August 8, 2008 | Lists,Music
There are some countries, such as those whose main export is a variety of tart nectarine, that you never really get to hear from in non-Olympic/World Cup years unless an extradition treaty is violated or an autocrat is ousted and replaced by an antelope as the interim head of state.
Every four years though, you’ll occasionally get to hear an off-key warbling of some country’s national anthem and bear witness to a moment of pride that’ll last for generations to come, if you define “generations” as however long it takes for the urine sample to come back positive, the sportsman in question to defect, or the next commercial break to air.
But what exactly are they singing about as banners are raised to the rafters? Not surprisingly, most anthems are a call to arms, mostly partisan hymns that are a soundtrack to bayoneting your nearest geographical neighbor and a tune you can tap your jackboot to as you proclaim the superiority of your culture, mountain ranges and comely women (If you don’t believe us, how about this seldom heard fifth stanza in Slovenia’s national anthem: “To you, our pride past measure, Our girls! Your beauty, charm and grace!”)
There are some ditties sung that are much more ominous than any ‘Bombs bursting in air‘, you might’ve whistled while relieving yourself after a heavy lunch, and that would make a scout troupe cower in fear more than a scoutmaster’s invite to a midnight swim. Of course, officials quickly noted that when performed at certain epochal functions, some of these stanzas are better left out altogether, like in the case of Italy, where if something of import were to be held in Warsaw, for example, it might be prudent to omit the bit about “the Polish blood they drank, along with the Cossack.”
We thought we’d share a few choice verses, unearth a few national secrets, and perhaps create a diplomatic shit-storm with this, our list of the Top 10 Most Violent National Anthems!
10) Algeria: Being that Algeria’s national hymn was written not long after the North African nation broke free from France, thus ending one of the most violent and oppressive periods in European colonial history, we’re not surprised that their national anthem makes scant reference to daisy-picking and the value of complacency. Of course, as you’ll learn during the course of our bloody world tour of national anthems, nothing ups the carnage in a national anthem like a good throwing off of the yoke of an oppressor. However, this one gets bonus points for the fact that amidst all bloodshed and overthrowing of oppressors, it never forgot the importance of the beat:
Choice Lyrics:
“When we spoke, nobody listened to us,
So we have taken the noise of gunpowder as our rhythm
And the sound of machine guns as our melody”
click here for full Algerian anthem
9) Tunisia / Haiti: Continuing on with our theme of countries breaking free from French colonial rule and celebrating their independence in violent verse, here are two nations that preferred death over French rule, much as we’d prefer such a fate over say, a screening and subsequent discussion of the Sex & the City movie.
Choice Lyrics:
“The blood surges in our veins,
We die for the sake of our land.”
“For the flag, For our country
To die is a fine thing! Our past cries out to us:
Have a disciplined soul! To die is a fine thing!”
(Full anthem: Tunisia, Haiti)
8) Albania: It is impossible to enter into a discussion about Albania, without in some way referencing Mother Teresa. That should suffice. For a far more eyeball-rewarding look at a native of that country, turn your peepers to the left. Saints preserve us!
And in its national anthem we have a recurrent theme in many such ditties: the glory of having your ass shot off in a war.
Choice Lyrics:
“From war abstains only he,
Who a traitor is born,
For he who is a man is never frightened,
But falls, but falls a martyr to the cause!” (Full anthem)
7) Hungary: The Magyar Himnuz, based on a poem of such emotional intensity, that some interpreters apparently see it as an example of the nation’s deeply-rooted pessimism. We would agree, but what does it matter anyway?
Choice Lyrics:
“But no freedom’s flowers return
From the spilled blood of the dead,
And the tears of slavery burn,
Which the eyes of orphans shed.”
(and later) Grief and sorrow all the same
Underneath a sea of blood (Full anthem)
6) Italy: Here is the anthem that powers the Azzurri in World Cups
Choice Lyrics:
“Let us join in the cohort
We are ready to die!
We are ready to die!
CLICK HERE FOR THE TOP FIVE MOST VIOLENT NATIONAL ANTHEMS!
a chorus line of lumberjacks.
Damn I would of liked to see this.
Gotta be France at number one.
nah man!!!notitaly