Which country has the best national anthem?

  • Thread starter Thread starter leopard
  • Start date Start date
Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around opinions on which country has the best national anthem, exploring various anthems from around the world. Participants share personal preferences and criteria for evaluating national anthems, including musicality, lyrics, and cultural significance.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Exploratory

Main Points Raised

  • One participant lists their top 20 national anthems, favoring Russia, Germany, and Canada among others.
  • Another participant claims South Africa has the best national anthem, followed by Australia, while noting their New Zealand background to address potential bias.
  • A participant agrees with the preference for South Africa's anthem, highlighting its multilingual nature but also mentioning its shared tune with other African countries, which may affect its uniqueness.
  • Concerns are raised about the accuracy of the lyrics for Germany's anthem, with a participant stating that only the third stanza is currently sung.
  • One participant expresses a preference for the Soviet national anthem for its musicality, despite disliking the associated concept, and suggests that the French national anthem has the best lyrics.
  • A humorous suggestion is made that Enya could create an excellent national anthem, referencing her work on a children's song.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a variety of opinions on which national anthems are the best, with no consensus reached. Multiple competing views remain regarding the merits of different anthems.

Contextual Notes

Some claims about anthems may depend on personal taste and cultural context, and there are references to historical changes in anthem lyrics that may not be universally recognized.

leopard
Messages
123
Reaction score
0
http://www.nationalanthemsworld.com/

A lot of crappy anthems out there, particularly in Africa and Asia. But here are the 20 best ones IMO:

1. Russia
2. Germany
3. Canada
4. Poland
5. Romania
6. Brazil
7. France
8. Sweden
9. Great Britain
10. Bangladesh
11. Kazakhstan
12. Mongolia
13. Italy
14. Bahamas (inspired by the Canadian?)
15. USA
16. Andorra (inspired by the French?)
17. Spain
18. Portugal
19. Norway
20. Netherlands
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Physics news on Phys.org
In my opinion, South Africa has the best national anthem, with Australia first.

By the way I'm a New Zealander, just to eliminate any accusations of bias.
 
Russia
 
I agree with joeyar.

South Africa's national anthem has parts in 3 languages, I think that's pretty cool. First part is Xhosa, the second is Afrikaans and the third is English.

Problem is that the tune is use in the national anthem of other african countries too, so it loses it's uniqueness musically.
 
That site has the lyrics wrong for Germany - Deutschland über alles is not sung anymore, that was the Nazi and Weimar Republics' anthem. Only the third stanza is sung now.
⚛​
 
I would say the soviet national anthem. I dislike the concept but their song is sung here a lot for various humour-reasons.

The best lyrics would although be the french national anthem.

http://www.nationalanthemsworld.com/anthems/france.html
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I think enya would do a cracking national anthem. Look at what she did to "there's a hole in my bucket"
 

Similar threads

Which country is ranked as the best for females in the G20?
  • · Replies 10 ·
Replies
10
Views
3K
Why did Churchill refuse to discuss peace with Hitler in 1940?
  • · Replies 59 ·
2
Replies
59
Views
24K
How Does Great Lakes Earth's Geography Differ from Our Own?
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
4K
Writing: Read Only What Does Great Lakes Earth Look Like from Space?
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
4K
Is Underpopulation the Next Global Crisis?
  • · Replies 22 ·
Replies
22
Views
8K
Challenge Math Challenge - December 2018
  • · Replies 67 ·
3
Replies
67
Views
17K