Poll: Do you know the words to your national anthem?

Creator002

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Aug 30, 2010
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Yes. I know both the first and second verses of the Australian anthem (and I believe there's a third that never gets mentioned now). Most people only know (and, in some cases, only know of) the first and usually only parts of it. I used to know the German anthem too (the 3rd verse of the entire thing is the one sung, I believe), but haven't recited it in a while, so I only know bits now.
 

GoodOmens

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Apr 23, 2011
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Like most Americans, I know the first verse and that's it. It's also a fairly awful song, and I find the entire concept of national anthems rather silly, but I'd really prefer "America The Beautiful." Very specifically performed by Ray Charles.
 

JohnnyDelRay

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Jul 29, 2010
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Um, I know all the words to Indonesia Raya (half-Indonesian), I couldn't sing it on demand but if I heard the tune kick off I'd be able to complete it front to back. Strange that, only works on impulse.

My other half being Swiss, unfortunately I don't know it, don't even speak the language of the district I was born in. Sad that, really.

I don't think it's quite all that important to know it, but at least respect it, especially in the many cases where lots of blood was spilt for it.
 

Shanahanapp

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Apr 8, 2013
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Nah, as with a lot of people I know I'm quite good at "Sine fianna fail!" it's just the rest of the song after that I have trouble with.

Come to think of it I know the first and last lines, which are really the important ones when you think about it.
 

GundamSentinel

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Aug 23, 2009
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Libra said:
Lord no. Our national anthem makes no sense anyway, considering it talks more about the Germans and the Spanish than it does about the Dutch
It's just very old and out of fashion (the oldest in the world, I think?). It has some great verses, but the commonly used 1st and 6th aren't.

I prefer the 10th verse:

Niet doet mij meer erbarmen
in mijnen wederspoed
dan dat men ziet verarmen
des Konings landen goed.
Dat u de Spanjaards krenken,
o edel Neerland zoet,
als ik daaraan gedenke,
mijn edel hart dat bloedt.


I wouldn't mind a new national anthem, with a bit less God and 80-Year War related stuff.
 

Wolf In A Bear Suit

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Jun 2, 2012
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Yeah I know our proper anthem Amhrán na Bhfiann in Irish and English (doesn't flow in English) and Ireland's call which is our sporting anthem for events in which the Republic and North play together. I proudly belt our Amhrán na bhFiann, and would do the same for Ireland's Call if it wasn't so bad.
I also know Flower of Scotland. I don't know why, I just do.
 

Drakmorg

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Aug 15, 2008
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Hell no. And I refuse to ever learn it or perform it properly. Gotta show as much disrespect for this garbage-pile of a country as I can before I can reasonably leave.
 

Sleepy Sol

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Feb 15, 2011
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Eh, most of it off the top of my head. Probably because of marching band in high school. Certainly not a "patriotic" (in the typical sense most people use it in) person.
 

Darth Rosenberg

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Oct 25, 2011
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I know the words to Radiohead's National Anthem. That counts, right? Right?! *proceeds to verbally imitate sax/brass break*

If not: then no, not really. I'm generally pro-monarchy, but I also generally see nationalism/pride-in-one's-country as being just a little bit weird on a good day, and downright stupid/senseless on a bad, so if I somehow learnt every verse and sang it, it wouldn't be out of pride for anything in particular.
 

visiblenoise

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Jul 2, 2014
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I know the most important bit:

"O'er the land, of the freeeeeeeeeeeee!"

Everyone seems to find it the most important bit, anyhow. They always seem to go bananas when the singer gets to that line.
 

Muspelheim

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Apr 7, 2011
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Anja Bech said:
Yes of course I do, I've heard is so unbelievably many times. "Der er et yndigt land" (there is a beautiful country/land). It makes me all patriotic. No, not really, but it's a nice song and I happen to know all of it, not just the bits you sing at foot ball matches. :p
Ah, that one! I wish I knew it, I am a shameful display of a Nordic... Damn neat tune, nonetheless. Ought to pick it up some day.
 

babinro

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Sep 24, 2010
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Not anymore.

My answer would have been yes for most of my life as we sung it at school every day and therefore the lyrics stuck with me. But I'm in my mid-30's now I don't hear my national anthem with any regularity as I'm not a sports fan. So naturally the lyrics have faded from memory with time.

That said, I remember the bulk of it and the tune...I just wouldn't be able to sing it without lyrical assistance.
 

rgrekejin

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Mar 6, 2011
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Recusant said:
Yep. All four verses, like Isaac Asimov. Which puts me distinctly ahead of most of the rest of the country, which doesn't know it has more than one. Insofar as this sort of thing readily leads to jingoism, I'm not particularly enthused about it- but then, I'm a thinking being who understands that the greatness of my country doesn't diminish the greatness of others (which, sad to say, also seems to put me distinctly ahead of much of the rest of my country), so why not?
Yeah, Asimov is also the reason I know 'All Four Verses' of "The Star Spangled Banner". Before that, I had always wondered why our national anthem ends with a question. Turns out, the answer is at the beginning of the second verse.

http://www.purewatergazette.net/asimov.htm

Seriously, Asimov was nutty about the thing. In addition to the aforementioned essay, he also wrote a short story, 'No Refuge Could Save', in which a German spy embedded in US intelligence is detected by playing a word association game. When the questioner says "Terror of Flight" the spy responds "Gloom of the Grave". The questioner immediately has him arrested, knowing he must be a plant educated in 'Americanisms' by foreign powers - because no *real* American would know the words to all four verses of the Star Spangled Banner!

Seriously, though, it's easy to see why at least the third verse isn't sung much. It's basically a whole bunch of trash talk about how much the British suck.

Also, as a former hockey player/current hockey fan, I also know the words to the Canadian national anthem.
 

ImperialSunlight

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Nov 18, 2009
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O Canada isn't that hard to remember, especially when we had to stand for it every day at school (and I'm fairly young, so that's not long ago). I know both the english and french versions roughly, and could sing along with others, though I probably get a few things wrong in both sometimes.
 

rasta111

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Nov 11, 2009
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captcha: star spangled... No thanks captcha I don't think anyone knows the words to that except you...
 

DanielBrown

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Dec 3, 2010
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Du gamla, du fria, du fjällhöga nord? Something, something. Ja, jag vill leva, jag vill dö i norden...
Nope. I can't even remember the joke version with the cow mentioned earlier.
 

DocJ

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Jun 3, 2014
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I live in Britain, have almost my entire life. But I am Canadian by birth. I lived there for a month or so as a child before I came here. But I still know and love the Canadian anthem. I couldn't tell you the first few verses of our British one. But I can sing the entire Canadian one off by heart. I dunno why, it is a really nice anthem though.