By Severin
I started off this week intending to stick to official national anthems plus musical and lyrical quotes from them. It soon became obvious that some of the unofficial ones were just as worthy of inclusion. And so were anthems for individual states, cities or counties within a sovereign country. Or for international groupings or even whole continents. Not to mention the distorted or rewritten “versions”, some of which departed wildly from the original. In the end they were all welcome and this is what we ended up with…
USA
First a very distorted version of the USA anthem The Star Spangled Banner. Jimi Hendrix turns the tune into a battle scene or as Banazir said “an air raid”. Generally taken as a comment on the Vietnam War although Jimi's brief time in the US Army may have fed into it too.
Japan
Then the Japanese anthem Kimigayo transformed into a J Pop tune. No bombs dropping or martial connotations here.
Jamaica
If anyone had asked me to name the Jamaican anthem before this week I would have been stumped. The same is true of many other countries but given all the Jamaican music I have heard over the years it does seem like a bit of an omission. So I have to take Tatanka's word for it that Richie Stephens' version of Jamaica, Land We Love has taken “a few lyrical liberties”. It still sounds good to me.
Catalonia
Now the anthem of Spanish autonomous community Catalonia. Which used to be a principality and is still designated a nationality, with a flag and everything. Including an official anthem called El Segadors (The Reapers). The jazz performance here is by Charlie Haden and/or The Liberation Music Orchestra. I'm hoping that pejepeine will help me out with the correct attribution before in ends up in the Marconium!
Germany
JJ Burnel (he of the Stranglers) released an album in 1979 called Euroman Cometh, which broadly had the theme of European unity. One of the tracks, Deutschland Nicht Uber Alles, references, at least in the title, the German anthem but like the album itself seems to reject nationalism in favour of a pan European identity.
EU
The European Union isn't a nation or state, but a political and economic union of (checks notes) 27 member states. It does have a flag and a currency which is used by 20 of its members. And it has an official anthem; an instrumental version of the prelude to The Ode To Joy from Beethoven's 9th Symphony. The Ode To Joy has been listed before, in 2016 in the Guardian for songs about hope and resilience. Several versions were nommed this week but I've included the second one mentioned in the A List below. It's a staged “flash mob” version which I think is sufficiently different to the previously listed one to make it eligible. To make it fair I have credited both the nominator of this version and the first person to suggest the piece. How's that for peace and unity eh?
Australia
Australia has an official anthem in Advance Australia Fair which replaced God Save The Queen in 1974. And after a bit of switching back and forth is now back in place. But for many Australians the song Waltzing Matilda is the alternative anthem and the one that they love the most. It is extensively used in Tom Waits' song Tom Traubert's Blues (Four Sheets To The Wind In Copenhagen). And one great song including an excerpt from another sounds good to me.
France
The French anthem La Marseillaise has a refrain which exhorts the people “to arms citizens, train your battalions” and goes on to add a comment about “impure blood”. Serge Gainsbourg recorded a freely adapted version of this in Jamaica with the I Three singing a much simpler and less problematic “Aux Armes et Caetera” (to arms etcetera) as a chorus. He takes a few liberties (and possibly equalities and fraternities) with the rest of the lyric too.
China
The title of the next track “Zhonghua” is a transliteration of the Chinese word for China. The Slovenian band, Laibach, recorded a whole album (Volk) of their distinctive versions of various countries' national anthems. It was rather hard to pick just one of the six that were nominated but I finally settled on their take on the Chinese anthem March of the Volunteers. Partly because of a comment under the YouTube clip which invited me to imagine Chinese schoolchildren singing along with it before lessons start. I did and it was quite unnerving.
Cape Breton Island (Canada)
Never mind the UK and the USA. I could have filled a whole playlist with the Canadian entries. But in the end it was this unofficial anthem for Cape Breton Island that made the final cut - although the Arrogant Worms were in the running too. It wasn't intended as an anthem when it was written and recorded but it took on a life of its own and has been adopted by church choirs, Jewish groups, health care workers and by the Cape Breton University for whom it is the official “school song”.
South Africa / Pan-African Liberation
Nkosi Sekelel' iAfrika is a hymn composed in 1897 by a Methodist minister. It subsequently became a pan-African liberation anthem and the official anthem of South Africa and several other African countries. This version is from the 1987 film Cry Freedom.
Nowhere at all
OK (computer) this is just a song called The National anthem and not the actual anthem of any country or place. Plus it seems (to me) to be mainly about claustrophobia or paranoia. And one critic described the brass parts as sounding like “a brass band crashing into a brick wall”. But I did say that simple references to national anthems were eligible and for my money this one sounds fantastic.
Northern Ireland
The Londonderry Air is an unofficial anthem of Northern Ireland and is used at the Commonwealth Games where they compete under their own steam rather than as part of a UK team. The tune has also been described as one of the most beautiful ever written. This smooth jazz version is irresistible. But an honourable mention for the Grimethorpe Colliery Band's version too.
UK
God Save The Queen recorded by Neil Young and Crazy Horse! Or, more accurately a mash up of that song and the American song My Country 'tis of Thee. And a thumping, ringing, clashing mash up it is too. I knew quite early on that Jimi had to be the opener of the playlist and that this one had to be the finale. God bless us all and thank you Canada.
Anthemic A-List Playlist:
Jimi Hendrix – The Star Spangled Banner (BanazirGalbasi)
Kou Kakinohara – Kimigayo (BanazirGalbasi)
Richie Stephens – Jamaica Land We Love (Tatanka Yotanka)
Charlie Haden/Liberation Music Orchestra – El Segadors (The Reapers) (pejepeine)
Jean Jacques Burnel – Deutschland Nicht Uber Alles (Maki)
Ludwig Van Beethoven – Ode an die Freude (Ode to Joy) (Nilpferd/Suzi)
Tom Waits – Tom Traubert's Blues (Four Sheets to the Wind in Copenhagen) (Nicko)
Serge Gainsbourg – Aux Armes et Caetera (Nicko)
Laibach – Zhonghua (Volk) (Vikingchild)
The Rankin Family – Rise Again (Marconius7)
George Fenton (produced and arranged for Cry Freedom soundtrack) – Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika (AltraEgo)
Radiohead – The National Anthem (Shoegazer)
Johnny Griffin Quartet – The Londonderry Air (pejepeine)
Neil Young and Crazy Horse – God Save the Queen (Suzi)
Body Politic B-List Playlist:
Mungu ibariki Afrika (Tanzanian National Anthem) (Nicko)
Hawaii Ponoi (Hawaii'an National Anthem (Marconius7)
Arrogant Worms – Canada is Really Big (Marconius7)
Marvin Gaye – The Star Spangled Banner (Fred Erickson)
Kiyoshiro Imawano – Kimigayo (ajostu)
Gabry Ponte - Canto degli Italiani (Remix) (BanazirGalbasi)
Julia & Ayla Rodriguez - Arrorró / Dia de Canarias (pejepeine)
Juliette Greco – Sous le ciel de Paris (untergunther)
Мен – тыва мен (I Am a Tuvan) - The National Anthem of Tuva (BanazirGalbasi)
Ludwig Van Beethoven – Ode to Joy (Scottish National Orchestra) (Nilpferd)
The Grateful Dead – US Blues (Chris7572)
Roy Ayers – Red Black and Green (Nilpferd)
Franz Liszt– La Marseillaise (Loud Atlas)
Able Tasmans – Klingon National Anthem (Nilpferd)
Bro Gozh ma Zadou (National Anthem of Brittany) (Suzi)
Nitin Sawhney – Anthem Without Nation (Nicko)
The Voices of St Paul – Lift Every Voice (BanazirGalbasi)
Ludwig Van Beethoven – Seven Variations on God Save the King (arr John Williams) (ajostu)
Guru’s Wildcard Picks:
1) Brief but incredibly offensive spoof anthem about a real country which didn't deserve the treatment it got. A spokesman pointed out that it was not too dangerous to make jokes about them precisely because they were nothing like the fictional version. The song was once played, probably by mistake, at a medal ceremony in Kuwait.
2) Deadpan account of famous migrants and the American psyche, featuring a musical snippet of the German anthem and mutated lyrical quotes from America the Beautiful.
3) A stripped down rendition of an English folk song said to be one of the inspirations for the tune of the British anthem.
4) The alternative to the alternative Australian anthem! Written by Bruce Woodley of The Seekers and Dobe Newton of The Bushwhackers.
5) A doomy version of the German anthem featuring a verse which has been taboo, even forbidden, since the end of WW2.
6) An unzedded (and my favourite) version of a song about war, patriotism and the unofficial Australian anthem.
Borat Film Soundtrack - Kazakhstan Greatest Country In the World
Randy Newman – Sigmund Freud's Impersonation of Albert Einstein in America
Richard Thompson – Remember O Thou Man
The Seekers – I Am Australian
Nico – Das Lied Der Deutschen
June Tabor – The Band Played Waltzing Matilda
Olympic rings on the Eiffel Tower in Paris 2024
These playlists were inspired by readers' song nominations in response to last week's topic: Olympic winners or losers? Songs about or featuring national anthems. The next topic will launch on Thursday after 1pm UK time.
New to comment? It is quick and easy. You just need to login to Disqus once. All is explained in About/FAQs ...
Fancy a turn behind the pumps at The Song Bar? Care to choose a playlist from songs nominated and write something about it? Then feel free to contact The Song Bar here, or try the usual email address. Also please follow us social media: Song Bar Twitter, Song Bar Facebook. Song Bar YouTube, and Song Bar Instagram. Please subscribe, follow and share.
Song Bar is non-profit and is simply about sharing great music. We don’t do clickbait or advertisements. Please make any donation to help keep the Bar running: