Favourite Anthems

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Michael
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Re: Favourite Anthems

Postby Michael » 2015-04-13, 6:46

My favorite anthem is the Brazilian National Anthem, especially this version sung by Fafá de Belém:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mIqfgJdEPec

I also like the Star Spangled Banner, but only if I sing it myself (or anyone else who prefers singing the actual damn notes to the anthem), since every other singer out there has butchered it, if they can even remember the words to boot. :roll: Which brings me to the next video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XffxvV1PAEI
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„Çdo njeri është peng i veprave të veta.‟
Every human being is hostage to their own deeds.

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Re: Favourite Anthems

Postby vijayjohn » 2015-04-13, 22:40

I think my favorite anthem is actually "Amar Shonar Bangla," the national anthem of Bangladesh. It's written and composed by Rabindranath Tagore, the famous poet who also wrote and composed "Jana-Gana-Mana" or the national anthem of India. I like this one more, though, I guess because it has a gentler tune and cuter lyrics (also, it's Cholit Bhasha, i.e. closer to the Bengali people actually speak, unlike the Sadhu Bhasha he used in Jana-Gana-Mana). It's not so much glorifying his country (Bengal, not Bangladesh per se) as it is thinking of that country as his mother and expressing his love for her:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yy2NoYii17U

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Re: Favourite Anthems

Postby vijayjohn » 2016-05-19, 3:11

This is the national anthem of Travancore, the kingdom that my ancestral village (and my parents' hometown) used to be in before independence. Travancore was gradually merged with two other kingdoms, namely the Kingdoms of Cochin and Malabar, to form what is now the Indian state of Kerala (this process was completed when my parents were children):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFCsfby7Mv8

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Re: Favourite Anthems

Postby OldBoring » 2016-05-20, 15:43

vijayjohn wrote:
mōdgethanc wrote:China, Taiwan, Westernized, blablabla

In short we can say that in some ways Taiwan is more Westernized, especially the political and the economical system, etc. On the other hand, Taiwan has retained some traditional Chinese values that China has lost during communism.
If I find again a well-written article I found before, I will translate it.

mōdgethanc wrote:Does anyone like the Chinese anthem? I've tried to like it and it just sounds like communist crap to me. The melody is really annoying and the lyrics are boring and generic revolutionary stuff about rising up and defending the motherland. I think I would shoot myself in the head if I had to listen to it every day.

Do you know that the Italian anthem is also revolutionary stuff, and defending the motherland from the foreign oppressors and invaders? It also says "We are ready for the death" and mentions vampirism ("... drank the Polish blood" or something like that).

On the other hand, for a long time I thought 歌唱祖国 was the national anthem of China. It's often played in some State function together or sometimes instead of the official anthem, so it's like a sort of unofficial second anthem.
I think it's a beautiful patriotic song, and even though it has political content too, but not as strong as the anthem, which is explicitly revolutionary.

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XODYzNTc5Mg==.html?from=s1.8-1-1.2
If you can't play it, search "歌唱祖国" on the Choob.

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Re: Favourite Anthems

Postby mōdgethanc » 2016-05-20, 18:44

OldBoring wrote:In short we can say that in some ways Taiwan is more Westernized, especially the political and the economical system, etc. On the other hand, Taiwan has retained some traditional Chinese values that China has lost during communism.
If I find again a well-written article I found before, I will translate it.
Like what? Confucianism?
Do you know that the Italian anthem is also revolutionary stuff, and defending the motherland from the foreign oppressors and invaders? It also says "We are ready for the death" and mentions vampirism ("... drank the Polish blood" or something like that).

On the other hand, for a long time I thought 歌唱祖国 was the national anthem of China. It's often played in some State function together or sometimes instead of the official anthem, so it's like a sort of unofficial second anthem.
I think it's a beautiful patriotic song, and even though it has political content too, but not as strong as the anthem, which is explicitly revolutionary.

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XODYzNTc5Mg==.html?from=s1.8-1-1.2
If you can't play it, search "歌唱祖国" on the Choob.
The Italian anthem also sucks. The French anthem mentions revolutions and bloodshed, but at least they followed through on that. The problem with the Chinese anthem is that the PRC is such a piece of shit godawful regime that I can't dissociate the anthem from the state. Also, it's just repetitive.
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Re: Favourite Anthems

Postby OldBoring » 2016-05-26, 13:29

mōdgethanc wrote:
OldBoring wrote:In short we can say that in some ways Taiwan is more Westernized, especially the political and the economical system, etc. On the other hand, Taiwan has retained some traditional Chinese values that China has lost during communism.
If I find again a well-written article I found before, I will translate it.
Like what? Confucianism?

Yea, pretty much. Many Mainlanders who have gone to Taiwan admire how people are very polite, friendly and helpful. And how some roads are named after Confucian values, while many roads in the Mainland are named after socialist concepts.
I'm gonna link something written by others, no matter you understand or not. But maybe Vijay could be interested in reading a bit.
http://blog.renren.com/share/118038682/11893819764
http://tieba.baidu.com/p/2533105811
http://www.360doc.com/content/14/1231/1 ... 2801.shtml
http://bbs.tianya.cn/post-333-164335-1.shtml
http://www.wtoutiao.com/p/v32Xf6.html

The last link also talks about street food. In Taiwan you see people who have been making street food the same way for decades, so they still stick "to their roots".
While in the Mainland they either became a joint venture between the state and the private, or blindly expanded, or changed management, etc. and don't pay attention to the quality anymore but only to profit. They "lost their roots" as the author says.

The Italian anthem also sucks. The French anthem mentions revolutions and bloodshed, but at least they followed through on that.

What do you mean? That the other countries didn't?
Not all countries are sissies like Canucks who obtained independence peacefully and are still Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom, Canada and Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith's subjects to this day.
Some countries had to fight, ya know.

The problem with the Chinese anthem is that the PRC is such a piece of shit godawful regime that I can't dissociate the anthem from the state. Also, it's just repetitive.

法輪大法萬歲!!!

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Re: Favourite Anthems

Postby vijayjohn » 2016-05-26, 13:58

OldBoring wrote:But maybe Vijay could be interested in reading a bit.

Well, right now, I'm at my brother's house and try to help look after my niece, and I'll be going back to Austin with her and my sister-in-law (and my brother will follow later). So maybe I'll read them after they're all gone. :P
What do you mean? That the other countries didn't?

Maybe he means that the other countries didn't follow through on what the lyrics in their national anthem suggested they would do.
The problem with the Chinese anthem is that the PRC is such a piece of shit godawful regime that I can't dissociate the anthem from the state. Also, it's just repetitive.

法輪大法萬歲!!!

:lol:

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Re: Favourite Anthems

Postby mōdgethanc » 2016-05-27, 2:05

OldBoring wrote:What do you mean? That the other countries didn't?
No, but France was really enthusiastic about that whole beheading thing.
Not all countries are sissies like Canucks who obtained independence peacefully and are still Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom, Canada and Her other Realms and Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith's subjects to this day.
Some countries had to fight, ya know.
No, Canada just had to kick ass at Vimy Ridge. Dieppe and Juno Beach before getting taken seriously as a nation. What exactly was China's role in those engagements, again?
法輪大法萬歲!!!
I agree. Who the fuck wants to sing an anthem like "let's praise the murderous communist party that killed 50 million people!". I'd rather sing about the fucking true north than that shit.
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Re: Favourite Anthems

Postby h34 » 2017-01-28, 20:01

http://youtu.be/2uBaJIoMvdk
Rjana Łužica,
sprawna, přećelna,
mojich serbskich wótcow kraj,
mojich zbóžnych sonow raj,
swjate su mi twoje hona!
Časo přichodny,
zakćěj radostny!
Ow, zo bychu z twojeho
klina wušli mužojo,
hódni wěčnoh wopomnjeća!

This is the Upper Sorbian version.

Lower Sorbian:
► Show Spoiler

English:
► Show Spoiler

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Re: Favourite Anthems

Postby vijayjohn » 2018-07-19, 7:22

Okay, this is unofficial, but it's an anthem for Germans in Namibia ("Das Südwesterlied" a.k.a. "Hart wie Kameldornholz". I feel conflicted over this song (which is weird since I somehow don't seem to feel similarly conflicted over all these SSR anthems :?). It feels a little wrong to like this song because of all the issues of racism in Namibia, but it's so damn catchy:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoqQCgz1KwU


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