Even Amerika sounds better

I can't say this shit in work, so I'm gonna say it here.

  • Palacegalleryratio [he/him]
    ·
    edit-2
    21 days ago

    Obsequious, servile and craven bootlicking anthem. Honestly not inappropriate for the UKkk.

    ukkk

    • Erika3sis [she/her, xe/xem]
      ·
      21 days ago

      Abolish the monarchy, dissolve the UK, and unite Ireland, all so that we won't have to hear "God Save The King" again. Only "Flower of Scotland", "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau", "Amhrán na bhFiann", and "Jerusalem", all of which are a million times better.

      Now even without the UK, the same melody is also used by the national anthem of Liechtenstein. This being the case, I say Liechtenstein should get annexed by Switzerland, purely so that no-one will need to be reminded that the UK ever existed.

        • Erika3sis [she/her, xe/xem]
          ·
          20 days ago

          Tax haven with a monarchy, yeah, that's reason enough. The Landtag has 25 seats and four parties: three of these, representing 22 seats, are slight variants of right-wing populist + liberal conservative + Christian democrat + monarchist. The remaining three seats belong to a social democratic party describing itself as green, secular, and multicultural... Which is, you guessed it, also monarchist.

          There are also two parties in Liechtenstein without representation in the Landtag, one of which is yet another chud party, and the other of which is a more or less single-issue party against vaccines and COVID-19 lockdowns. And this is not to get into the defunct parties of Liechtenstein!

          All in all, I think this says something about the Overton window of Liechtenstein. Like, Switzerland strikes me as also pretty shitty, but at least Switzerland is a real country, at least it has a communist party at all, and at least it has a sizeable "parliamentary left" that doesn't support a monarchy.

          • Tiocfaidhcaisarla [he/him, comrade/them]
            ·
            20 days ago

            Really is shit all the way down there, huh? Agreed on Switzerland. I spent a few hours in Lichtenstein on my one time in Europe on a high school trip, I don't remember the exact details but apparently there was a guy running for president (?) Who was also noble/the king and threatened to raise taxes if not elected. It was distinctly unremarkable compared to surrounding Switzerland and Austria, was a hold over from the HRE that seemingly exists solely as a tax haven for those too dastardly for even Switzerland and for that king president to rule over is his obedient piggies. And it's already protected by Switzerland so they really should just take it and put that fucker out to pasture. Low on the list of demonic countries even then though

  • HalidBeslic [he/him]
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    edit-2
    20 days ago

    Serbia is a close second, in my opinion. It's just a simpler version of The Emperors hymn by Haydn, with lyrics that consist of begging god to save the country. The fact that it replaced the old anthem (Hey, Slavs) irritates me to no end. We used to be a country tito

    • Erika3sis [she/her, xe/xem]
      ·
      21 days ago

      Honestly "Bože Pravde" would be like a middle tier anthem like Hungary's, if it weren't for the context of the fall of Yugoslavia. That context alone makes Serbia's anthem bottom tier.

      I don't have an exact ranking of bad national anthems, but I've always found Norway's anthem to be profoundly tedious and bottom tier. The only thing Norway's anthem is good for is letting me subvert the opening line by saying "No, we hate this country as it falls down", but as an anthem there's just better choices out there, and there's better anthems in the Nordic countries. Like even Denmark's "King Christian Stood By Lofty Mast", for as much as it pains me to award points to a song praising a monarch, at least that anthem is the only national anthem in the world to include the word "brain" in its lyrics.

    • Mardoniush [she/her]
      ·
      21 days ago

      Ooof, as much as I like the tune, having a song that most people associate with German Patriotism is a massive self dunk.

      • HalidBeslic [he/him]
        ·
        20 days ago

        Interestingly enough, people mostly don't associate it with the Germans. The majority of people here don't know about the fact. I'd doubt it would get any love if that was the case.

        If anything, it's very fitting that we have knock-off German anthem in this era where we don't have any sovereignty.

  • Mardoniush [she/her]
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    edit-2
    21 days ago

    Never understood why they didn't go for Rule Britannia, which is admittedly hard to sing but is a banger. (and in the context of the Opera it started in is more about freedom from oppression than Imperial expansion)

    On the other hand, consider how narrowly you avoided being girt by sea.

    • Erika3sis [she/her, xe/xem]
      ·
      20 days ago

      Honestly I've always wanted to watch Children of Troubled Times but I don't know where I'd find it with subtitles

  • WittyProfileName2 [she/her]
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    21 days ago

    I think this is just an England problem.

    As national anthems go, Flower of Scotland and Mae Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau are good.

      • Awoo [she/her]
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        edit-2
        21 days ago

        This version is kinda shit, it's not a song that should be sung by a single singer. It's a big orchestral choir song, the more people that sing it, the better, huge stadiums in fact. Obviously the Proms are full of crackers so avert your eyes to the video but this is a much better example of that song: https://youtu.be/sERiPuOQyvo

        Yes this song is also where /r/greenandpleasant gets its name, partially ironic and partially because nobody wants to use "United Kingdom" for a leftist community, particularly when we'd want to replace it. Jerusalem is a song about that, claiming England is kinda naff and we must work tirelessly to improve it.

      • Erika3sis [she/her, xe/xem]
        ·
        21 days ago

        I think "Jerusalem" is great, personally. I mean, it's certainly better to have an anthem that, if religiously, describes the England of today as full of "dark, Satanic mills" and asserts that this current state of affairs must be tirelessly resisted; than to have an anthem like "Land of Hope and Glory", that basically says England is awesome and great and mayhaps should continually expand by the grace of God.

      • Mardoniush [she/her]
        ·
        21 days ago

        Such a beautiful anthem, only New Zealand, The Internationale, and the Soviet ANthem come close.

        • PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmygrad.ml
          ·
          21 days ago

          New Zealand

          It's just a pop song though. And it has more mentions of god than an average church song. Also sounds hollow because it's still the anthem for Anglo settler state.

  • Vampire [any]
    ·
    21 days ago

    National Anthems are a shit genre

    • TillieNeuen [she/her]
      ·
      21 days ago

      I mostly agree, but sometimes they have the perfect level of drama, like that scene in Casablanca

    • regul [any]
      ·
      21 days ago

      Whenever Ferrari wins in F1 they play the Italian anthem and it's a lovely jaunty march.

      • AcidSmiley [she/her]
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        edit-2
        21 days ago

        Whenever i hear the Italian national anthem, i imagine the lyrics to just be "Italia, Italia, Italia, Italiaaaa" over and over again. idk why

    • Mickmacduffin [he/him]
      ·
      21 days ago

      A good national anthem should be a bad song. Think about it. A soldier crying and saluting an objectively brilliant piece that makes you want to cry? Meaningless. The song makes everyone want to cry. But that same soldier crying to a mediocre 19th century drinking song with the most forgettable orchestral backdrop you've ever heard? Damn, he must really love his country to be moved by that piece of shit

  • Łumało [he/him]@lemmygrad.ml
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    21 days ago

    Bro. The Polish anthem literally is praising Napoleon 💀💀💀

    It literally can't get worse than to include "love for the French" in ones anthem 💀💀💀

    • UlyssesT [he/him]
      ·
      20 days ago

      I was going to bring up the Polish anthem, which is both French bootlicking and self-pity ranting made into a song, but you beat me to it.

  • Mickmacduffin [he/him]
    ·
    21 days ago

    I have a theory that national anthems are bad by design. If its a good song, there's no patriotism in liking it. Its a bop! Of course you like it!

    But a bad song, a bad song is ripe with opportunities to flex your love of country. Its a contest! Look at how brainwashed I am! Look at how much I'm moved by the bad song!

    That's why you'll never see any national anthem on anyone's ipod (Hendrix excluded). It sucks by design

  • bunnygirl [she/her]
    ·
    21 days ago

    you say that but the germans leave two thirds of theirs out for being just a lil too fashy

    • PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmygrad.ml
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      edit-2
      21 days ago

      Note that Germany have basically the same anthem since 1922, but each time their system change, they change which stanza goes first. Now only the third is considered anthem, first being too fashy and second too silly.

      Poland fact: Polish anthem is also very revanchist but nobody give a fuck to change the text, there's even very high praise for Napoleon Bonaparte left in second stanza (and very ironic one that Bonaparte shown us how to win)

      Poland fact 2: contrary to what anyone could think, there is not a single mention of God, Mary or anything religious in the Polish anthem.

  • huf [he/him]
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    21 days ago

    The German and Hungarian anthems are just as bad

      • Erika3sis [she/her, xe/xem]
        ·
        21 days ago

        I read somewhere that "Auferstanden Aus Ruinen" was deliberately written so that you can adapt its lyrics to "Deutschlandlied" as well as "Ode to Joy" and vice versa. It doesn't quite work once you get to the end of a verse, but it does mostly work.

      • huf [he/him]
        ·
        21 days ago

        No, it's boring bland euro music with embarrassing lyrics

  • PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmygrad.ml
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    edit-2
    21 days ago

    I think Japan has the worst, it just slides off the brain into non-hearing. And i'm sure it's not the only one, i bet i heard a lot more of so fucking boring ones i even forgot i listened to them.

    I mean what is the point of anthem from a musical standpoint? To offer a distinct and simple melody so even the densest people can remember and follow it. Also one which can be screamed loudly (often when drunk) on various patriotic-ish occasions. In short, an officially sanctioned pub song. From that point of view US anthem is pretty good one. French or German too, even Polish is not bad.

    Finally also note that anthems specifically composed as anthems, especially after WW2 tend to suck donkey ass (with some exceptions), it's just the audible equivalent of tricolor flag.

    • Erika3sis [she/her, xe/xem]
      ·
      20 days ago

      I do think that Japan's anthem is interesting if for no other reason than that the lyrics are literally a thousand years old and allude to legends about sazare-ishi, but it is a very drowsy song, and anything pro-monarchy is just fundamentally kinda cringe.

      I think that much like flags, anthems serve different purposes in different countries. Japan adopted a national anthem really just for the sake of emulating Western countries, and didn't really have any sort of locally-grown, naturally-developed "national anthem culture" at the time. And in a country where people aren't necessarily going around drunkenly screaming patriotic songs, the purpose of a national anthem is oftentimes more like... I dunno, some short ditty to play in like ceremonial meetings between heads of state or whatever. It doesn't need to be particularly inspiring, it just needs to exist.