National Anthems

by Mary Jo  

No matter what one’s political inclinations, January 20th was an extraordinary day for the United States.  And not just in the US—people around the world turned on their TVs to watch the inaugural.  Our Aussie Wench got up at 3:00 am (!!!) to watch.

 

Many of you know what a great show it was, including the different kinds of music.  (I was ravished by John Williams’ ‘Aire and Simple Gifts.’  When clarinetist Anthony McGill came in with the melody of ‘Simple Gifts...”  Swoon!!! 

 

But the music that sparked a behind-the-scenes Wench discussion was Aretha Franklin singing “America,” also known as “My Country ‘Tis of Thee.’  I wondered a bit about why this particular patriotic song was chosen, but if that’s what they wanted, no problem.

 

 

However, two of our Wenches are not American citizens.  To Jo, English and Canadian, and Anne, Australian, it sounded very strange indeed to hear the British national anthem at the American presidential inauguration. Different words, of course, but that music is unmistakably “God Save the Queen/King.” 

 

 

How would a French citizen feel about hearing “La Marseillaise” played at the inauguration?  Or how would an American feel about hearing “The Star Spangled Banner” played at a British coronation?

 

 

Did some American intend “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” to be a poke in the eye of the old country?  Probably not.  A couple of hundred years ago, it was pretty common to latch onto a good tune and set new words to it.  Samuel Francis Smith, who wrote the lyrics to "America/My Country 'Tis of Thee" (aka "God Save the Sovereign of Your Choice") got the tune from a German source:

 

Through much of the 19th century, “America” was a de facto national anthem.  In earlier days, around the time of Washington, “Hail Columbia” was the most common patriotic choice.  Other songs were also widely song. 

 

The music of “America/God Save the Queen” is very easy to sing, especially when compared to the notoriously difficult “Star Spangled Banner,” which covers an octave and a half range, so that helped the song's popularity. 

 

 As some of you probably know, tune of “The Star Spangled Banner” was taken from a drinking song called “To Anacreon in Heaven.”  (Anacreon was a classical Greek poet who wrote poems in praise of love and wine, which makes perfect sense for drinking songs.)  In the 18th and early 19th centuries, people latched onto tunes as merrily as they do information on the internet today. 

 

And the internet is right where I went because I was intrigued by the whole subject of national anthems (and more broadly, patriotic songs in general.)   The idea of a national anthem really took hold in the 19th century, along with the development of nation state identities, though some of the anthems are older, of course. 

 

Probably the first national anthem was “God Save the King,” which dates from the mid-18th century.  Ideally, an anthem captures a sense of the nation and its essence or aspirations.  These days a lot of anthem recognition comes through sporting events.  Before television, anthems weren’t needed so much.  A lot of anthems weren’t formally adopted until the 20th century.  “The Star Spangled Banner” wasn’t adopted until 1931, for example. 

 

Anthems generally come in two types: marchs, or hymns of praise to the monarch or the country.  “God Save the King” is definitely hymn-like, as is “Jerusalem,” which is also something of a British anthem, as is “Land of Hope and Glory.”

 

That last is sometimes considered as an anthem for England, as opposed to GSTK, which is actually the anthem of the United Kingdom as a whole (and often used as a royal anthem through the Commonwealth countries.)  Wikipedia says Wales, Scotland, and Ireland have anthems of their own, but not England.  See how complicated this gets? 

 

Countries born in revolution often have more martial anthems, and of these, France’s “La Marseillaise” is hard to beat.  Stirring! 

 

Both the US and Britain have marches as well as hymns. “Rule, Britannia!” is a grand and stirring song, but not exactly conciliatory.  <G>  The refrain is “"Rule, Britannia! Britannia, rule the waves: Britons never will be slaves." The military pride and naval slant definitely reflect the Empire.  (These days, you can get “Rule, Britannia” as a ringtone for your cell phone. <G>) 

 

“The Star Spangled Banner” is also pretty martial, with all those bombs bursting in mid-air.  “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” is both a hymn and a march.  “He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:.”  Right.  It was a popular abolitionist song during our Civil War, but it’s not exactly conciliatory, though still popular as a patriotic song.  Actually, even hymn-like anthems tend to turn martial in later verses, with much smiting of foes and crushing of enemies beneath righteous feet. 

 

 

On the other hand, “America the Beautiful” is definitely a hymn, and that’s the patriotic song I heard most after the horror of 9/11.  It has always been a contender for national anthem, and it’s a love song, not a battle song.  It was written by Katharine Lee Bates, a Wellesley English professor, after she took the train cross country to Colorado Springs.  It’s said that the words came to her when she was up on Pike’s Peak, looking out over the ‘amber fields of grain’ of the Great Plains.  (The music is by Samuel A. Ward.)

 

 

Chosing anthems gets complicated.  Australia used GSTK/Q for a long time, but it’s not an Aussie song.  “Waltzing Matilda” is widely associated with the country, and personally I think that a song about the drowning of a sheep thief has a cheerful anti-authoritarianism which seems quintessentially Aussie to me.  <g>  (In a similar vein, our webmistress, Sherrie Holmes, says that the unofficial state song of Washington is “Louie, Louie.” <G>)

 

Being a modern nation, Australia decided its national anthem by popular vote in 1984.  There were four contenders, and the winner was “Advance, Australia Fair,” a nice enough song in the hymn mode.  Our Australian Wench, Anne Gracie, preferred the song derived from the poem “My Country,” by Dorothea Mackellar, which is well known to all Australians:

 

“I love a sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges, of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons, I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror- the wide brown land for me!
Though earth holds many splendours, wherever I may die,
I know to what brown country my homing thoughts will fly."

 

 

Definitely a love song to a country, and one that describes Australia vividly. 

 

Music has been called the language of the soul, and at its best, it speaks right to our emotions.  Patriotic songs, which touch on our deepest feelings about our homelands, can bring tears.

 

 

All that being said, why was “America” sung at the inauguration rather than a different patriotic song?”  I don’t know the official reason, but my guess is because it’s a paean to liberty and freedom, an affirmation of our deepest American ideals.  As such, it makes perfect sense for the inauguration.

 

So do you have any thoughts on national anthems in general, or the choice of “America” in particular?  What songs stir your blood?  Which ones make you want to stand up and cheer? 

 

And which ones bring tears to your eyes? 

 

Mary Jo
 

 

Comments

[Virginia DeMarce]

There's another set of lyrics set to the My Country/God Save tune which starts out

God save our native land,
Long may she ever stand,
Through storm and strife.

One cheerful soul remarked that it never specifies either the country or the god in question, it could pretty well be sung in chorus by the General Assembly of the United Nations without offending anyone except atheists and goddess-worshippers.

[MJselle]

After 9/11, I promised that I would sing "The Star Spangled Banner" every time I heard it and I do. And after living overseas for 3 years, it still gives me a thrill to hear that song.

[Jane O]

Back in the early 20th century, "Columbia the Gem of the Ocean" was in the running for the national anthem. Personally, I've always found "The Battle Cry of Freedom" a good rousing song.

But many "patriotic" songs are pretty gory, like the Marseillaise (Qu'un sang impur/Abreuve nos sillions) or the Battle Hymn of the Republic (As He died to make men holy let us die to make men free).

So one of my favorite national anthems is the Czech one. It has a lovely melody, which I cannot provide, but here are the words (with the English translation, since not many non-Czechs speak Czech):

Kde domov můj, kde domov můj?
Voda hučí po lučinách,
bory šumí po skalinách,
v sadě skví se jara květ,
zemský ráj to na pohled!
A to je ta krásná země,
země česká domov můj,
země česká domov můj!

English translation:
Where is my home, where is my home?
Water roars across the meadows,
Pinewoods rustle among crags,
The garden is glorious with spring blossom,
Paradise on earth it is to see.
And this is that beautiful land,
The Czech land, my home,
The Czech land, my home.

[liz m]

As a kid in the 70's it was all seas to shining seas. I assume the Obama's, like me, were raised on Songs In The Key Of Life and America.

My daughter asked me what food is a thousand years old - so I was looking at the Food Timeline before I came here - which made me think it would be interesting to have a National Song Timeline - around here it's all Toby Keith America songs all the time. Can't recall the last time I heard a traditional one - it's bombastic and soaring and nationalistic.

I'm not an anthem fan really, because it's not the music for itself, it's a definition of who you should be as a citizen, and I used to lean towards 911 Is A Joke for my anthem needs as a younger adult.... there are songs that can make me cry, but my reaction to anthems is always irritation. I'm cranky, I guess.

[margaret]

I confess that tears start in my eyes when I hear "Jerusalem"--to me, that "other" national anthem in England. Sometimes the words get to me, but mostly it's the tune.

It's William Blake's poem set to hymn-like music, and the religious imagery is heightened. But in a way, it's also a protest song--"dark, satanic mills" and "mental fight" are not exactly cosy, fuzzy terminology!

And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England's mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen?
And did the Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among those dark Satanic mills?

Bring me my bow of burning gold:
Bring me my arrows of desire:
Bring me my spear: O clouds, unfold!
Bring me my chariot of fire!
I will not cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant land.

[Patty V.]

I was in the U.S. Navy for a number of years. In the late 1980s, I had a job as a "Recruit Affairs Officer" which is a fancy title for a job at the boot camp in San Diego. The night before the recruits were to graduate and become full-fledged sailors, they held a program for family and friends. At the end of the program, all of the recruits stood on stage in their uniforms and sang the Lee Greenwood song, "Proud to Be an American." It never failed to bring tears to my eyes to watch the young men (it was a men-only boot camp) and listen to the pride in their voices when they sang the song; especially when they raised their arms in the air when they got to the words "...and I'll gladly stand up next to you, and defend her still today..." It was a very moving experience.

I often hear "Proud to be an American" played at ballgames. I don't suppose it counts as an anthem or a hymn, but it never fails to touch a soft spot inside me when I hear it.

[Lyn Sweetapple]

As for welling up, as a military wife, I cannot stand to hear "Taps". A horrific "there but for the grace of God go I" comes over me and I cry. As for the best unofficial state anthem, Florida has The Outlaws, "Green Grass and High Tides Forever" Marijuana was pretty much legal in the 1970s so the song fit. "Louie, Louie" makes alot of sense for Washington State since it really is a ballad about a sailor losing his girlfriend. Then again you have old official state songs, like Virginia which had a line about the "darkie" liking his master. I am not sure if people finally agreed on a replacement. I think Maryland is trying to change theirs too.
Whatever your nationality or ability to carry a tune have a most enjoyable Friday. Lyn

[Susan Wilbanks]

I've heard that the reason "America" was sung at the inauguration was partly in tribute to Marian Anderson's Lincoln Memorial concert in 1939:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_Anderson

The Daughters of the American Revolution had refused her permission to sing to an integrated audience in Constitution Hall. Thousands of DAR members, including Eleanor Roosevelt, resigned, and the Roosevelts were instrumental in arranging the Lincoln Memorial concert, which opened with "America."

I'm opposed to changing to a different anthem from "The Star-Spangled Banner" even though it's difficult to sing because it sounds good, and I can just imagine how contentious the "God Bless America" vs. "America the Beautiful" arguments would get. (I'd be firmly in the latter camp, FWIW.)

Incidentally, if you want to hear "The Star-Spangled Banner" get back to its drinking song roots, check out this YouTube video of a street party in Seattle on election night:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4c6XJsTV8fU

I wish I could've been there, but I was at home like a good parent of a preschooler. I did, however, rush out to buy a bottle of champagne when the networks called Ohio, which we popped at 8 PM when they called the West Coast and therefore the election!

As for other anthems, I love the sound of "La Marseillaise" even though I know the lyrics are bloodthirsty because it sounds so stirring and inspiring. I also like the Italian anthem, and thanks to various sporting events I can sing "Oh, Canada" almost as well as my own anthem. As for "God Save the Queen"/"America", it's a nice SONG, but it doesn't really sound like an ANTHEM to me. It's too slow/quiet.

[Mary Jo Putney]

From MJP:

What a wonderful collection of comments! Leave it to Word Wenches readers to have so much great insight and commentary.

Virginia, I've heard those words but they'd slipped my mind. I like the idea of a universal anthem suitable for places like the UN!

MJselle, I also found that when I lived abroad, the Star Spangled Banner had special meaning to me as a connection to my homeland.

Jane O, I wasn't familiar with the anthem of the Czech Republic, but you're right, the words are beautiful, and so is the melody. Here's the URL for a website on national anthems--a great resource that I meant to put in the blog post but forgot:

http://www.nationalanthems.info/faq.html#2.1

And here is the link to the Czech Republic page, which has both words and lyrics.

http://www.nationalanthems.info/cz.htm

Liz m--anthems are supposed to stir emotions, and cranky is an emotion. :)

Margaret, I agree that the music of "Jerusalem" is particularly emotional. So is that last line:
"In England's green and pleasant land."

Patty V., "Proud to be an American" may not be an anthem, but it definitely counts as a patriotic song.

Lyn, you're right--"Taps" goes straight to the heart since it's linked with the ultimate patriotic sacrifice.

Even though I live in Maryland, I don't know the state song, but if it's an old one, it makes sense that it might need some updating.

Susan, thanks for the information on why "America" was chosen for the inauguration! It makes perfect sense now. I never knew my maternal grandmother, but I'm proud that she resigned from the DAR because of their attitudes that were incompatible with American ideals.

Let freedom ring!

Mary Jo

[Helen]

As an Aussie I love Dorothea's poem when I was at school God Save The Queen was the national athemn now we have Advance Australia Fair and yes I really like it. It took me a while to learn the words but I know them now and sing with it everytime it is sung.

Have Fun
Helen

[LizA]

Austria has had really bad luck in the anthem stakes. We had a beautifully composed one, by Joseph Haydn, once upon a time when we still were a monarchy. Even thought that is more than 90 years ago, people can still sing "Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser". Well, after WW1 the new republic did not want a reminder of the old monarchy so we got a new anthem. In the meantime, our anthem (which had several songs sung by its melody, just like God save the Queen) ended up as the anthem of Germany! The original lyrics are very imperialistic - "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles" (Germany above all else) and I think they've edited it a bit by now... after WW2 we Austrian picked a new anthem that is supposedly by Mozart, but it is somewhat doubtful. A lot of people do not like it as the melody is not very catchy, and the text stirrs controversy as it states "Heimat bist du großer Söhne" (Homecountry of great sons), omitting the daughters completely.... the inofficial anthem, however, is much more fitting - it's Johann Strauss son's Blue Danube Walz....

[Janice]

They didn't play "I Love LA", so it doesn't much matter to me what music was chosen or why. I was just happy that it all passed pretty much without incident.

[JudiDW]

Well, I'll weigh in with a few comments. First of all, I'm a complete sentimentalist and cry at ANY national anthem of ANY country. But I do admit to a certain fondness for The Star-Spangled Banner since, when I was a cymbalist in the college marching band lo those many years ago, I had a number of solos ("Oh say can you see" CRASH! etc.).

As an American who lived in England for 5 years, there was a certain delicious irony to the America/GSTQ debate--when the tune was played, my daughters could choose the version they felt like singing at the time!

As for the Marseillaise, I agree with Susan that it SOUNDS so good, however bloodthirsty the lyrics. A truly inspirational moment comes from the movie Casablanca, when the Nazi soldiers at the nightclub are singing THEIR anthem and then the French all get up and drown them out with the Marseillaise and I'm crying now just thinking about it ...

[Mary Jo Putney]

From MJP:

Liza A, what a saga is the tale of Austria's anthem! It illustrates how very political these things are. So the music was what is best known as "Deutschland über alles."
Hmmm. There are a lot of bad associations with those words, but the tune is a rousing one. "Homecountry of great sons" definitely need updating!

JudiDW, I'm with you--a sentimentalist who will get weepy at any anthem because so much emotion is invested in them As for the cymbals--cymbalists have more fun! I played them a bit in junior high band.

Mary Jo

[Val Jones]

I actually like the Welsh national anthem "Land of my fathers" (Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau). My hat's off to anyone who can sing the "LL".

[Mary Jo Putney]

From MJP:

Val, I'm told that the Welsh "LL" sound is rather like a hissing goose. Imagination boggles at what a singing, hissing goose would sound like!

Mary Jo

[Anne Gracie]

Interesting post, MJP, and I enjoyed the equally fascinating discussion following. I particularly liked the Czech anthem, probably for the same reason I love My Country by Dorothea MacKellar -- because it's about the land.

As for the Welsh LL sound, I wouldn't have said it was like a hissing goose. It's really a bit like cl, where the c is pronounced like the ch in the Scottish loch. Clear as mud? LOL

[Robin]

I'm not too crazy about "The Star-Spangled Banner"--too difficult to sing unless you have the vocal range of an opera singer, and the fact that the melody comes from a drinking song doesn't exactly give it a wonderful pedigree! If I could, I would change the national anthem to "America the Beautiful"--a much more uplifting song!
As for anthems of other countries, I like "O Canada" and "God Save the King/Queen". I also like the Israeli national anthem, "Hatikvah", which means "The Hope". The melody, I learned in a music appreciation class, comes from a famous pops classical piece, "The Moldau" by Bedrich Smetana. "The Moldau" in turn, is part of a tone poem cycle called "Ma Vlast" or "My Country". It's nice when different countries share their national music!

[Mary Jo Putney]

From MJP:

I discovered the song "Hatikva" as a kid, in a wonderful book of world folk songs. (I still have that battered old song book--it had a lot of very good information.)

It's a wonderful, haunting, minor key melody, and as you say, the title means "Hope." I don't believe that I knew it was the Israeli anthem, but it's a perfect choice.

As you say, Robin, it's great when nations share their music!

Mary Jo

[Jana]

I noticed that another poster mentioned welling up at all national anthems, I can relate... I too get warm fuzzies when I hear national music. The olympics get rather weepy. But I would be a poor Canadian if I didn't love "O Canada" best. As a teacher we sing it every morning, you don't know how beautiful our anthem sounds until you hear it sung by 300-400 very young voices! I am certain that any anthem sung by children is wonderful... Talk about heartwarming and tear jerking!

[Motty Philipose]

Can anyone tell me which country's national anthem is sung during the weddings?