Alternate National Anthems

YamSeng

Are there any songs that were proposed for nations independence, or in some way or form a viable option for a nations anthem, that were just unknown in general or other reasons?
 

VidaLaVida

Laqueesha said:
Columbia, The Gem of the Ocean ("Columbia", replaced by "America").
Click to expand...

Was going to say this.

I'm bummed with our national anthem, tbh. "The Star Spangled Banner" is nothing special. "Columbia, The Gem of the Ocean?" Now THAT's a national anthem.
 
ennobee

ennobee

VidaLaVida said:
I'm bummed with our national anthem, tbh. "The Star Spangled Banner" is nothing special. "Columbia, The Gem of the Ocean?" Now THAT's a national anthem.
Click to expand...

I'd replace that one with "This land is your land" right away.

(also, from what I read Woody Guthry wrote the first draft of 'This land is your land' in 1938 because he was tired of everybody singing that new Irvin Berlin tune 'God bless America'. In the first draft the refrain actually was 'From the redwood forest - to the gulf stream waters - God blessed America for me' )
 
ennobee

ennobee

Ramontxo said:
Va pensiero from Nabucco, for Italy?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaXE0v0bJoE
Click to expand...

Va Pensiero, or the slaves' choir was actually one of tunes sung during the marches and uprisings of the Italian civil wars. It also helped that 'Verdi' could also be understood as an acronym for 'Victor Emanuel Rey Di Italia": Victor Emanuel (for) king of Italy. So the question "Do you love Verdi?" could just be smalltalk but if you were asked "Do you love - ]eyewink]- VERDI?" it would mean "So you're part of the movement too then?"
 
ennobee

ennobee

Of course you also have all the parodies and alternate verses and/or silly songs that just happen to fit the tunes of the national anthems of their respective countries.... I can sing a good dozen of them and some I even know better then the original.
 
HongCanucker

HongCanucker

ennobee said:
I'd replace that one with "This land is your land" right away.

(also, from what I read Woody Guthry wrote the first draft of 'This land is your land' in 1938 because he was tired of everybody singing that new Irvin Berlin tune 'God bless America'. In the first draft the refrain actually was 'From the redwood forest - to the gulf stream waters - God blessed America for me' )
Click to expand...

But Woody also wrote "This Land is Your Land" as a socialist protest song, a fact which largely got forgotten and still is. A couple of verses scorning the situation at the time were written but largely forgotten until Pete Seeger, Tao Rodriguez-Seeger and Bruce Springsteen sang the whole thing at the We Are One concert prior to Obama's inauguration. If this fact got out when a new national anthem is being selected, unless American politics goes through a huge leftward shift, I doubt it would be selected.

FYI here's the lines that were included (word-for-word as Woody wrote it, rather than how Pete altered them slightly):

Was a high wall there that tried to stop me
A sign was painted said: Private Property,
But on the back side it didn't say nothing —
This land was made for you and me.

Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can ever make me turn back
This land was made for you and me.

In the squares of the city, In the shadow of a steeple;
By the relief office, I'd seen my people.
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking,
Is this land made for you and me?
Click to expand...
 
Laqueesha

Laqueesha

I went ahead and tacked on an extra verse/stanza onto the South African national anthem, since I felt the latter half was a bit lacking (the bolded part are the new lines). Click the lyrics to get the music.

Nkosi sikelel' iAfrika
Maluphakanyisw' uphondo lwayo,

Yizwa imithandazo yethu,
Nkosi sikelela, thina lusapho lwayo.

Morena boloka setjhaba sa heso,
O fedise dintwa le matshwenyeho,
O se boloke, O se boloke setjhaba sa heso,
Setjhaba sa, South Afrika.

South Africa...

Uit die blou van onse hemel,
Uit die diepte van ons see,
Oor ons ewige gebergtes,
Waar die kranse antwoord gee,

Sounds the call to come together,
and united we shall stand.
Let us live and strive for freedom,
in South Africa, our land.

In one body and one spirit,
let us live and strive for thee!
Let us live and strive for freedom,
in South Africa our land!
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:

Politibrit

In the UK, 'Jerusalem' and 'Land of Hope and Glory' are patriotic songs that have either been proposed as an alternative UK anthem or a separate English anthem. 'Jerusalem' was actually used for the English anthem at the Commonwealth games.
 

False Dmitri

"Hail, Columbia" was an unofficial anthem for the US. I retooled the lyrics to make it the anthem of Pennsylvania in my scenario, The ASB. Some of the martial language gets changed to fit the less warlike political culture of Pennsylvania - the Quakers were still an important faction when it was adopted.

Pennsylvania, happy land!
Fast by thee thy sons shall stand,
Stout voices raised in freedom's song,
Stout voices raised in freedom's song!
Armed with our rights and liberty,
Our hopes are fixed on heav'n and thee.

Independence be our boast,
Ever mindful of the cost,
Grateful to those gone afore,
Sound its praise from shore to shore.

Forever faithful let us be,
Rallying round our liberty,
As a band of brothers joined,
Peace and safety we shall find.

 

Md139115

Banned
Honestly, I’ve always been surprised that the Irish never adopted “The Minstrel Boy” as their anthem, but as I am not Irish, I’ll defer to the opinions of others on that.

In regards to my homeland, I’ll say that if I had to pick its anthem, I would have gone with “America the Beautiful,” but I am actually quite satisfied with “The Star-Spangled Banner.” In my opinion, the reason why few people like it is because it is usually sung by a single individual (usually a pop singer - may God save us from that scourge) when it is clearly best done as a general choir.

If you don’t believe me, I would like to submit this as evidence. It is to my mind superior to any solo rendition I’ve ever heard, including Whitney Houston’s (may she rest in peace).

 
Laqueesha

Laqueesha

Md139115 said:
Honestly, I’ve always been surprised that the Irish never adopted “The Minstrel Boy” as their anthem, but as I am not Irish, I’ll defer to the opinions of others on that. In regards to my homeland, I’ll say that if I had to pick its anthem, I would have gone with “America the Beautiful,” but I am actually quite satisfied with “The Star-Spangled Banner.” In my opinion, the reason why few people like it is because it is usually sung by a single individual (usually a pop singer - may God save us from that scourge) when it is clearly best done as a general choir. If you don’t believe me, I would like to submit this as evidence. It is to my mind superior to any solo rendition I’ve ever heard, including Whitney Houston’s (may she rest in peace).
Click to expand...

Also, it sounds better when played by brass instrumentation rather than string. I'd go so far as to say that most national anthems sound better with brass instruments rather than string since with brass you can hear each individual note better whereas with string it all mushes together. Kind of like the harpsichord vs. the piano.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top
Top