I'm curious to hear the words for your country's national anthem. For most countries, I just know how the tune goes, but none of the words. So let's see them lyrics (and the translations)!

I'll let someone else do Canada's anthem so that I don't embarass myself like Bryan Adams at the NHL allstar game in Vancouver a few years back :o

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
Over 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
Over the land of the free and the home of the brave?

I think there are actually more verses to this, but this first verse is all you ever hear.

If I made any mistakes, feel free to correct me...

this site will give the the National Anthem (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_anthem) of virtually every nation in the world.

I love Wikipedia.

Oh, BTA...you did better than Rosanne!

Better than Rosanne? Now there has just got to be a hidden compliment in there somewhere.....I just know it.

lol

Ours is currently Advance Australia Fair, but we are making moves to change it to the theme song from 'Neighbours'.

HAHAHAHAHA :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Oh god it hurts! Make the Laughing stop! :shake:

Oh ya, i always wanted to do this,
try to read the following

Negaraku

Negaraku -- My country
Tanah tumpahnya darahku -- The land which i spilt my blood
Rakyat hidup bersatu and maju - Citizens live united and prosperous
Rahmat bahagia Tuhan kurniakan - Mercy and blessing, God granted
Raja kita selamat betakhta - Our (including the speakers and listeners) kings possessing their thrones saftely
Rakyat hidup bersatu and maju
Rahmat bahagia Tuhan kurniakan
Raja kita selamat betakhta

Well, I'm from Bulgaria and our national anthem is so bad translated in English as "Dumb and Dumber"... But that's the translation...

Here's the full version of the United States Anthem:

Star Spangled Banner
by Frances Scott Key

I.
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 rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air
Gave proof thro' 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.

II.
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 in 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.

III.
Oh, thus be it ever when free men shall stand
Between their loved 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 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!

Here's the New Zealand national anthem, which before I die I will see it changed to something better!

English Version

God of Nations at Thy feet,
In the bonds of love we meet,
Hear our voices, we entreat,
God defend our free land.
Guard Pacific's triple star
From the shafts of strife and war,
Make her praises heard afar,
God defend New Zealand.

Men of every creed and race,
Gather here before Thy face,
Asking Thee to bless this place,
God defend our free land.
From dissension, envy, hate,
And corruption guard our State,
Make our country good and great,
God defend New Zealand

Peace, not war, shall be our boast,
But, should foes assail our coast,
Make us then a mighty host,
God defend our free land.
Lord of battles in Thy might,
Put our enemies to flight,
Let our cause be just and right,
God defend New Zealand.

Let our love for Thee increase,
May Thy blessings never cease,
Give us plenty, give us peace,
God defend our free land.
From dishonour and from shame,
Guard our country's spotless name,
Crown her with immortal fame,
God defend New Zealand.

May our mountains ever be
Freedoms ramparts on the sea,
Make us faithful unto Thee,
God defend our free land.
Guide her in the nations' van,
Preaching love and truth to man,
Working out Thy glorious plan,
God defend New Zealand.

Then it repeats in Maori.

Just like the US anthem, the first verse, both Maori and English is all you ever hear.
It's funny really, going on about God bless New Zealand, but then according to the latest statistics less that 50% of people, now, believe in a god of any sort. And technically, we also have God defend the Queen as another Anthem, but that is never used.

Du gamla, Du fria, Du fjällhöga nord
Du tysta, Du glädjerika sköna!
Jag hälsar Dig, vänaste land uppå jord,
/:Din sol, Din himmel, Dina ängder gröna.:/

Du tronar på minnen från fornstora dar,
då ärat Ditt namn flög över jorden.
Jag vet att Du är och Du blir vad du var.
/: Ja, jag vill leva jag vill dö i Norden.:/

Translation

You free, ancient country, You high mountained north
You silent and free, so delightful
We greet you the loveliest land upon Earth
/:Your sun, Your sky and Your pastures green:/

Resting on memories, the glorious past
All around the world, your name was honoured
I trust you will always, remain the way you were
/:The North is where I will live and die:/


((All copy/pasted from Hacken Slash's link, but it seems right (at least swedish version, never actually heard translated) ))

Did you know, that the Dutch anthem was compossed around 1570, which makes it the oldest national anthem in the world!

Well, here it is: 'Het Wilhelmus'.

Wilhelmus van Nassouwe
ben ik, van Duitsen bloed.
Den vaderland getrouwe,
blijf ik tot in den dood.
Een Prinse van Oranje
ben ik, vrij onverveerd.
Den Koning van Hispanje,
heb ik altijd geëerd.

William of Nassau,
I am of the Dutch blood*.
Loyal to the fatherland**,
I remain until death.
A Prince of Orange
am I, free and fearless.
The king of Spain
have I given a lifelong loyalty***.

*The modern Dutch lyrics actually say: 'I am of German blood', but the experts have different opinions about what it actually means. It is however, generally believed that 'Duitsen' from the Dutch lyrics, was derived from 'duytschen', which came from something like 'dietsen', which came from 'Nederdietsen', which would mean Dutch as far as I know. I had a Dutch teacher in high school, who once said that 'dietsen' meant 'of the people', which would also be the Dutch. So, even though it literally says 'German blood', I stubbornly put 'Dutch blood' in my translation.

**I don't know if fatherland is an existing expression in English, but this sentence could also be translated as 'Loyal to king and country.'

***The last sentence makes no sense IMHO, because William of Nassau fought against the people from Spain. Maybe another Dutchie can shed some light onto this.

There are actually 14 more stanzas, but I didn't feel like translating them all.

[ December 16, 2003, 15:18: Message edited by: Mesmero ]

I'd put bets on that the German national anthem is the best one. Those guys know how to sing and drink. They remind me of tall, blonde, clean shaven dwarves...

Swiss Spalm

When the morning skies grow red,
and over us their radiance shed
Thou, O Lord, appeareth in their light
when the alps glow bright with splendor,
pray to God to Him surrender
for you feel and understand
that He dwelleth in this land.

In the sunset Thou art night
and beyond the starry sky
Thou, O loving father, ever near,
when to Heaven we are departing
joy and bliss Thou'lt be imparting
for we feel and understand
that Thou dwelleth in this land.

When dark clouds enshroud the hills
and gray mist the valley fills
yet Thou art not hidden from thy sons
pierce the gloom in which we cower
with Thy sunshine's cleansing power
then we'll and understand
that God dwelleth in this land.

The Canadian anthem in Hacken Slash's link is wrong. It's The Good Old Hockey Game by Stompin Tom Connors:

Hello out there, we're on the air
It's Hockey night tonight
The tension grows, the whistle blows
And the puck goes down the ice

The goalie jumps and the players bump
The fans all go insane
The home crowd roars, Bobby scores
At the good old Hockey game

Oh! The good old Hockey game
Is the best game you can name
And the best game you can name
Is the good old Hockey game!

Second period
Where players dash with skates a flash
The home team trails behind
But they grab the puck and go bursting up
And they're down across the line

They storm the crease like bumble bees
They travel like a burning plane
We see them slide the puck inside
It's a one-one hockey game

Oh! The good old Hockey game
Is the best game you can name
And the best game you can name
Is the good old Hockey game!

Third period, last game of the playoffs too!
Oh take me where the hockey players
Face-off down the rink
And the Stanley Cup is all filled up
For the champs who win the drink

Now the final flick of a hockey stick
And on one gigantic screen
Well the puck is in - the home team wins
That good old hockey game

Oh! The good old Hockey game
Is the best game you can name
And the best game you can name
Is the good old Hockey game!

Oh, and Blackhawk: you were off key. :p

>do i dare? oh, i will give it a shot.. <

Deutschland, Deutschland
über alles, über alles
in der Welt.
Danach laßt uns einig streben,
brüderlich mit Herz und Hand.

Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit
sind des Glückes Unterpfand.
Deutschland, Deutschland
üüüber alles, über aaalles :D
in der Welt.

Translated:

Germany, Germany
above all, above all
in the world.
Let us work/strife (?) for this
brotherly with heard and hand.

Unity and Law/Justice and Freedom
are the pledge/base for good fortune (a toughy)
Germany, Germany
above all, above all
in the world.

Sorry, my translation lacks in the style department.

@ Splunge - I was thinking of posting the true Canadian national anthem but it appears you have saved me the trouble of typing out or trying to find a copy of the lyrics. :)

P.S. Technically the song's name is "The Hockey Song" although it is indeed generally referred to as "The Good Old Hockey Game".

The greek national anthem (Anthem to freedom) has 140 verses but we use just the two first of them.

Se gnorizo apo tin kopsi
Tou spathiou tin tromeri
Se gnorizo apo tin opsi
Pou me via metraei tin gi

Ap'ta kokala vgalmeni
Ton ellinon ta iera
Kai san prota andreiomeni
Haire o haire Eleutheria


I know you by the mighty
Blade of the sword
I know you by the expression on you face
Which fast estimates the land

Born of the sacred bones of Greeks
Valiant as in the past times
Hail Freedom, hail

A true Belgian doesn't know his own national anthem. :D
I do know "La brabançonne d'une putain" but its lyrics don't fit in here.

As for "ben ik, van Duitsen bloed":
I hear it comes all the way from the word "theodisk" which is taken from the root "theoda" meaning "people" in ancient Frank language. For the story, when the Franks settled in what is today western France, they latinised, progressively speaking a rural form of Latin that would later evolve into French. But some Franks living near Alsace/Lorraine kept on speaking their original language, and the word designating these people was just "people" in ancient Frank. So I'd go with the "from the people" explanation.

"Theodisk" later appeared in Latin itself in the from "theodiscus" which transformed in the Italian "tedesco" which, I believe, is a word used by Italians to designate the Germans.
It also spawned the words duits, Deutsch and such.

There's also a funny story for the Russian translation of the word "German" but that's enough off-topicness for now.

Well, being a Belgian and all, I totally don't know my national anthem, but this is what google decided to share with me:

Noble Belgium - for ever a dear land -
We give you our hearts and our arms.
By the pure blood split for you, our Fatherland,
We swear with one cry - You will live!
You will live, always great and beautiful,
And your invicible unity
Will have as your invincible unity
Will have as your immortal emblem -
For King, Justice and Liberty!
Will have as your immortal emblem -
For King, Justice and Liberty!
For King, Justice and Liberty!
For King, Justice and Liberty!

O dierbaar België
O heilig land der vaad'ren
Onze ziel en ons hart zijn u gewijd.
Aanvaard ons hart en het bloed van onze adren,
Wees ons doel in arbeid en in strijd.
Bloei, o land, in eendracht niet te breken;
Wees immer u zelf en ongeknecht,
Het woord getrouw, dat ge onbevreesd moogt spreken:
Voor Vorst, voor Vrijheid en voor Recht.
Het woord getrouw, dat ge onbevreesd moogt spreken:
Voor Vorst, voor Vrijheid en voor Recht.
Voor Vorst, voor Vrijheid en voor Recht.
Voor Vorst, voor Vrijheid en voor Recht.

Et pour les Wallons la même chose. :evil:

I'm from Norway, and you can read my anthem here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ja%2C_vi_elsker_dette_landet) .

It's quite silly in English actually, but it rocks on norwegian :D

hmm that site said Scotland has no official National Anthem, but its "Flower of Scotland", well anyway heres the lyrics:

O Flower of Scotland,
When will we see
Your like again,
That fought and died for,
Your wee bit Hill and Glen,
And stood against him,
Proud Edward's Army,
And sent him homeward,
Tae think again.

The Hills are bare now,
And Autumn leaves
Lie thick and still,
O'er land that is lost now,
Which those so dearly held,
That stood against him,
Proud Edward's Army,
And sent him homeward,
Tae think again.

Those days are past now,
And in the past
They must remain,
But we can still rise now,
And be the nation again,
That stood against him,
Proud Edward's Army,
And sent him homeward,
Tae think again.

O Flower of Scotland,
When will we see
Your like again,
That fought and died for,
Your wee bit Hill and Glen,
And stood against him,
Proud Edward's Army,
And sent him homeward,
Tae think again.

I'd put bets on that the German national anthem is the best one. Those guys know how to sing and drink. They remind me of tall, blonde, clean shaven dwarves...:D Let's see: I'm not clean shaven, I'm not blonde and I'm not that tall. I cannot sing very well. At least, I can drink. Am I german? :rolleyes:

@ Dendri: *cough* That's the bad verse.
:shame: And actually not our anthem. Our anthem is the 3rd verse (and it sounds not so arrogant):

Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit
für das deutsche Vaterland!
Danach laßt uns alle streben
brüderlich mit Herz und Hand!
Einigkeit und Recht und Freiheit
sind des Glückes Unterpfand;
blüh' im Glanze dieses Glückes,
blühe, deutsches Vaterland.

Translation:
Unity and justice and freedom
for the German fatherland;
This let us all pursue,
brotherly with heart and hand.
Unity and justice and freedom
are the pledge of happiness.
Flourish in this blessing's glory,
flourish, German fatherland.

Text: August Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben
Music: Joseph Haydn (who actually wrote a song to the the austrian emperor)

Oh no!
I suspected I should leave this to someone who knows better...

The bad verse. My apologies. :(

First off I'll start with the english version:

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.

And now the french:

Ô Canada!
Terre de nos aïeux,
Ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux!
Car ton bras sait porter l'épée,
Il sait porter la croix;
Ton histoire est une épopée
Des plus brillants exploits.
Et ta valeur de foi trempé
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits;
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.

And Splunge, no matter how much we hope, that won't be the anthem any time soon! :p

@Splunge what tune is that sung to? I must try singing it aloud!

Blog, it's a actual song, and it's sung to its own tune.

Something like:

Poland has not yet died
So long as we're alive
What foreign might took from us
With sabre we shall reclaim

March, march Dabrowski
From Italian land to Poland
Under your command
We shall join the nation

Yea, I know what this sounds like, but it's barely translatable at all, let alone rhymes and stuff.

I believe I concur with Blackhawk. I'm an American... but I'll post the anthem of my section of the country.

Dixie
I wish I was in the land of cotton,
old times there are not forgotten,
Look away, look away, look away, Dixie land.
In Dixie land where I was born in, early on a frosty mornin',
Look away, look away, look away, Dixie land.

Chorus:

Then I wish I was in Dixie, hooray! Hooray!
In Dixie land I'll take my stand, to live and die in Dixie,
Away, away, away down south in Dixie,
Away, away, away down south in Dixie.

Old Missus marry Will de Weaber, Will-yum was a gay deceaber,
Look away, look away, look away, Dixie land.
But when he put his arm around her,
smiled as fierce as a forty pounder.
Look away, look away, look away, Dixie land. (Chorus)

Dars buckwheat cakes an' ingen batter, makes you fat or a little fatter,
Look away, look away, look away, Dixie land.
Den hoe it down and scratch your grabble to Dixie's land
I'm bound to travel,
Look away, look away, look away Dixie land. (Chorus)

His face was sharp as a butcher's cleaver
but that did not seem to grieve her;
look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie land.
Old missus acted the foolish part,
and died for a man that broke her heart.
Look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie land.

Now here's a health to the next old missus
and all the gals that want to kiss us;
look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie land.
But if you want to drive away sorrow,
come and hear this song tomorrow,
look away! Look away! Look away! Dixie land.

@Dendri: I looked it up. All of the song counts still as our anthem. But the first two verses aren't played for obvious reasons. You were partially right.

Just to add to Reepnorp's post, the English and French versions of the Canadian anthem are actually two separate sets of lyrics: they are not exact translations. So here is the litteral translation of the French version (which, I believe, was written first - anybody know for sure?).

Ô Canada! [O Canada!]
Terre de nos aïeux, [Land of our ancestors,]
Ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux! [Upon your forehead rest glorious florets!]
Car ton bras sait porter l'épée, [For your arm can wield the sword,]
Il sait porter la croix; [As well as the cross;]
Ton histoire est une épopée [Your history is a saga]
Des plus brillants exploits. [Of the most brilliant feats.]

Et ta valeur de foi trempée [And your glory, etched in faith,]
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits; [Will protect our homes and our rights;]
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits. [Will protect our homes and our rights.]

There are clear religious references that, shall we say, haven't aged very well!

[ December 17, 2003, 19:56: Message edited by: Djieff ]

OK, let's not be behind I'll post my National Anthem... Beware.. :) It's on latin, because we are using the cyrillic as the Serbian, Macedonian and other countries...

Mila Rodino
Gorda Stara planina,
do nei Dunava sinei,
slunce Trakia ogriava,
nad Pirina plamenei,

Pripev:
Mila Rodino,
ti si zemen rai,
tvoita hubost, tvoita prelest,
ah, te niamat krai.

Padnaha borci bezchet
za naroda nash liubim,
maiko, dai ni muzhka sila
putia im da produlzhim.

Translation:
Proud Balkan mountains,
next to them the Danube flows,
the sun sheds its light over Thrace,
shining over Pirin.

Chorus:
Dear native land,
you are paradise on earth,
your beauty and your charm,
ah, they never end.

Many fighters gave their life
for our dear nation,
Mother, give us strength
to follow in their steps.

Y'know, I have to admit that I have always enjoyed listening to the Canadian National Anthem - it has a really nice melody.

... it sounds great when Terrance and Phillip sing it on Southpark too! :)

[ December 18, 2003, 18:27: Message edited by: Blackhawk ]

Well here goes the national anthem of Finland. Though many (including me) feel that Finlandia hymn by Jean Sibleius should be the national anthem of Finland but that's perhaps a bit too "dark" for a national anthem and this isn't all that bad. :)

Oi maamme, Suomi, synnyinmaa,
soi, sana kultainen.
Ei laaksoa, ei kukkulaa,
ei vettä, rantaa rakkaampaa,
kuin kotimaa tää pohjoinen,
maa kallis isien.
Ei laaksoa, ei kukkulaa,
ei vettä rantaa, rakkampaa,
kuin kotimaa tää pohjoinen,
maa kallis isien.

God save our gracious Queen,
Long live our noble Queen,
God save the Queen:
Send her victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us:
God save the Queen.
Thy choicest gifts in store,
On her be pleased to pour;
Long may she reign:
May she defend our laws,
And ever give us cause
To sing with heart and voice
God save the Queen.

(When there is a King, the preceding two lines become: With heart and voice to sing / God save the King.)

O Lord, our God, arise,
Scatter thine (or her) enemies,
And make them fall:
Confound their politics,
Frustrate their knavish tricks,
On thee our hopes we fix:
God save us all.

Not in this land alone,
But be God's mercies known,
From shore to shore!
Lord make the nations see,
That men should brothers be,
And form one family,
The wide world over.

From every latent foe,
From the assassins blow,
God save the Queen!
O'er her thine arm extend,
For Britain's sake defend,
Our mother, prince, and friend,
God save the Queen!


Lord grant that Marshall Wade
May by thy mighty aid
Victory bring.
May he sedition hush,
And like a torrent rush,
Rebellious Scots to crush.
God save the Queen!*

The British National Anthem
Interesting facts about it are:
This is a commonly sung anthem adopted by many but in reality the UK is one of the only nations to not have an official anthem. the song has not been recognised by parliment.
The tune has been used by many European countries as their anthem and is still used by Liechtenstein.

Dendri, I could read most of that without refering to the english at the bottom. Think I have some German in me?

Anyone heard the Dead Kennedys song - California Uber Alles? Thats pretty well how I got the first lines...

Baezlebub
Do you have an obscure affinity for odd leather trousers?
Feel like your neighbours ground should actually belong to you? :D
Are you a tall, blond, clean-shaven dwarf?

Yes? Willkommen im Verein.

*runs*

I wish our anthem in the U.S. was more like New Zealand's. That's beautiful. The Swiss and Swedish ones are lovely too. Ours is about a battle we lost, for crying out loud.

There's been something of a movement for a while over here to change our anthem to the following song, whose lyrics more people know. It's also actually singable even by those not trained in opera, and not violent. Here it is:

Oh beautiful for spacious skies
For amber waves of grain
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain
America, America
God shed His grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea

There are a whole lot more verses (which people don't know)
here: http://www.fuzzylu.com/falmouth/bates/america.html

I found this on wikipedia's site, nice thing is that it sounds good in english...

Croatian national anthem:

Our beautiful homeland,
Oh dear, heroic land,
Fatherland of ancient glory,
May you always be happy!

Dear, as much as you are glorious,
Only you are dear to us.
Dear, where your land is flat,
Dear, where it is mountainous.

Flow Drava, Sava flow,
Nor you, Danube, lose your power!
Azure sea, tell to the world
That a Croat loves his nation!

As long as the sun warms his ploughed land,
As long as storms lash his oak trees,
As long as graves hide his dead,
As long as his living heart beats!

Great anthems all, but I have always found the anthem of the defunct USSR to be awe-inspiring!

Go Nikolai Volkoff!