how many of you guys know your national anthem WORD from WORD where you can say and write it?

[refujiunderground]

i don't know SHIT about the national anthem. i think i know the first part. feel free to type your country's national anthem if you know WHAT it is.

"oh say can you see by the dawnzerley light. what so proudly we hail. as the twlights that's streaming. through bright stripes and bright stars. through the perilless fight. something something something something. and the rockets will blaze. that are bursting in air. gave proof through the night. that our flag was still there. oh save us that star spangler banner yet wave. for the land of the free and the home of the brave."

okay, i tried.

[palbert]

I know it but I lip-sync it.

[refujiunderground]

I know it but I lip-sync it.

why? you don't want to bless everybody around you with your voice?

[palbert]

They're already spell-bound by my beauty.

[RaKroma]

I know it but I lip-sync it.

Are you black too?

[palbert]

are you black too?

in maine?

[G-Lexington]

Only the first verse.

Lex

[refujiunderground]

They're already spell-bound by my beauty.

but palbert, you know how it goes. you can't lipsync the national anthem all the time? what happens if the singer forgets the words or if the disc starts skipping like milli vanilli?

[RaKroma]

in maine?

Anything is possible if MLK was a Republican and Beyonce sports Nordic hair!

[ixthrock]

Oh say can you see
by the dawn's early light
what so proudly we hailed
at the twilight's last gleaming.

whose broad stripes and bright stars
through the perilous fight
o'er the ramparts we watched
were so gallantly streaming

and the rockets red glare,
the bombs bursting in air
gave proof through the night
that our flag was still there.

oh say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave? O'er the land of the free
and the home of the brave.


At least that's what I sing, somewhere, at the top of my lungs, at least once a year.
and I don't even particularly jibe with nationalistic fervor.

Now, who knows the words to "To Anachreon?"

[refujiunderground]

Oh say can you see
by the dawn's early light
what so proudly we hailed
at the twilight's last gleaming.

whose broad stripes and bright stars
through the perilous fight
o'er the ramparts we watched
were so gallantly streaming

and the rockets red glare,
the bombs bursting in air
gave proof through the night
that our flag was still there.

oh say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave? O'er the land of the free
and the home of the brave.


At least that's what I sing, somewhere, at the top of my lungs, at least once a year.
and I don't even particularly jibe with nationalistic fervor.

Now, who knows the words to "To Anachreon?"

that looks and sounds about right.

well, you are probably one of the few hundred americans that knows the national anthem. it's funny how folks crack on singers when they forget lines in the national anthem when they themselves don't know it.

and what's anachreon? that sounds like some play or something on broadway.

[Beachguyj]

I'll try

Jose can you see


I"m out.

[HunterM]

I'll try

Jose can you see


I"m out.

That is silly. You're singing the Mexican national anthem!


I know...some words...here and there. OK, I don't know shit.

I would know it if they have that song at karaoke bars for me to practice.

[chrisrobin]

.
Every time I watch a hockey game, I enjoy hearing "Oh, Canada."

[xbuzzerx]

Yeah, I can sing along to 'O Canada.' We had to sing ours every morning up until high school, in elementary school it was required and sometimes we'd sing it in French. In HS we were only expected to stand in silence. lol

Anyway, the American anthem seems kind of difficult to remember. Ours is pretty easy.


O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

Oh Em Gee I had no clue you were canuckian.

[G-Lexington]

At the lacrosse games I go to, hardly anyone sings along to the national anthem.

Except for the line "...that our flag was still there". The entire arena shouts that as loud as they can. My fellow fans are rather redneck-y.

Lex

[Callum]

Uh, Americans, you silly lot, what you've posted is the first verse! There are actually three more.

[gsdx]

oh say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave?

Whenever I see or hear this, I think of Mike Stivic (All in the Family):

" 'Oh say does that star-spangled banner ye-et wave?' What kind of word is 'ye-et'?"

[G-Lexington]

The same kind of word "O-oh say" is.

Lex

[freefall]

I expect DigitalFudge to post his idol's 'National Anthem' any time in this thread

@OP: Yes, though I jumble between the verses sometimes. Every kid in my country are obliged to have a national commemoration ceremony [almost] every Monday during their 12 years in school, so we have to sing the anthem almost every week with a loud voice. Like it or not, most of us remember the lyrics quite accurately. Oh what imprinting can do to us.

[Harke the Boeotarch]

Only the first verse.

Lex

As do I, but then our national anthem (purportedly the oldest in the world) is so long teachers used to punish their pupils by having them copy all of the verses in detention (think Bart Simpson without the repetition).

[bankside]

Ô Canada
Terre de nos aïeux,
Ton front est ceint
de fleurons glorieux.
Car ton bras sait porter l'épée,
il sait portait la croix.
Ton histoire est une épopée
des plus brillants exploits.
Et ta valeur
de foi trempée
protégera nos foyers et nos droits.
protegera nos foyers et nos droits.

And we can do it in French too.

[Sparky-Sparky-Boom-Boom]

Honestly no idea, I don't even know the first line thought I do kinda know the tune even thats a bit fuzzy lol.

[PreTTy PeTe]

My favorite American singing for the troops when she went to Afghanistan.

[FPNY]

It's un patriotic to besmirch the national anthem. It's like dragging a flag on the ground. I hope none of you are struck by lightning....

[xbuzzerx]

Ready for one of the world's shortest national anthems?

[xbuzzerx]

I'm so jealous. Japan has the prettiest flag. And such a pretty National Anthem.

What's nuts is they usually sing it much faster than that. So it's like 30 seconds all told, lol. If that.

[umjreon88]

Remembered it like the back of my hand, how can I forget? I sang it for 10 years of my life!

Mari kita rakyat Singapura
Sama-sama menuju bahagia
Cita-cita kita yang mulia
berjaya Singapura

Marilah kita bersatu
dengan semangat yang baru
Semua kita berseru
Majulah Singapura
Majulah Singapura!

Marilah kita bersatu
dengan semangat yang baru
Semua kita berseru
Majulah Singapura
Majulah Singapura!

[G-Lexington]

I laughed so hard at this for some reason...

But it also sounds like if I were there, I'd find it really endearing.

It's very prototypical American. It started after 9/11, tying it into "these colors don't run" and "you don't bully America". OK, the first three or six months after the attacks, understandable. It's been over a decade. You're not scaring any terrorists in the building who snuck in to watch a lacrosse match.

And if memory serves, you'd have a hard time finding somebody in Spain who knows the lyrics to their national anthem...because it has no official lyrics.

Lex

[xbuzzerx]

It's very prototypical American. It started after 9/11, tying it into "these colors don't run" and "you don't bully America". OK, the first three or six months after the attacks, understandable. It's been over a decade. You're not scaring any terrorists in the building who snuck in to watch a lacrosse match.

Lex

That's true. The "THAT OUR FLAG WAS STILL THERE!" is part of the underdog mentality we've never outgrown since the days as a little bastard child of England, imho.

- - - Updated - - -

Remembered it like the back of my hand, how can I forget? I sang it for 10 years of my life!

Mari kita rakyat Singapura
Sama-sama menuju bahagia
Cita-cita kita yang mulia
berjaya Singapura

Marilah kita bersatu
dengan semangat yang baru
Semua kita berseru
Majulah Singapura
Majulah Singapura!

Marilah kita bersatu
dengan semangat yang baru
Semua kita berseru
Majulah Singapura
Majulah Singapura!

Translate for us!

[umjreon88]

My Malay wasn't that good to begin with, haha. But I managed to get the translation:

Come, fellow Singaporeans
Let us progress towards happiness together
May our noble aspiration bring
Singapore success

Come, let us unite
In a new spirit
Together we proclaim
Onward Singapore
Onward Singapore

Come, let us unite
In a new spirit
Together we proclaim
Onward Singapore
Onward Singapore

Do you feel inspired? haha

[ronboy]

I can sing both the American and Canadian national anthems in English.

You get used to hearing both of them, living in Rochester. Our local sports teams frequently play Canadian teams in baseball, hockey, soccer, and lacrosse.
The Rochester Red Wings AAA Baseball team frequently played the Ottawa Lynx (sadly, now defunct).
The Rochester Amerks AHL hockey team frequently plays teams such as the Hamilton Bulldogs, the Toronto Marlies, and the Abbotsford Heat.

And besides, what's PeTe going to think of me if I can't sing his country's anthem?

[xbuzzerx]

My Malay wasn't that good to begin with, haha. But I managed to get the translation:

Come, fellow Singaporeans
Let us progress towards happiness together
May our noble aspiration bring
Singapore success

Come, let us unite
In a new spirit
Together we proclaim
Onward Singapore
Onward Singapore

Come, let us unite
In a new spirit
Together we proclaim
Onward Singapore
Onward Singapore

Do you feel inspired? haha

It's as if I am one of your people now! /inspired.

[umjreon88]

It's as if I am one of your people now! /inspired.

Thank you so much! Yeah, we are a pretty young nation, so the anthem reflects our status as a little island nation with big aspirations - got there eventually. But what I'm actually proud of is the diversity.

[freefall]

Oops, I forgot to post the anthem.

I'll just post this instead.



(Very rough translation, as there as some words which are lost in translation)

Indonesia tanah airku, Tanah tumpah darahku. [Indonesia, my homeland, my land of birth]
Disanalah aku berdiri, Jadi pandu ibuku. [There I stand as a guide to my mother]
Indonesia kebangsaanku, Bangsa dan Tanah Airku. [Indonesia, my nationality, my nation and my homeland]
Marilah kita berseru "Indonesia bersatu." [Let us all exclaim "Indonesia unites"]

Hiduplah tanahku, Hiduplah negriku, [Long live my land, long live my country]
Bangsaku, Rakyatku, semuanya. [My nation, my people, and all beyond]
Bangunlah jiwanya, Bangunlah badannya [Rise upon its soul, rise upon its body]
Untuk Indonesia Raya. [For our great Indonesia]

[refrain - repeat 2x]
Indonesia Raya, Merdeka, Merdeka [Great Indonesia, independence and sovereign]
Tanahku, negriku yang kucinta. [My beloved land and country]
Indonesia Raya, Merdeka, Merdeka [Great Indonesia, independence and sovereign]
Hiduplah Indonesia Raya. [Long live great Indonesia]

[purina]

In olden times one of our local stations played a version with several stanzas every night at sign-off. Besides the first, here's the few lines I can retrieve from memory: ... stand between our loved ones and the war's desolation ... praise the power that has made and preserved us a nation ... Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just and this be our motto: In God is our trust And the star spangled banner in freedom yet shall wave o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave Another station played the Canadian national anthem, but I can't recite even the first verse off the top of my head.

[Swellegant]

I can sing it, mostly in key, and can of course write it out. But, as has been pointed out, only the first verse. Nobody ever uses the other three, so there's never been an opportunity or necessity to learn them. However, if you're curious:

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

I especially like "the foe's haughty host." I visualize a thousand Beau Brummels standing around staring at you with quizzing-glasses.


(Of course, that's not Beau Brummel... it's Sir Percival Blakeney as played by Anthony Andrews in The Scarlet Pimpernel... but you get the idea).

[bankside]

Ive always prided myself on being honest. Im Canadian

Here I go:

"Oh say can you see,
by the days early light.
What so proudly we hail
and the twilight's last gleaming (I think that is wrong)
Whose broad stripes and _______ stars
________________________________


And the rocket's red glare
The bombs bursting in air
________ through the night
and the flag was still there

Oh say can you see
the star spangled banner wave
for the land of the free
and the home of the brave


I tried ;-)

It should be much easier with your own anthem then, no?

[loveguys72]

The Star Spangled Banner

In 1814, Francis Scott Key wrote the poem, Defense of Fort McHenry. The poem was later put to the tune of (John Stafford Smith's song) The Anacreontic Song, modified somewhat, and retitled The Star Spangled Banner. Congress proclaimed The Star Spangled Banner the U.S. National Anthem in 1931.



Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore dimly seen thro' the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash'd out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their lov'd homes and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

/:thread

[Axxess]

Nope. It's really not that important in everyday life. The only time I've ever heard it was at the beginning of my high school's assemblies. The guys would always scream as loud as they could during the line "for the land of the free" as if that made them extra patriotic or something.

...it's funny how folks crack on singers when they forget lines in the national anthem when they themselves don't know it.

But that's different. Those singers are being payed to sing the song. They should know the lyrics to the song they're being payed to sing.

[ixthrock]

and what's anachreon? that sounds like some play or something on broadway.

The poem was set to the tune of a popular British song written by John Stafford Smith for the Anacreontic Society, a men's social club in London. "The Anacreontic Song" (or "To Anacreon in Heaven"), with various lyrics, was already popular in the United States.

so i misspelled anacreon, and apparently there were lots of different versions of it, and i didn't know the star bangled spanner had other verses. the things ye learn.

[Nishin]

Ready for one of the world's shortest national anthems?

I've always loved this one, and realizing I can play and sing it (actually did it for a class project) when I can't get past first verse of my country's gory anthem...

[frankfrank]

Hey, if some country has a National Anthem which is an instrumental tune only without words, then I know the ENTIRE lyrics to it, even if it's from some place that nobody thinks about much, such as The Seychelles or something...

[frankfrank]

And can I say my damn cat was meowing in the background. That didnt help

Either that or somebody had an opera on in the background.

No, I take that back, opera is more like what a cat sounds like when dropped in boiling water...

j/k

[ozguy]

I certainly know the words to our National Anthem and I sing it loudly and proudly whenever the occasion demands it. I loved the way it was done at the Opening Ceremony of the Sydney Olympics ... I remember watching it live on the telly and I was bawling my eyes out so much that I couldn't sing it! Julie Anthony is THE VOICE of Advance Australia Fair and noone sings it better than she does!

[blackbeltninja]

We had to learn the then new .zw one written in Shona when it launched back when I was about 6 in 1982 or 1983 so we could sing it in assembly. I assumed this was normal and, as a result, I learned the then .za one when we moved down south in 1986.

We got a new .za one after 1994, but since I'm no longer at school (graduated in 1993) and not exposed to it that often, I don't know it very well. It is an abortion - 4 verses, 2 of which are the new one in isiXhosa and isiZulu (and it's not new, it's a traditional African prayer), and 2 of which are verse 3 and 4 of the old one in Afrikaans and English. We try to keep everyone happy in a very boring and PC way.

High time for a proper new one, I should wager. It's only been 19 years since The Troubles started. And a little google-stomping reveals that the Zimbabweans got themselves a new one written specially in 1994, replacing Ishe Komborera (the one I learned in 1983).

So, the short version in response to the OP: no, on all counts.

-d-

[frankfrank]

YES!!!

I know all of the words to Spain's National Anthem!!

[EuroSoccer]

Oh say can you see
by the dawn's early light
what so proudly we hailed
at the twilight's last gleaming.

whose broad stripes and bright stars
through the perilous fight
o'er the ramparts we watched
were so gallantly streaming

and the rockets red glare,
the bombs bursting in air
gave proof through the night
that our flag was still there.

oh say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave? O'er the land of the free
and the home of the brave.


At least that's what I sing, somewhere, at the top of my lungs, at least once a year.
and I don't even particularly jibe with nationalistic fervor.

Now, who knows the words to "To Anachreon?"

Copy and paste much?
Forgive me............. I am jealous cause I don't know mine

[TheLyingGame]

Lol, no.

......

[PreTTy PeTe]

I can sing both the American and Canadian national anthems in English.

You get used to hearing both of them, living in Rochester. Our local sports teams frequently play Canadian teams in baseball, hockey, soccer, and lacrosse.
The Rochester Red Wings AAA Baseball team frequently played the Ottawa Lynx (sadly, now defunct).
The Rochester Amerks AHL hockey team frequently plays teams such as the Hamilton Bulldogs, the Toronto Marlies, and the Abbotsford Heat.

And besides, what's PeTe going to think of me if I can't sing his country's anthem?

PeTe loves you no matter what you can sing. I loves you Ron.