “unbreakable union of freeborn republics”. Trouble is, the unbreakable union fell apart around 20 years ago. The Latin Americans have gone for lengthy stop-start anthems – just check next time England play Argentina or Uruguay,
And our own beloved national anthem? Well I think they should bring back the original version, including verse four which was ditched about 150 years ago: “God grant that Marshal Wade, may by thy might sway, victory bring. May he sedition hush, and like a torrent rush, rebellious Scots to crush, God Save the King.”
For some reason it never really caught on north of the border.