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[scriver]

The poetry of it isn't great and it's not as rousing as it should be

I'm not sure why you think it needs to be. Sweden's anthem is pretty much just kind-of-melancholy praise of our nature and sad (as in pathetic) glorifying and remembrence of Ye Good Olde Days - you know, the ones when we were repeatedly bankrupted in just a couple of decades, men were being killed like flies and people starved to death in the streets or slaved in the mines, but thst apparently doesn't count as much as the points of having conquered some areas around the Baltic and a couple of meaningless cities in Germany that we lost again within a century (because of said bankruptcies).

It's telling that most people prefer the psalm "Du blomstertid nu kommer" (directly translated to "You Time of Blossoming Now Come"), a song praising nature, summer, and rebirth, as an "anthem". A lot of people can't even keep the songs apart and will often drift into the other or try to fit the wrong lyrics into either. But then again, they're partially somewhat similar anyway.

[martinuzz]

That sounds all VERY undwarfly.

Swedes confirmed elves. Makes me wonder, how on earth they do hide the ears. Put toddlers outside in the cold until the tips freeze off? And it makes me wonder if those Russian oil pipes to Sweden can be configured to pump magma instead <evil grin>

[TD1]

I'd better not go to Sweden, then. The dwarfy one amongst the elves? Whatever could happen?

[TD1]

As for Scotland the Brave, here are the lyrics:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Hark, when the night is falling
Hear, hear the pipes are calling
Loudly and proudly calling
Down through the Glen.
There where the hills are sleeping
Now feel the blood a-leaping
High as the spirits
Of the old highland men.

Towering in gallant fame
Scotland my mountain hame
High may your proud standards
Gloriously wave!
Land of my high endeavor
Land of the shining river
Land of my heart forever
Scotland the brave!

High in the misty highlands
Out by the purple islands
Brave are the hearts that beat
Beneath Scottish skies
Wild are the winds to meet you
Staunch are the friends that greet you
Kind as the light that shines
From fair maiden's eyes.

Towering in gallant fame
Scotland my mountain hame
High may your proud standards
Gloriously wave!
Land of my high endeavor
Land of the shining river
Land of my heart forever
Scotland the brave!

Far off in sunlit places
Sad are the Scottish faces
Yearning to feel the kiss
Of sweet Scottish rain.
Where tropic skies are beaming,
Love sets the heart a-dreaming,
Longing and dreaming
for the homeland again.

Towering in gallant fame
Scotland my mountain hame
High may your proud standards
Gloriously wave!
Land of my high endeavor
Land of the shining river
Land of my heart forever
Scotland the brave!
Here's it sung:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mTXXP1qd3g

Personally, I've always loved it.

This is one I've listened to recently, and it's not exactly accurate lyrically, but I still like it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GowMI4wvmU4

[Dutchling]

hark

[TD1]

I'm harking. What is it you want to say?

I don't really understand why Owlbread is so set against Scotland the Brave, to be honest. It's a lovely song.

[Dutchling]

After actually listening to it, I can understand why Owlbread doesn't like it.

It's the generic Celtic song tune.

I guess I liked it the first thousand times I heard it, but it's kinda getting old now

[TD1]

Heh.

Let's face it, a national anthem is going to get old from repetition.

And don't put words in Owlbread's mouth! He said it was too imperialistic for him.

Not sure how, but meh.

[Il Palazzo]

I will always think of Burns' "Address to a Haggis" as the one and only proper Scottish anthem.

[Darvi]

So am I the only one thinking that national anthems et al. are outdated concepts?

[TD1]

A bit of patriotism never hurt anybody....

....


....

[palsch]

I say something like Saor's Farewell. Highland lament with blast beats. They usually trend a bit too close to the usual black metal traditionalism (meaning pre-Christian traditional paganism with blood-and-honour undertones) for my own lyrical taste, but that's songs inoffensive enough.

[smirk]

So am I the only one thinking that national anthems et al. are outdated concepts?

Weeeeeeeell, so far as I can tell they're mostly just outsized fight songs. Which is a shame, really, because an anthem is supposed to be celebratory and there are usually a lot more things to celebrate in a nation than just how good they are at war and strife.

But then, I'm an American liberal pinkocommie who thinks that "America the Beautiful" would make a better national anthem than "The Star-Spangled Banner" does =D

[Owlbread]

"Scots Wha Hae" is a fairly aggressive way to go. It's heavy on the 'unite to stand against the Other' and not overmuch personal introspection. If most Scots prefer it then I suppose it fits, though personally I like "Is There For Honest Poverty" and "Freedom Come All Ye" rather more as songs.

I think I agree with you, the thing is in the UK our anthems don't tend to involve much introspection. Is There For Honest Poverty and Freedom Come All Ye are good international anthems.

And really, if you're going with national-identity-via-war and struggles against the English, then you should use Donald McGillavry instead. It's bouncier and has a nice Jacobite flavor to it =P

I've mony a Jacobite tune in my library, some my grandmother used to sing to me when I was a child. Donald McGillavry's a good one though.

I will always think of Burns' "Address to a Haggis" as the one and only proper Scottish anthem.

I'd love to hear it put to music.

So am I the only one thinking that national anthems et al. are outdated concepts?

It's a difficult one. As Smirk says it's unfortunate they're mostly just "outsized fight songs" but when you listen to something like Mae Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau sung in a stadium it goes a bit beyond that. It's a very special thing.

Heh.

Let's face it, a national anthem is going to get old from repetition.

And don't put words in Owlbread's mouth! He said it was too imperialistic for him.

Not sure how, but meh.

Yes, my problem isn't with it musically or anything, I like it. It's just that it's the kind of thing a moustachio'd, readcoated piper would probably play as we crushed some Indian uprising in the subcontinent 200 years ago.

[Helgoland]

Let's face it, a national anthem is going to get old from repetition.

The German one won't

Ooh, free anthem analysis.

What do you have to say about this one?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braban%C3%A7onne

I'm basically just parroting cliches, you know? And I don't know many cliches about Belgium. Plus the anthem neither mentions chaos nor absence of a government. But it seems to occupy the middle ground between the French and German anthems: More bloody and fight-y than the German one, but unlike the French one couln't be used as an excuse to spread the revolution to your neighbors.

Polish anthem's great, too, even though I really only know the first line. That first line is part of the reason why I like the Ukrainian one, too...


@Native stuff: Descan, is a Canadian whose parents immigrated before he was born any less a native Canadian than a member of the First Nations? Or, to put it the other way around: How many generations of ancestors do you need in the land to be a native Canadian? Does it have to be the same on both sides, or is having one native Canadian parent enough? What if the ancestors were gone for some time? What if the ancestors were gone for a longer time?
My point being, get a definition of native and stick with it. But choose wisely. A good test for validity: Can the definition be applied to the Middle East and its inhabitants?

I say a native is someone who grew up in the country's culture. I'm a German native, and I know two people who lived in Russia when they were little who I'd call native. That one Turkish guy I knew in school is just as native as me. Same goes for most Turks around here. Not necessarily for the Spätaussiedler, though - people from Russia whose parents/grandparents were German and who due to the clusterfuck that's European post-WWII political re-organization have a right to immigrate to Germany.
You see where I'm going?