NATIONAL ANTHEMS OF THE WORLD

I was watching Classic Arts Showcase this morning, and on came La Marseillaise, the French National Anthem.  I've long thought this was as good as any in showing patriotism.  How can one forget that scene from Casablanca.  What surprised me was the English translation.  I was almost shocked at the language. Click here for full English version.  I can't imagine anyone in France knowing the entirety of their national anthem.  So I thought, what about some of the others, and which is considered to be the best.

There is no consensus as to the #1, but among those topping this list, and there are many, are the anthems of Uruguay, Pakistan, and South Africa.  Russia is almost always up there, and it is majestic, something you've heard many times because of those Summer and Winter Olympics.  While only official from 1946, the lyrics keep getting changed to remove Stalin and reduce the importance of World War II.

My favorites include Canada and Japan.  How can one not like O Canada, which goes back to 1880, originally with French lyrics.  Kimigayo is short (11 measures and 32 characters) and distinguished.  The melody was chosen in 1880, with lyrics from a poem of around the year 1000.

The American national anthem of course goes back to 1814, Francis Scott Key and and the Battle of Baltimore.  How many actually know that the music is copied from a British drinking song.  The Star Spangled Banner only became official in 1931.  That was terrible if you clicked on that, but Whitney Houston gave a sensational performance for Super Bowl 1991.  Frankly, never liked our anthem, for it is difficult to sing (ranges an octave and a half, too much for most), and I keep forgetting the words.

Attempts have been made to find a replacement.  Certainly, My Country 'Tis of Thee should not be considered because the melody is identical to God Save the Queen (or King), which goes back 500 years (exactly in 1619).  American the Beautiful has the most support.

Most national anthems have history and tradition to make them respectable.  Then, there are others:

• Malaysia's was concocted by a government aide who made one up during a visit to Queen Elizabeth, using a popular Seychelles melody.

• Uganda's is the shortest in the world, all eight bars.
• Greece has the longest, 158 stanzas.

• The Democratic Republic of Congo asks:  And if we have die, does it really matter.
• Spain's has no words.  You hum along.  Mind you, there are proposals aplenty.
• Ukraine's starts with Ukraine is not yet dead.
• The Netherland's is acrostic.  You figure that out.

Sometimes I provide useless information, and here is a good example:

Have you figured out the color code yet?

Description

A major (Equatorial Guinea, South Korea and Kyrgyzstan)    A minor (Bulgaria and Tajikistan)    A-flat major (Algeria, Bangladesh, Burundi, Eswatini, Lithuania, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Rwanda and San Marino)    B-flat major (Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Fiji, Grenada, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Ireland, Jamaica, Kiribati, Kuwait, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Tuvalu, the United States, Vanuatu and Vietnam)    C major (Angola, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Dominica, East Timor, Ethiopia, the Gambia, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, North Korea, Luxembourg, North Macedonia, Marshall Islands, Mexico, Namibia, Panama, Russia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Spain, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Togo, Uruguay and Yemen)    C-sharp major (Cape Verde and Pakistan)    D major (the Bahamas, Bahrain, Denmark, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia, Finland, Mauritius, Nicaragua, Seychelles and Sudan)    D minor (Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan)    D-flat major (Haiti and Norway)    E major (Bhutan, Ecuador, Iceland and Libya)    E minor (Iraq, Israel and Romania)    E-flat major (Afghanistan, Austria, Canada, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Czech Republic, the Dominican Republic, Germany, Hungary, India, Mauritania, Palau, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, South Sudan and Suriname)    F major (Armenia, Belarus, Belize, Brunei, Burkina Faso, Chad, Comoros, the Republic of the Congo, Cyprus, Djibouti, Egypt, Gabon, Greece, Guatemala, Guinea, Laos, Malawi, the Maldives, Malta, the Federated States of Micronesia, Moldova, Nauru, Niger, Nigeria, Palestine, Paraguay, Peru, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Somalia, Syria, Tanzania, Tonga, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, the United Arab Emirates, Vatican City, Venezuela and Western Sahara)    F-sharp major (Ivory Coast and Uganda)    G major (Albania, Andorra, Barbados, China, France, Indonesia, Iran, Kosovo, Latvia, Lebanon, Mali, Monaco, Mozambique, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Oman, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, Uzbekistan, Zambia and Zimbabwe)    G minor (Cambodia, Nepal, Slovakia and Turkey)    Played at any key or mixed keys (Brazil, the Central African Republic, Georgia, Honduras, Italy, Montenegro, Morocco, the Philippines and South Africa)

If you would like see all the countries, click on this.

Let me close with the only State Anthem (all others have state songs) in the USA:  Hawaii Pono'i.  The words were written in 1874 by King David Kalakaua (King Kamehameha V) with music composed by Royal Hawaiian Bandmaster Captain Henri Berger, loaned by Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany.

Berger had worked under Johann Strauss, Jr, the one who wrote waltzes like the Blue Danube.  Berger also formed the Honolulu Symphony.  He wrote a variety of songs, one being The Hilo March.

-
The Dow Jones gained 182 points to close at 27,675, another all-time record.  The S&P 500 also reached its all-time high.  Why?  Trade talks with China are going well.  One year record of the Dow:

-