Is singing your national anthem badly a disservice to it?

[purplepixie]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_DH5quD1x8

May I present the new British National Anthem. Enjoy.

OT: I think it's almost mandatory to sing ours badly, as mentioned up-thread it was designed for drunken footie fans and people who only know the first few lines.

 

[Mordekaien]

It doesn't bother me when it's sung badly, since ou anthem is pretty dull, and I don't find it very appealing, but what gets me is when someone deliberately mocks it. There was a video somewhere where they were trying to sing our anthem and that was supposed to be funny, but it was not. It was pretty low humor and I think it was aimed at kids, yet it still boggles my mind how could they air it somewhere on TV.

Spoiler: Btw, Slovak National anthem, for those interested

 

[RewardMe]

Thats why I love our UK national anthem.

It's as if it was designed to be sung by drunken football fans .... who don't know the words.

Which works for me when i'm pissed and watching an England match, I can sing along.

The sad part is we have a boring as fuck national anthem. I prefer Rule Britannia.

Yeah, it's practically a dirge, which suits both drunken supporters, and half-assed players who can mumble the words with minimum effort or passion, and get away with it.

Loath as I am to compliment rugby, our England football team could learn a lot from the Italian national rugby team. Fuck me, do they belt their anthem out. Not that it does them any favours on the pitch though...

I think for England we should have our own national anthem, Jerusalem would be great seeing as it's specifically about England, not great Britain. All the other GB countries get their own anthem, why not us :-(

We did have Jerusalem as our national anthem in a recent commonwealth games, if I remember correctly. It was quite embarrassing to watch on how long it went on. Even some of our gold winners were visibly uncomfortable when it was playing. Still, it's a good song. And it's the closest thing we have for a English national anthem like ya said.

 

[Winthrop]

I think if someone tries their hardest, its fine if they sing it poorly. They are doing their best to respect their nation, even if their best is just awful.

That said I honestly hate when people sing it in a ridiculously show offfish or ridiculous way. It comes off as making the anthem more about themselves then the nation to me. Like that scene in American Dad where Steve sings it.

 

[Wolf In A Bear Suit]

The Irish anthem as stated above is in Irish. People not knowing the words is offensive to me. I took the time to learn them in English so I know what I'm saying. More people know the words to Ireland's call (an anthem designed for both the North and the Republic) which has a nice sentiment but isn't our national anthem.
I also know Flower of Scotland, for no other reason than it's epi. Also made efforts to learn the German one, (as I'm learning German) but I have to see, the Italian one is also epic and sung with a lot of passion

 

[Vegosiux]

I refuse to sing my national anthem.
It's not that I oppose the values presented in the song, but I strongly oppose the nationalism that it implies.

This. I don't like patriotic and nationalistic displays, especially at sporting events where I just want to watch the game. So I don't care if someone does justice to my country's anthem, besides I never bothered to learn the words to myself either.

Our national anthem is an odd one when it comes to that, as it's more of a "why can't we all just get along" thing.

"...who long to see that all men free no more shall foes but neighbors be." We're a silly bunch sometimes, us Slovenians. 'specially since the entire song (only the seventh stanza is actually the anthem) is basically a drinking song.

 

[Dwarfman]

Still, I prefer that 'We are Australian' song as an anthem- you know, the 'we are one/but we are many/and from all the lands on Earth we come' song. Has a feel to it that makes you all fuzzy inside.

The song is by a band called the Seekers. Great song and a much better choice for a replacement anthem than Waltzing Matilda. Heck we don't even use the proper melody when singing it. The one we use is the melody to an old patriotic song the English used during the Boer War in hopes of getting their backwater colony to provide volounteers for the war. That being said I haven't a problem with Advance Australia Fair.

And to answer the OPs question, yes and no. I think if you are a crowd people singing you sing as loud and as proud as you can - doesn't mean you sing in key but hey. If you are there specifically to perform not only your nations anthem but visiting nations as well, then you have an obligation to do a good job.

 

[Johnny Impact]

There is something to be said for singing with pride and gusto, out of genuine patriotism, regardless of talent or lack thereof.

Singing it badly to mock it is another matter.

Fun fact: I was almost 30 before I learned the US anthem has like a dozen more verses that no one ever sings. Fine with me, the damn thing would be twenty-five minutes long performed in its entirety.

 

[solemnwar]

After *having* to sing it every day in school for 8 odd years I am officially sick and tired of the Canadian national anthem. I yawn everytime it comes on because I recall those terribly sleepy mornings.

I also don't really like the Canadian Anthem, I prefer UK and America over it.

At least our anthem is shorter than the American one. Jesus christ does it go on.
Also funnilly enough I remember the french lyrics to O Canada better than the English ones (we learned both in elementary school and listened to both in middle and high school). Luckily for me, in high school I tended not to have a first class so I didn't have to listen to it often, awww yeeaaaah.


OT: The only disservice a badly-sung song is to is the people around you. Think of the ears!

 

[Dfskelleton]

Singing it poorly because of no singing talent, that's reasonable.
However, intentionally singing it horribly, that's what I would call disrespectful.

Besides, everyone should have at least a bit of pride in their country.

 

[J Tyran]

Thats why I love our UK national anthem.

It's as if it was designed to be sung by drunken football fans .... who don't know the words.

Which works for me when i'm pissed and watching an England match, I can sing along.

The sad part is we have a boring as fuck national anthem. I prefer Rule Britannia.

I prefer Rule Britannia myself, its not exactly true anymore of course. When it was written the Royal Navy did indeed rule the waves but that's not been true for a long time now. Shame really things where on the up until the Torys fucked them over again.

 

[Tumedus]

As someone from the US, I don't care if you can't sing the Anthem well, although you should know the words. What bothers me is actually the audiences. You are supposed to cheer if someone can cover interval on the word "free" not just because they got to that point in the song.

But no it is not a disservice to the anthem, although it could be a disservice to your career.

 

[Superior Mind]

New Zealand's national anthem is shit. I prefer the Te Reo Maori version because most people can't understand it, (plus it has a slightly different meaning which is a little more tolerable.)

Basically it is a song prostrating the nation before God and pleading for said God to defend us from all the scary shit in the world. I can think of no worse self-image: We're useless, we're fearful, and we need God to help us - remembering of course that NZ is a secular nation.

So to answer the actual question, singing our national anthem isn't a disservice to it because it's pretty shit anyway.

 

[KingKickass]

If its THIS national anthem (that really should be our National Anthem) then most definitely.

EDIT: I forgot how to do this so here's the link, hopefully I can figure it out :\
youtube.com/watch?v=IhnUgAaea4M

 

[Berithil]

Only if you're Christina Aguilera


Singing badly is one thing. Forgetting words is a whole other thing.

 

[lacktheknack]

Just by yourself? No, at least you're showing that you care.

If you're singing the anthem in front of an audience, though... well, good luck living it down. And by extension, humiliating yourself with the freaking National Anthem has got to be a major disservice.

After *having* to sing it every day in school for 8 odd years I am officially sick and tired of the Canadian national anthem. I yawn everytime it comes on because I recall those terribly sleepy mornings.

I also don't really like the Canadian Anthem, I prefer UK and America over it.

The Canadian Anthem is pretty low-key, but at least it's easy to sing. In assemblies and such, at least the audience participation is listenable.

 

[Ljs1121]

It depends on whether or not they were intentionally singing it badly. Someone can't help it if they don't have a good singing voice. However, if someone who is capable of singing well still decides to butcher the song, it might be taken as a sign of disrespect.

On another note, I actually can't remember the last time I heard anybody sing the Star-Spangled Banner. Course, I don't go to sporting events, so that might be the reason why.

 

[Ljs1121]

Also, I just want to say that sometimes, messing up a national anthem can be absolutely hilarious.


"yeeeeeah, the rockets were bluhr..."

 

[Lionsfan]

National anthems are pretty mediocre. It's not possible to perform them well without changing them. You can call me unpatriotic, but I'm from the US, and my ears start bleeding every time I have to listen to our anthem.

Gotta give it to Russia's national anthem, though. THAT is anthem!

Personally I've found that a lot of the Slavic countries have very robust anthems that kind of shame everybody else.

Slovakian:


Polish:

 

[Commissar Sae]

Eh, the Canadian national anthem is alright I guess. The worst version of it I've ever hear still makes me laugh.
That said the best anthems in the world are the French and Russian anthems. Both are moving powerful pieces in the way most anthems wish they could be.