Theyve had 25 No1 singles (more than Elvis) and 19 No1 albums (more than The Beatles), had their first hit in 1967 and their latest this year theyre the Guardians World Cup national anthem review panel!
The committed World Cup viewer, determined to watch every single match from Brazil in full including build-ups and preambles, will hear the 32 national anthems played a total of 128 times over the course of the tournament. If each airing takes 90 seconds a conservative estimate, as anyone who has ever watched Uruguay will attest that adds up to a full three hours and 12 minutes of anthem-listening. But which of these anthems are worth hearing, and which best avoided? We asked some leading hitmakers for their opinions
Brazil have a wonderfully jaunty national anthem that climbs up and down the scales with the agility of a young Jairzinho. Dating from 1822, its florid lines were never designed to be sung by 80,000 people in a massive stadium, so it is not unusual for the crowd and the music to fall out of sync. The opening line places us beside a stream in the vicinity of São Paulo and the lyrics make passing reference to a death-defying chest and the bosom of freedom. And unlike our own God Save the Queen, it does mention the name of their country, surely the bare minimum requirement of a national anthem.
Lyrically its an unapologetic heads up to the glory of the beautiful homeland. You wouldnt expect anything less from a national anthem. With instructions to Drava to keep on flowing and the Danube to not lose its vigour. A real Croat love fest. What is surprising is the tune. Nothing prepares you for the brazen ferocity of the Croatian anthem. It sounds not unlike a child with a wooden spoon and a biscuit tin followed by a stern beating. Percussion supplied by dustbin lids on boots and sledgehammers. At least its mercifully short. It should fire up the team in Brazil. Anything less than victory and Luka Modric will be forced to listen to it repeatedly on the bus home.
My first thought was that it sounded like a war march, and when I read the lyrics it is a sort of war cry. I suppose a call to arms is a fitting thing for a sportsman to hear before they go into battle. The other thing was how complex the melodic structure was in comparison with the British and American anthems. Our anthems are like nursery rhymes; theyve gone for the equivalent of Schuberts fifth symphony. I imagine its hard for their kids to learn at nursery. Im not a massive football fan myself, but I get into the big international competitions, as I suppose everyone does. My weddings actually in the middle of the World Cup, so the biggest thing for me was that we didnt have to compete with an England game. Thankfully weve got away with that one.
Suitably overblown and pompous, this is a proper national anthem. Translated from its native French, the libretto does become a mish-mash of fourth-form poetry (O Cameroon, cradle of our ancestors/Go, stand, be jealous of your freedom, and other beauties such as, May [your children] serve you as their sole purpose/To fulfil their duty forever), but given the full-blown orchestral treatment, with percussion, flutes, and horns of every type, played in a marching tempo, all-the-while betraying its French ancestry, it is a really stirring piece. It is musical and charming. Plus, it is short.
Spains national anthem, written in 1761, has no lyrics, so fans repeat just one word - lo. This translates as well nothing. Its meaningless. And surely, if youre going to sing a song at football matches, thats what you want? Watching our lads pretending to mouth questionable lyrics about God giving the Queen near-immortal life, and her being the victor when shes not really of fighting age, is silly. We should strip our own national anthem back, and replace the lyrics with our own best-known meaningless word oi! Unless of course Big Liz turns up, and then we can stick in those other words but shes not going to, is she?
I always enjoyed Holland as a national team, Im sure most people that grew up in my generation will feel the same. They always seem to have a few exciting players and obviously always had a great attacking philosophy. Plus Van Der Sar and Van Nistelrooy were incredible for my club; and even though he was Arsenal Bergkamp is one of the best players ever. I like the sound of the Dutch anthem, its quite epic like a lot of national anthems. The strings and melody are nice. I dont speak Dutch so couldnt understand the lyrics at first, when I had a read through a translation I found them interesting, with references to Germany and Spain in there turns out its officially the oldest national anthem in the world and also is written in the first person perspective of William of Orange who fought for The Netherlands independence. This national anthem will definitely provide a talking point with locals the next time I visit some of my favourite cafes in Amsterdam! I like it.
This track is an absolute belter, that wouldnt go amiss as the soundtrack to a good Sunday afternoon war film, which in turn conjures up images of that classic war/football movie Escape to Victory. I know nothing of football but I can hear pride in a rhythm from 50 yards and this tune blew my tits clean off. The Chileans have seen their fair share of political upheaval over the years and if this reflection of national spirit is anything to go by, then they more than deserve to win the World Cup and have a film made about it thats loosely based around World War Two. Is it possible to get Sylvester Stallone to play in goal for them? Can we get them a dressing room with a giant bath that leads to an escape tunnel? Is there any chance we can get Ossie Ardilles to come on as a ball boy for them? I just dont know, but at least every time I hear this great piece of music I can picture all this and more in my tiny drug-addled mind. Go Team Chile. My fave new football heroes.
Australias national anthem begins with the flourish of a classic Hollywood movie. I have no intention of ever watching Baz Luhrmanns Australia but if he didnt use this piece of music to kickstart his reputedly overblown depiction of early Aussie settlers then hes missed a trick. As with many national anthems theres a whiff of an ice skating hall to the whole affair and the word gala comes to mind when listening. In that respect, it resembles the pompous tune it replaced as official anthem in 1984 - God Save The Queen. At least it trumps its predecessor thanks to the inclusion of the word girt, which undercuts all the guff about golden soil and being young and free by virtue of sounding like an Irishman saying girth.
Before reading up on the story of the Colombian national anthem, I thought I would probably just create a history of my own, as very few would be any the wiser. But the truth is actually strange enough. ¡Oh Gloria Inmarcesible! (O Unfading Glory) essentially started life as a poem by former President Rafael Núñez. It was bought to life in 1887, one year after the Republic of Colombia was declared, when an actor from Bogotá, named José Domingo Torres, asked his friend, the opera singer Oreste Sindici, to compose music against the words. It wasnt actually officially adopted until 1920. As a result of its poetic origins, and possibly its resemblance to Italian opera too, it is long. Too long I would say. Typically just one of its eleven verses, normally the first, is sandwiched between two choruses. And the lyrics are as impassioned, emotive and colourful youd expect from a South American President in the 19th Century; In agony, the virgin tears out her hair and the river runs with blood and weeping, for example. Good to know the next time we find ourselves lined up against them on the football field.
Glenn One of the versions of this on Youtube is 55 minutes long give or take a couple of seconds, which is befitting as according to Wikipedia its the longest national anthem in the world.Chris If they sang the complete anthem at a football match, the game would kick off about 4pm and not 3pm.Glenn It makes you realise how skilled those early Hollywood songwriters were because they parody these sorts of things. It sounds almost Slavic with the stirring choir and the jaunty piano.Chris You go Slav if you like when I first heard it it kind of reminded me of something that the Marx Brothers would interrupt. Does it make you feel patriotic?Glenn Im not Greek so I cant really say that it does.Chris They say Grease is the word, but it is like thousands of words by the sound of it.Glenn Its a fact that if we gave you a review of all 185 verses of the Greek national anthem we would have this entire feature to ourselvesChris What I like most about football when they sing the national anthem is the ambient vocal mic picking up the goalie singing really out of tune, and not really knowing the wordsGlenn We did just scan down a YouTube of the Greek team singing the national anthem (short version!) and there was a good deal of bluffing going onChris Anyway we will be back in a couple of days once this is over
Normally Ive got all these electronic noises coming out of my office, and when I was listening to this my wife came in to check I was OK. I think its quite a good one. Its in A flat major, which is always a stirring key. Thats one semi-tone higher than God Save the Queen, if youre interested. Its a very traditional marching pace. It sounds like the Marseilleise part two, which is interesting as its a post French-colonial effort. The lyrics are very traditional national-anthem stuff about a land of hope and full gallant legions, and the pay-off at the end is the fatherland of true brotherhood, which is half right-wing and half left-wing, which is probably what any good national anthem should aspire to. If you watch the team singing it before matches you learn a couple of things: some countries dont look very interested in their anthems but the Ivorians are quite stirred, and Yaya Touré is a loud singer but hes absolutely awful.
I thought it was a lovely piece of music. Its very short so they often sing it twice. It was composed in the 1800s, and I could tell it was in the time of Tchaikovsky, in the classical romantic period. When I was listenting to it Ben thought it sounded like church music, because with the classical music behind it it might sound a bit churchy. I thought it was a nice piece of music and quite emotional and moving. Wherever youre from, when your anthem comes on you get quite patriotic, it seems to really rev you up. I want Ben play, and he gets so fired up when hes singing his anthem. Im sure its the same for footballers, and helps to release the nerves and the adrenaline when theyre waiting for the game. Im sure Ill watch a bit of the World Cup, even though theres no Irish team. I can still remember watching Italia 90, aged eight, with Niall Quinn and Paul McGrath in the team. I can still remember most of the team from then, but I could hardly name a player now.
Im getting oodles of eastern pride with lusty overtones of death or glory, Im getting a spine of florid pomposity with top notes of Tom and Jerry, Im getting Viennese marching music with a strong hint of moustache oil, Im getting really bored, this thing goes on and on Weighing in at a hefty five minutes, six seconds, this is officially the longest national anthem in the world.
Its an incredibly grandiose and rousing tune, extremely jolly and strident, almost like an operatic piece. Its a big anthem, and a big lyric, for a small country. The words talk about peace and blue skies and the nation as a loving mother its not as sabre-rattling as some other countries. I can imagine it played in the stadium, with all the fans Im not sure how many fans Costa Rica take to a World Cup, but however many of them there are singing and feeling very proud. There might be a few tears. I know from experience that when youre in that situation, singing a song thats meaningful to you and thousands of people joining in whether its a national anthem or Gold it brings a sense of pride. Its a special moment. I visited Costa Rica a few years ago, and trekked from one side to the other to raise money for Action Medical Research, so Ive been there and experienced the country and the jungle. Its a fascinating and beautiful place. It took about 14 days to go from the Caribbean coast to the Pacific and it was a fabulous trip. We took a couple of short cuts.
Researching this, I got really curious and spent an evening listening to the various anthems of the world. There are some good ones in there. I like the Danish one because its very sweet, the Dutch one is very majestic, and Australias reflects the way Australians are theyre very bright, joyful, easygoing, happy people and Germanys quite militaristic. And God Save the Queen does that too its very subtle, calm and controlled, in the way people outside the UK think British people are. I wouldnt want to put these lyrics into a pop song, but they also reflect that mannered, reserved attitude. It was written in the middle of the 18th century, and it reflects I think the era it was made. Its how people spoke in those days. Its quite a good tune to sing along to, very simple, but Im not sure everyone connects with the words now. Watching the team as the anthem plays before a match some of the players are just mumbling along. I think that you should maybe rewrite the anthems every 50 years, because the world is moving so fast, and I think it would be interesting to hear what would be created
The National Anthem of Italy Il Canto degli Italiani, which translates as The Song of the Italians is a lively patriotic lyric, a musical mix between a church hymn and a military march. A rousing and bloody oompah-oompah call to arms against foreign occupiers. Theres drinking blood, heartburn, Roman slaves, cohorts Italians really are the experts at sticking it up authority. And partying afterwards. This song was sung by Garibaldi when he kicked the Bourbons out of Sicily. Some have said that its not that challenging musically (I personally prefer the Russian National Anthem which is written in a minor key and sounds bitchin on the accordion) but Verdi himself championed this song as being of equal stature to God Save the Queen. And whos going to argue with Verdi?
Its not the most gripping, Ive got to say. I think it lacks that crowd appeal I cant really imagine anyone singing along with it. Its important at a World Cup that the anthem rallies the fans and team before the game, and thats definitely missing here. Its very slow and doesnt really go anywhere, it kind of ploddles along. And then the lyrics are all about the weather and mountains and sunsets and clouds. I read that theyre looking for a new one at the moment, and lets just say I can understand why. Theres a prize of about £7,000 for whoever writes the winning song, so maybe next time Im in the studio Ill stay behind for a bit and submit one to the parliament of Switzerland. An anthem is important for a country, it needs to be relevant and it needs to work, and if it isnt working theyve got to change it. I have to say I like God Save the Queen, I think that should stay just the way it is. Maybe a bit of guitar would be cool, but I think thats a solid national anthem. I think many countries will look at it and go, Wow, thats a good one. Theyll be very jealous. Especially the Swiss.
I love Latin music and culture! My recent hit Dibby Sound with Jay Fay was heavily influenced by Brazilian samba axa music. Its so weird hearing other national anthems because you grow up with your national anthem, its in your blood (literally). Im sure if I was Ecuadorean this would sound a lot less like a cross between jingle bells and onward Christian soldiers. I guess I was hoping for some of that incredible latin rhythmic heat! But hey, I grew up in maidenhead, so what do I know?
The pomp, power and military bombast of La Marseillaise draws me into the history of France, and my own. The surname I was born with was French: DOrsay; perhaps an ancestor was amongst those troops that marched to this evocative anthem for the first time as they entered Paris 200 years ago! I think also of my dear friend Charles Aznavour, hes 90 now but we sang together on my latest album, Engelbert Calling. La Marseillaise sounds best ringing around a packed sports stadium. Its lyrics evoke revolution, conflict, taking up arms, preparing for the fight everything my music does not! Even in our largely peaceful times it retains its rousing, martial air that gives it a power that hasnt diminished. A great stirring, inspiring anthem to take the field to!
When you think of God Save the Queen, its just one melody all the way through. This, though, is structured like a song its got a verse, a pre-chorus and then it goes into what I would call a chorus and then back to a verse. Its quite a jolly, memorable melody, punctuated with a lot of cymbals, which lock the melody down. The lyrics are almost a battle cry, full of dramatic lyrics crashing waves, volcanoes, marching to the death. Personally I think our anthem is really dreary, but this has a better tempo, a more interesting structure. I think its a good singalong, and can really picture them bellowing that out, very proud, before kick-off. Im not much of a football person, but Im a glory girl, so Ill tune in for the final, perhaps a semi-final. I doubt Ill see much of Honduras this summer.
Ive watched a few videos of the national team whilst the anthems being played. They dont seem to know the words. Or care that its playing. This is odd because most Argentinian people I know are hugely patriotic. Its got a bit of an odd time signature to it, its not as easy to singalong to as our own national anthem - maybe its hard to sing along to something like this when you have a tango rhythm in your bones like the South Americans do? Also its not every anthemic in my opinion, its more like The Marriage Of Figaro. Apparently the old version had anti-Spanish lyrics! Naughty. Theyve obviously changed that since for something a bit more Gallagher-esque as the translation goes: Let us live crowned in glory or let us swear in glory to die!. Could be straight from Champagne Supernova couldnt it?
Ceremoniously slow and with a mood of solemn self-satisfaction and reflective pride, the most I can say about this is every note of it is archetypal national anthem fodder. The melody is reminiscent of any number of late Victorian hymn tunes- its verses end with perfect cadences following imperfect cadences at the halfway points, which creates comfortable if tired-sounding resolutions. In footballing terms its the stodgy 4-5-1 of a relegation-battling team of cloggers looking to flood the midfield and frustrate creativity. The lyrics arent much better, praising Herzegovinas wonderful blue sky- not the strongest USP there. Id speculate that at B-Hs inception something so bland was chosen to not inflame tensions between the ethnicities of the new state, what with Bosnian Serbs, Bosnian Croats and Bosnian Muslims all having separate (and hopefully way more banging) anthems with which they identify.
On first listening, the Iran teams national anthem Soroud-e Melli-e Jomhouri-e Eslami-e Iran sounds like yer standard pomptastic European 19th-century neo-classicism. But do some musicology, and you find that Irans precursor, Persia, has a strong clam to be the originator of the operatic form, with its song and drama tradition of Tazieh. Symphonic music is hugely important in contemporary Iran, often inspired by a native classic tradition that goes back to the Sasanian empire in the 2nd century. Dont know how the teamll do. But the anthem composed in 1990 is competitive and fighting fit.
The lyric line, One Nation bound in freedom, Peace and Unity is a bit of a tall order for most countries but sadly for Nigeria it is at most a hopeful dream. The song which cannot be described as great art - like many National Anthems including our own, is strident and solemn, and could be hymn. Indeed several of its melodic lines are ripped straight from familiar hymns, specifically Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer (Bread Of Heaven). It serves the purpose as a familiar anthem and call for loyalty and togetherness. Its lack of originality combined with its passionate formulaic construction is probably why it sounds like most other National Anthems on Earth, and why it does the job and very little more!
I have a great connection with this piece of music, which was written by Haydn in 1797. I went to Marlborough College in Wiltshire, and they had a beautiful chapel where we had matins most days. I remember singing the hymn Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken, to this tune, which with 800 voices was a thrilling sound. I was brought up Church of Ireland, and one of my earliest memories would have been in church with mum and dad, listening to this melody. Theres an interesting thing with music like this, how the beat falls with the melody; they often say music is mathematical in construction and this is a very good example. The melodic pattern repeats itself several times throughout, then you have a mid eight, and for me the most thrilling part is the reprise, those rising notes, and then it hits the top. Its a hell of a piece of music.
It sounds like a good bit of music and its rousing, but I found the lyrics - to arms, to arms! For the fatherland, fight! - a bit steeped in warfare and the glory of battle. Anthems often revel in that, which I find personally is not in my mindset and hopefully most people in the modern world will feel like that. Anthems are a piece of your heritage, though, like your old racist grandma you dont tell her to get lost just because her views are a little outdated. Melodically and as a piece of rousing hymnal music its great. Its definitely the sort of thing Id drop in a DJ set not the whole thing, just 30 seconds or so - because you feel its the music of the people. I wrote with a friend something like a hymn, for the Olympics, and I played it to my dad whos a vicar and he said it was too lofty and wouldnt connect to the working man. Hopefully well complete it at some stage, but writing a hymn that connects to people and is uplifting is hard to do. Ill be watching the World Cup when I was at school football supporting was about fighting and violence, but those days are gone. Ill always watch England, and experience that groaning feeling of depression as theyre lauded and then they fail. I dont know why theyre lauded so much, all they do is kick a ball about.
Apparently, this was adopted to take over from God save the Queen when Ghana stopped being a British colony in 1957. Ironically, youd be hard pushed to find anything more British. Sounds like it was rescued from Elgars recycling bin. Im struggling to understand why they couldnt come up with something a little more independent sounding to celebrate their Independence. That said, it contains all the elements required to stir the loins: a glorious and triumphant opening string and brass salvo, followed by a regal and stately middle section (to the manor born), building to a rabble rousing climax. Classic stuff. Looking forward to hearing Michael Essien belt this one out.
Its a decent melody, actually quite rousing. Like most anthems its intended to create unity in the face of adversity, coming from a time when America was a new country trying to forge its identity. Its certainly better than God Save the Queen, because its less sturgy and ploddy, but my theory is that anthems should be changed quite frequently so they reflect the times we live in, in a language we understand. Oer the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming what does it mean? Its a martial national anthem and maybe in peacetime, or something close to it, we should be having more forward-thinking anthems, with lyrics that inspire us to be more inclusive of races and genders. I think in Britain were aware that our country has seen better days, and were a bit more cynical about the flag-waving thing. Americas a younger country, with more naivety and innocence to it, and they believe they were born into the best country on earth. They do what humans do when theyre extremely fortunate, which is to say God gave it to them, or that they earned it in some way, when in fact theres a lot of luck involved, and these things are always cyclical. I find the World Cup fascinating. Im less interested in the tribalism of soccer, but I watch Barcelona every week and when they play at their best its with a shoal mentality. Theyre like a murmur of crows, they seem able to read where their team-mates are going with something close to telepathy. Watching it can touch you, in a way some artists can when the ego disappears into the creation. And Barcelona at their best are art, and Spain, Brazil, Holland have been, and other teams will be.
I love the lyrics. Our heart and soul are dedicated to you. Our strength and the blood of our veins we offer. This is the kind of thing I want to hear from my next boyfriend. I also love the idea that it was originally written by some young people in a cafe. Im a fan of epic crescendos so Im glad thats how the piece ends. If I was in charge of re-recording, I think I would add more swooping crescendos that dont come down they just keep getting bigger. All in all, I feel like I should be windswept and on my way to overcoming something emotionally difficult when Im listening to this anthem. It sort of has a be the bigger person vibe. It feels sonically stoic, proud and dignified.
On first listening it didnt strike me as the catchiest national anthem that Ive heard, though Im not completely au fait with all the worlds national anthems. But then I listened to it a couple of times and it really started to grow on me. The music, all trumpets and strings, is quite rousing, quite full-on. Then I looked at the lyrics, and what strikes you is the crazy dichotomy of the very perky music, and these incredibly revolutionary lyrics. They use a poem that Mufdi Zakariah, a prisoner of French colonial forces in the 1950s, wrote in his own blood on the wall of his cell. Its very powerful, very stirring. Even in translation there are some great lines we have taken the drum of gunpowder as our rhythm and the sound of machine guns as our melody. Its a very positive, very proud lyric, very much of its time. Theres no mention of any one person, or any specific leader its a song to bind a people, and a nation. Its unusual for an anthem to mention another country like France is mentioned here, which roots it to a particular period of their history. Maybe they dont ever want to forget about the oppression, but I wonder if maybe in 100 years time someone might say, We can forget about France now.
The Algerian national anthem is quite an upbeat ditty but is pretty repetitive. The lyrics are from a poem called Qassaman by Mufdi Zakariah, which he wrote while he was being held as a political prisoner by France in 1957, so despite its chirpiness it talks of guns, blood, fighting, freedom and more blood. When Zakariah wrote so we have taken the drum of gunpowder as our rhythm, and the sound of machine guns as our melody, he wouldnt have known composer Mohamed Fawzi would accidentally borrow a bit from The Laughing Policeman. Not the greatest melody for a national anthem but the lyrics are bound to evoke memories of the bloody fight for independence. I find songs based on poems rarely work but it does have a pop at the French so its not all bad.
My first impression was: my god that does go on a bit. I always thought all anthems were like ours, 30 seconds long. But then there are loads of other verses to God Save the Queen that we never bother with because we get bored. The Russian ones got all the key attributes of a good anthem its grandiose, over the top, classical leaning, a bit intimidating but it just went on and on and on. Lyrically it is a bit overbearing, and theres no mention of food or vodka, which is a bit strange. I read that they only introduced this anthem in 2000. Imagine if someone tried to change our anthem thered be uproar. I can just picture the front page of the Sun. The thing about anthems is that you never listen to them because you want to its always forced upon you. Youre at a stadium, waiting for the start of a match, and youre trapped. Its like if youre taking a road trip in a mates car and he makes you listen to the whole of the new Duran Duran album. You cant get out. I remember we played a gig in Russia about five years ago. The fans were great, but someone gave us Russian dolls of ourselves, which was a bit weird. They were really well done. At least we got paid back in the 70s an English band called UFO played in Russia and they were paid in trombones. They werent allowed to bring roubles out of the country, so they were given things they could sell.Well be touring America during the World Cup but Ill watch every game I can. I might glue an iPad to my wedge so I can keep up with scores while were on. Are England going to win it? Of course not. On home soil Brazil have to have a chance, but then I dont really know how good their team is because I havent seen it.
I didnt know anthems were so long. Normally at a football match its about a minute, and this is about three and a half minutes long. The weird thing about anthems is that they all sound very similar, all those big melodies and stuff. Why are they all sung in an operatic style? I dont understand. Thats not where it is right now. To be fair, at first it had that epic appeal to it, almost like the Champions League opening music. Me personally, thats not going to get me excited for a game. I want to hear DMX or something. 2Pac maybe. Something energetic thats going to get you hyper. I might as well fall asleep as listen to this. The last international match I went to was England v Ghana at Wembley. Both of those anthems, theyre nice and simple about one minute, its done. Maybe the Koreans do a short version, a bit of an edit. I hope so.
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