Awesome Music / National Anthem

Play "La Marseillaise". Play it.

— Victor Laszlo, Casablanca

Africa

• If you ever want to hear an absolutely badass, epic anthem that gives "La Marseillaise" a run for its money, then turn your heads to Algeria's "Qasaman". With lyrics such as, "So we have taken the drum of gunpowder as our rhythm/And the sound of machine guns as our melody," and, "O France, the day of reckoning is at hand/So prepare to receive from us our answer," the Algerian national anthem definitely deserves mentioning. You can read the full lyrics in Arabic, French, and English here^note The story of the anthem is pretty damn epic too. In the 1950s, the writer of the hymn, Mufdi Zakariah, was shot and put in prison by the police of French occupied Algeria because of his Algerian nationalist beliefs. While he was imprisoned, he wrote each verse with his own blood.
• Zambia's anthem "Stand and Sing of Zambia, Proud and Free" is an anthem sung in acapella. It's simply full of beauty and pride.
• Egypt's anthem, "Bilady, Bilady, Bilady" is not epic in the usual sense: it was written by one of the leaders of the Egyptian folk-music scene, Sayyid Darwish. For those playing along at home, it's as though Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" was the US anthem (the title even translates to "My Country, My Country, My Country," which given the vagaries of Arabic could also mean, "My Land..."). Sung as a folk song, it's actually pretty cool; as an instrumental, it sounds like a fairly normal anthem, if a well-executed one.
  • Egypt's earlier anthem ^note also used by The United Arab Republic, as well as Iraq for some time "Walla Zaman Ya Selahi" ("It Has Been Ages, Oh Weapon"), is a grand and epic anthem, standing in contrast to "Bilady". Unlike Egypt's contemporary anthem which promotes peace and brotherhood, this anthem has rather violent and "revolutionary" overtones, similar in vein to the anthems of France, and Algeria.
    Who shall protect Free Egypt?
    We shall protect her with our weapons!
    Land of the Revolution, who will sacrifice for her sake?
    We will, with our souls!

    The people advance like the light,
    The people stand like mountains and seas,
    Volcanoes of anger, volcanoes erupting,
    Earthquakes digging the enemy into their graves.
  • Yet another anthem from Egypt whilst still a kingdom and British protectorate, "Eslami ya Misr" ("Be Safe, Oh Egypt").
• Libya, Libya, Libya! What makes this song awesome is its pure jovialness in nature, a welcome change for a country liberated from 42 years of dictatorship, war from the US and NATO, and such. Gaddafi's anthem isn't half bad either.
• Nigeria's national anthem, Arise O Compatriots. Very upbeat in nature, and one of the best African anthems, and really easy to play on a piano. Also the old anthem, Nigeria we hail thee. The melody is average, but the lyrics are more Nigerian.
• South Africa's national anthem's lyrics and music are pretty awesome by themselves, but it gets cooler when you consider that it's basically two songs combined together, sung in five different languages.
• Tanzania's anthem "Mungu ibariki Afrika" is basically a slightly modified Swahili version of "Nkosi sikelel iAfrika" and it's just as awesome.
• Mauritania's former national anthem was scary, frightening, and nightmarish. It is abrupt, and its lyrics are just as, well, awkward to a Western audience. Hearing the song, according to some people, reminds you of endless monotone marching into the deserts of the north, or, even worse, the chopping off of heads to the rhythmic beat. You can't even sing along to it, as doing so requires awesome effort, according to the freaking CIA. But it is just beautifully haunting, and is a fine piece of music, and is one of the few national anthems of a non-Western country to be traditional-sounding in its official manner. For the more elegant version, go here, and for the more traditional one, go here Your mind will be hooked.
• The Kenyan national anthem is one of the most exotic and majestic anthems.

The Americas

• The national anthem of Mexico. A Battle Cry (the very first verse outright tells you it's one) that oozes nationalism with or without the lyrics.
• Canada may not be the first country that comes to mind when it comes to kick-ass music, but its national anthem can be quite majestic.
  • It's even better when used in professional wrestling for Team Canada.
  • "O, Canada" can sends chills up a spine, even an American one. Casting all nationalism aside, it's the most beautiful national anthem.
  • The longtime unofficial national anthem, "The Maple Leaf Forever", is pretty impressive as well.
  • The original "Hockey Night in Canada" theme.
• "The Star-Spangled Banner", the national anthem of the United States. Unfortunately, in modern times, it has been butchered beyond all recognition when rendered into pop form.
  • How about Jimi Hendrix's version? If that ain't Awesome Music...
  • Sung a cappella by a choir can make your spine tingle. Something spine-tingling about it without backing. When you take into account the lyrics - the anxiety of not knowing if your country and your fellow men have survived through the night, and then that sight of seeing your flag rising higher and flying and realizing that yes, everything is alright... it's pretty chilling stuff.
  • Fun fact: The tune comes from the drinking song for the Anacreontic Society, an upper-crust British society carried forward into the U.S. colonies. The lyrics to the Anacreontic Song are couched in imagery from Classical Mythology, but the gist basically boils down to "I'll show you how to get laid by getting women drunk."
  • Speaking of performances of "The Star-Spangled Banner", many have butchered it but there are few that are just exemplary. The first is Marvin Gaye's soulful performance at the 1983 NBA All-Star Game, backed with only a drum machine, the second being Whitney Houston's showstopper at Super Bowl XXV which became a nationwide hit single and the Dixie Chicks glorious three-piece harmony at Super Bowl XXXVII.
  • Here is a heavenly performance of "The Star-Spangled Banner" by the Massachusetts All-State Choir. Choir members were crying while singing.
  • Here is a performance by the Kentucky All-State Choir, performed every night of the annual conference in the Louisville Hyatt.
  • This is how it was meant to be heard, sung by the choirs of the US Service Academies. Absolutely beautiful.
  • Sandi Patty's 1986 rendition from the Liberty Weekend special, during the rededication of the Statue of Liberty. One of the greatest voices in American history, and debuting a gorgeous new final verse to boot.
    And still we can see, as the years have gone by
    There's a dream in our land, like a flame that keeps burning
    And the lantern of hope from the harbor still shines
    Those who seek freedom's dream to its light are still turning
    
    And we look to the skies, as we lift up our eyes
    For we know with the dawn, we will see our flag rise!
    For this is our Star-Spangled Banner unfurled
    As a sign to the free, and a hope to the world!!
  • The anthem also sounds surprisingly beautiful when sung by children.
• Dyed in the wool Yankees can find "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" totally awesome. (There's a reason that "The Song That Gets On Everybody's Nerves" is set to the same tune...)
• Latin American anthems are very distinctive and operatic, to the point that nationalanthems.info had put them into a distinct category of national anthems called the Latin American Epic Anthems. And many of them truly deserve the word epic. They are usually identified as having a quick patriotic section of music, plus a slower stately part.
  • For example, the Argentinean National Anthem: ¡OIIID MORTAAAAALES EL GRIIIIIITO SAGRAAAAAADO! ¡LIBERTAD! ¡LIBERTAD! ¡LIBERTAD!
  • The Chilean Anthem. Here it is with subtitles.
    • Here played by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Sounds so awesome that people in the theater began spontaneously to sing.
    • A balls-out awesome rendition at the 2014 World Cup. And since FIFA limits the duration of the music for national anthems, the last part is sung a cappella. For extra flavor, this match was against Spain, aka the country Chile got its independence from, aka then current world and European champions and the most dominant team in world football for the preceding six years. As a Spanish announcer said: one-nil.
  • The Uruguayan national anthem is the longest in the world, and it fits the Latin American Epic anthem description like a glove.
  • The national anthem of the Dominican Republic. For a relatively small country, it's really epic and patriotic!
• The Brazilian National Anthem is known by both its beauty and the power of its composition and lyrics. It's written in very archaic and poetical Portuguese, resulting in one hell of a piece.
• Puerto Rico's national anthem, "La Borinqueña", has a moment of (possibly unintentional) Fridge Brilliance with the lyric "When at her beaches Columbus arrived/full of awe he exclaimed/Oh! Oh! Oh! This is the lovely land/that I seek." Although it may appear to be Artistic License – History since Columbus was looking for India, not Puerto Rico, he thought he was in India when he landed and thus may have actually exclaimed something to that effect.

Asia

• "Indonesia Raya" a.k.a. "Great Indonesia". A majestically simple anthem, especially when played by an orchestra, or even more majestic when it is a solo. It gets even more epic with full three stanza version, sung by ordinary people combined with an orchestra.
• The Israeli national anthem "Hatikvah". Most national anthems sound good when sung aloud, possibly with a backing orchestra. How many sound just as awesome when sung quietly?
  • While we're on Israeli music, "Kan Noladti" has got to be the sweetest little song: "Here, you're with me as well and here are all my thousand friends. And after 2000 years, an end to my wandering!"
  • Israel's unofficial anthem, "Yerushalaim Shel Zahav", in English "Jerusalem of Gold". Best known for its treatment at the end of Schindler's List, but this performance by Ofra Haza is simply beautiful.
• The national anthem of India is incredibly inspirational. Even if you don't understand the lyrics, the whole melody is hauntingly uplifting.
• Mawtini, the former national anthem of Palestine and the new one of Iraq. The instrumental version is just as good on its own too.
  • The current anthem of Palestine, "Fida'i", as well.
  • Even more awesome when sung in Aramaic.
• The Japanese national anthem is beautiful, and one of the few national anthems based on poetry.
• The Philippine national anthem is so awesome that through the decades it's been in Spanish^note the original language the anthem was in, English and currently Filipino.
• The National Anthem of South Korea. Majestic and graceful, it's quite befitting of the country it represents. Uri nara mansae!
• "Ey Iran", the former (de facto) national anthem of Iran. "Dar rāhe to, key arzeši dārad in jāne mā? (In your cause, when do our lives have value?)"
  • The National Anthem of the Islamic Republic of Iran too. "Šahidān, pičide dar guše zamān faryādetān. (O Martyrs! Your clamours echo in the ears of time.)"
  • Their previous anthem, Payandeh Bada Iran (Be an Eternal, Lasting Iran) was pretty damn good too.
  Through the Iranian Revolution
  The palace of oppression has been overturned
  The image of our future
  Is the role of our desire
• The Mongolian anthem. Using electric guitars. That alone makes it awesome.
• Kazakhstan's new national anthem (not the one from Borat).
• Any Turkic anthem is awesome, like Turkey's and Azerbaijan's. Then again, they also have the most awesome word in the world: Muvaffakiyetsizleştiricileştiriveremeyebileceklerimizdenmişsinizcesine (translated: "as though you are from those whom we may not be able to easily make into a maker of unsuccessful ones").
• Syria's national anthem, Humat ad-Diyar (Guardians of the Homeland), is simply majestic. Pity it's so short.
• "Aegukka", the national anthem of North Korea, is an absolutely marvelous, awe-inspiring national anthem. Ironically, it doesn't mention anything about the Kim family, Juche (Self-Reliance), nor Songun (Military First), which is probably why they place less emphasis on the anthem.
  • Unlike in the Soviet Union, North Korea has no particularly prominent military choir group; it has a patchwork of choirs for each branch of the military and weirdly, the interior ministry. The unified KPA group is known as the "Korean People's Army State Merited Chorus and Symphony Orchestra", which obviously denies it marketability. But this does not change the fact that, without fail, North Korean military choirs are the most bombastic of any People's Republic of Tyranny, past or present. Hits range from the ominously militant ("Korea Does What It Is Determined To Do"; "No Motherland Without You", Kim Jong-il's personal tune; "Millions of Miles Following the Leader, Following the Party"; "Footsteps") and Red Army Choir standards to cheerfully mundane odes to agriculture ("Potato Pride"; "The Joy of Bumper Harvest Overflows Amidst the Song of Mechanisation"; "I Also Raise Chickens").
  • "Chollima on the Wing" by the Pochonbo Electronic Ensemble combines the State Merited Chorus' fierce baritones (produced not by the Chorus proper, but by the keyboardists) with rollicking synth tunes and a haunting, willful message of development and communism that taps into Korean myth. You can hardly tell that it's one of the poorest countries in East Asia!
    "We run through decades as if it were a single day..."
  • North Korea has its own answer to "Hail to the Chief", which almost sounds like a more dignified cartoon theme song.
• The peaceful "Druk tesendhen", Bhutan's anthem.
• The national anthem of China since 1949, as well as Hong Kong and Macau, known as the "March of the Volunteers", makes you wanna kick enemy ass and smash their stuff.
• The national anthem of the Republic of China (still used in Taiwan today) is a bit more subtle than the PRC anthem, but touching nonetheless. Fun fact: the lyrics were taken directly from one of Sun Yat-sen's speeches.
• Sayaun Thunga Phool Ka, the national anthem of Nepal, is beautiful and simple.
• Singapore's "Majulah Singapura" ("Onward, Singapore") is very stirring and inspirational, especially the chorus. However, most Singaporeans today do not speak Malay, and thus don't really understand the meaning of the anthem. Nevertheless, it's only a minor flaw, and not the point of this page.
• "Tiến quân ca" from Vietnam is considered "the scariest national anthem on the world". It can probably kick more ass in two short verses than most countries do in a lifetime: army moving forward, flag soaked in blood, guns rumbling, dead bodies of the enemy, resistance bases being built. That's just the first verse. May God have mercy on anyone stupid enough to invade Vietnam, because we won't. During the visit of then-US President Barack Obama to Vietnam in early 2016, a famous singer sang the national anthem with no "pride" or "power" to her performance, which made many people track down a version sung by singers in 2014 (2 years earlier) - which was much better. Hell, some even said that a kid can sing better than her. They were right.

Europe

• "Rule Britannia/Britannia, rule the waaaaaaves/Britons never, never, never will be slaaaaaves!" Even if it isn't technically the national anthem, it's lively, stirring, and patriotic to wake up to in the morning.
  • Additional heights of awesome are reached when Jeremiah Clarke's "Prince of Denmark's March" is overlaid onto it, as was the case with the now-defunct BBC Radio 4 Theme.
  • The actual anthem for Britain, "God Save the Queen" is awesome on its own, as is England's, "Land of Hope and Glory".
    • "Jerusalem", used by some English sporting teams, was composed by Hubert Parry and orchestrated by Edward Elgar. It was adapted from William Blake's poetry during World War I and the King himself said he preferred it! To demonstrate how good it is, here it is being sung by 5 000 people.
    • The tune of "God Save the Queen" was used as the national anthem of a number of countries, including Liechtenstein and (formerly) Switzerland. It was also, in the form of "Heil dir im Siegerskranz" the Royal Anthem of the Kingdom of Prussia.
  • Just the two or so lines that John Lennon sings in Help! is enough to get it lodged in your head. Amazingly catchy national song.
  • "Zadok the Priest", the music that is played - live - in Westminster Abbey when a new British monarch is anointed as ruler. Perhaps the most epic piece of music by George Frederic Handel. It's certainly one of the finest works of British classical music. It was first played at the coronation of King George II in 1727.^note  The Bible verses which it sets to music, meanwhile, had been read at every coronation since that of King Edgar the Peaceable in 973. It is said that the new king paused and closed his eyes for a moment as it played. Considering he was the last British monarch to actually lead the army in the field, its awesomeness clearly rubbed off on him.
• The anthem of the short-lived Russian 1917 republic was awesome, because it is based on "La Marseillaise": See these three great renditions. (The last one is Tear Jerker and a Dying Moment of Awesome.)
• The Greek National Anthem is pretty good too. Defines Greece and the people. The original one is over 100 verses long! The exact same song is also used as the national anthem of Cyprus.
• The Italian national anthem, "Il Canto degli Italiani" (also known as, "Inno di Mameli", or "Fratelli d'Italia"), has a fanfare building it up, and a thunderous chorus singing the lyrics. A true force for Italy.
  • Another great contender is the instrumental, royal anthem for Italy, "Marcia Real d'Ordinanza" (which was also used by Mussolini for the first two decades of his rule).
    • When Italy became the "Italian Socialist Republic", the country adopted a new anthem in use for two or three years, known as "Giovinezza". This rendition sounds like a great opera, mixed in with an energetic, booming chorus.
    • Another unofficial anthem for Fascist Italy was "Faccetta Nera". The vocals are very powerful, and the lyrics are even more "in your face" than the official anthem of Fascist Italy...
  • An anthem of the Italian Communist Party, "Bandiera Rossa" has a very powerful, energetic melody, with accompanying lyrics discussing the proletariat, and waving the red banner of communism.
• "Das Deutschlandlied", out of all currently used national anthems, though the original form of "Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser" is better. It is also the only national anthem with a tune by a composer of the first rank, Joseph Haydn. Which is a bit funny, as Haydn was an Austrian who spent most of his life working for Hungarians...
• The East German anthem also qualifies as awesome music. It is also one of the only national anthems to acknowledge that it is peace that the world desires, and takes the time to talk about the mother that weeps over her dead son. Furthermore, the lyrics, written in 1949, include the line Deutschland, einig Vaterland (Germany, united Fatherland), which is one reason why, after a little while, the government stopped using the original lyrics.
• "La Marseillaise". Just look.
  • In that particular context, it also counts as a Tearjerker and a Moment of Awesome.
  • Mirelle Mathieu's rendition is pure awesome.
  • While not nearly as epic as "La Marseillaise", the anthem of Vichy France, "Maréchal, nous Voilà!" is certainly epic in its own right.^note The song was actually plagiarised by the composer from a Polish Jewish musician, who ironically was deported and murdered at Auschwitz.
• The Soviet National anthem. Defines epic. One of the few things Russia kept after the Cold War. Regarded as the best national anthem, ever.
  • That tune has had no less than 4 sets of official lyrics^note most of which, regrettably, had all the poetry of the section on tractor production from the last Five-Year Plan, making it a rare case where not understanding the language actually added to the experience. The fact that the tune remained unchanged each time attests to its awesomeness:
  1. It was the Bolshevik Party anthem in the 1930s.
  2. Stalin adopted it as the official Soviet National Anthem in 1944, with lyrics praising him.
  3. Brezhnev did away with all references to Stalin, and all references to World War II, in 1977.
  4. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Russian Federation got rid of the anthem altogether, but public sentiment pressured Vladimir Putin to reinstate it (with a completely Communism-free set of lyrics) in 2000.
  • Really, just about anything sung by the Red Army Choir qualifies as awesome. Even "Volga Boatman" — especially at 1:57 when the full choir comes in, or the roaring climax at 2:39. Absolutely spine-tingling.
  • The individual anthems of the Union Republics. Special mention goes to Latvia, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, and Armenia.
    • An absolutely special mention goes to the Moldovan SSR Anthem^note This is a recreation of what the anthem would have sounded like, as the full version is thought to be lost. Out of all the USSR anthems, this is definitely one of the beautiful hymns put out by the Soviet Union, sad that the original recordings remain lost...
    • Another great USSR anthem that also deserves special recognition is Tajikistan.
  • See also this cover.
• The Republic of Georgia can be proud to have as its national anthem "Tavisupleba" ("Freedom"), a short, sweet, and proudly Georgian anthem whose melody is based on classical opera tunes. Georgia's former anthem, "Dideba", which was used during the rather short-lived Democratic Republic of Georgia and later on after its independence from the Soviet Union is just as awesome as its present day counterpart.
• The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic had a national anthem written by Aram Khachaturian that far outclasses the present-day Armenian anthem. Probably because it was written by frickin' Aram Khachaturian.
• Transnistria is by no means a recongised country, however, their national anthem, "We Sing the Praises of Transnistria" is a quite majestic, prideful anthem. Like South Africa's anthem, this is a multilingual anthem (Sung in Russian, Ukrainian, and Romanian (Moldovan Cyrillic)).
• As for another partially recognised country, Abkhazia, they have a very special and beautiful anthem known as "Aiaaira" (Victory). Read the english lyrics of the first stanza:
  March on, march on,
  sons of Abkhazia!
  Shed our blood
  for Abkhazia,
  sons of Abkhazia!
  Shed our blood
  for independence,
  sons of Abkhazia!
• Remember in Casablanca when the Germans got "Die Wacht am Rhein" drowned out by the French? Here it is, in the original version from the time of the Kaiser, a song too good to have been a Third Reich anthem.
• The German Empire (the Kaiser's one, not the Bohemian corporal's) was really good at rousing songs: "Preussens Gloria", "Hail to Thee In Victor's Crown", "The Hohenfriedberg March" (which gets bonus points for being written by Frederick the Great) and the "Koennigratz March" (which was appropriated by the Nazis, with whom many associate it, sadly).
• The melody of Finland's (and Estonia's) official national anthem was allegedly stolen from a German drinking song, but "Finlandia" by Jean Sibelius? Boy oh boy.
• The Swedish National Anthem "Du gamla Du fria" is worthy to join the ranks of the above. For it's the simple fact that unlike most other anthems mentioned here, the Swedish one focuses on the beauty of Scandinavia as a country and place to live, and not the superiority of any nationality, nor how the people of Scandinavia should prepare for war. The only part of the song that could be considered patriotic is when the lyrics focus on "Jag vill leva, jag vill dö i Norden!" ("I want to live, I want to die in the North/Nordic Region").
  • And even then it's not terribly patriotic as "Norden" is usually used to referee to the whole Nordic region and not just Sweden. The two later verses, added in 1910 after the song was criticized for being too vague and unpatriotic compared to (among others) Norway's, are much more patriotic but are usually not considered a part of the anthem and are therefore not often sung.
• The Scottish national songs:
  • "Scotland the Brave", doubly so when played on the Great Highland Bagpipe. The John McDermott version isn't bad either:
    "Here among my mountains wild, I have serenely smiled,
    When armies and Empires against me were hurled.
    Firm as my native rock, I have withstood the shock,
    Of England, of Denmark, of Rome and the world."
  • "Flower of Scotland", especially when Scotland's famous football Tartan Army joins in.
    "O flower of Scotland
    When will we see your like again
    That fought and died for
    Your wee bit hill and glen
    And stood against him!"
  • This performance in Scots Gaelic with no instruments is particularly haunting.
  • "Highland Cathedral", on the bagpipes.
  • And now the Tear Jerker one, "Caledonia", by Dougie MacLean. Famously - and extremely effectively - used to sell lager.
    "If I should become a stranger
    You know that it would make me more than sad
    Caledonia's been everything I've ever had."
• The beautiful "Swiss Psalm".
• Poland's anthem's title translates to "Poland Has Not Yet Perished". It was first written by the Polish soldiers of Bonaparte's armies during their campaigns, after Napoleon promised that he would restore them their Polish homeland, which had been partitioned by Austria, Prussia, and Russia. It rose to the fore in 1945, when Artur Rubinstein, a Polish pianist invited to play at the opening of the UN, seeing no Polish delegation and no Polish flag, played it instead of his planned lineup, to a standing ovation.
  We'll cross the Vistula and the Warta,
  We shall be Polish.
  Bonaparte has given us the example,
  Of how we should prevail.

  March, march, Dąbrowski,
  To Poland from the Italian land.
  Under your command,
  We shall rejoin the nation.
• The WELSH national anthem, "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau" ("Land of Our Fathers"). And a well-known patriotic song, "Men of Harlech", about the seven year long siege of Harlech Castle.
  Tongues of fire, on Idris flaring,
  News of foe-men near declaring
  To heroic deeds of daring,
  Call you Harlech men!
• Although it's not a national anthem anymore, the Austro-Hungarian anthem is, quite simply, beautiful.
• Romania's anthem, "Desteapta-te, romane!" ("Wake up, Romanians!"), is impressive. It has 11 verses, with the 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 11th being normally sung and the whole thing being sung (with a 21-gun salute) on national holidays. The one used during the Kingdom days, "Traiasca Regele" ("Long live the King"), isn't bad either.
• "Le chant du départ", the national anthem of the first French Empire and current regional anthem of French Guiana. Popularized by Maximilien Robespierre, it was distributed to Revolutionary France's field armies during the beginning of the French Revolutionary Wars. It's a musical tableau, supposedly with each verse sung by a different group of French (ie, soldiers, children, mothers, etc). It's quite something. Another Bonapartist example is "La Victoire est à nous", the Grande Armée's Music to Invade Russia To.
• "Mila Rodino", Bulgaria's national anthem. One of the most Ruritanian-sounding songs around, it contains the epic imagery of Bulgaria's mountains.
• "Lofsöngur", Iceland's national anthem. It's considered hard to sing because of a sudden increase in volume, but it also makes it more epic. The unofficial anthem "Ísland er land þitt" is also epic.
• "L-Innu Malti", Malta's national anthem. Its epic music and lyrics referring to pray to God protecting the country. If the music is played in a really lower key of F major, it will sound more angelic. This video of the national anthem and the flag will show you that the sun is shining on the flag.
• The national anthem of Ireland, "The Soldier's Song"/"Amhrán na bhFiann", is a very stirring and powerful piece of music, and sounds equally kick-ass whether it's sung in Irish or in English. The most awesome part is the Badass Boast at the very end: "Mid cannon's roar and rifle's peal.../We'll sing a soldier's song!"
• The national anthem of Spain may have no lyrics, but that doesn't mean it's bad.
  • It did technically have lyrics during the restoration of the monarchy after the First Spanish Republic and during the reign of General Franco (which can be seen as the unofficial lyrics).
  • The Second Spanish Republic's anthem, Himno de Riego, deserves mention. With Spain's transition back to democracy, this version has become considerably popular.
• Oj svijetla majska zoro, the Montenegrin anthem, is based on a music piece in a patriotic play. It also uses unusual time signitures of 6/4 and 8/4, and is so popular it existed as a folk song for 136 years.
• The national anthem of the Netherlands is a real winner. "Wilhelmus van Nassouwe! Ben ick van Duytschen bloet! ^note  "ben ik van Duitsen bloed" " And if you thought it was good before, Pokémon × Nimja: Play the Game makes it even better, as it's sung by the whole cast after the Rijksmuseum is burned.
• The national anthem of Portugal, "A Portuguesa" (whose title is not mentioned, only implied, like in the case of "La Marsellaise"), which is about "raising once again today, / The splendor of Portugal". Bonus points if it's played at a rugby match or a football/soccer match.
• The Chant of the Italians is so bouncy a melody that it wouldn't sound out of place in a fairground.
• Corsica's national anthem, "Dio vi salvi Regina", is both Darker and Edgier and a Tear Jerker due to its lyrics and the way it was sung. So, try not to cry while listening to this anthem.
• "Ja, vi elsker dette landet", the de facto Norwegian anthem. While the short version with three verses is already great, the full version talks about almost a millennium of Norwegian history, bringing up Moment of Awesome after Moment of Awesome along the way. In the end, the Norwegians win their freedom after enduring plenty of hardship and forgive their former enemies — but they're still prepared to defend their country should the need arise. The song was performed for the first time in 1864, at the fiftieth anniversary of the constitution. It caught on immediately, and became the national anthem almost on popular demand and tradition - it has never been officially "ratified" as such by any Norwegian parliament or government. It just stuck.
• The Hungarian anthem ("Himnusz" / "Anthem/Hymn") may not be triumphant or bombastic, and, due to its lyrics - especially in the first stanza, which is the one being sung - being gloomy, may be playfully mocked as depressing even by Hungarians, but damn if the melody is not beautiful. It talks of suffering, yes, it talks of the mistake of strife within the country, true, but it has such metal (Marseillaise-worthy) verses in later stanzas as "The persecuted hid and a sword reached toward him in his cave, he looked around and found not his homeland in the country, he climbed up hills and descended into vales, sorrow and doubt beside him, a torrent of blood at his feet, a sea of flames above him" and "[Where] once a castle stood, [is] now a pile of stone, [good] humour and joy flew away, death rattles and lamentation is in their place, and oh! no freedom blooms from the blood of the dead: the tears of torturous bondage/slavery flow from the hot eyes of our orphans".
  • A second song, called "Szózat" (Appeal) is an de-facto second anthem: often official occasions such as the opening or ending ceremony of a school year or similar are started with the Himnusz and ended with the Szózat. It speaks of loyalty, of all the previous generations did for this country... and in the full poem even invokes moving images of the country's death, if a better age should fail to come. ("Or, if it has to come, it will come: the great death, where, above the funeral, a country's drenched in blood, and the grave, where a nation sinks, is surrounded by [all the] people [of the world], and a tear of grief sits in the eyes of millions of humans.")
  • A patriotic song also considered of very high rank is "Hazám, hazám" (My homeland, my homeland), an aria from the 19th century composer Ferenc Enkel's opera Bánk Bán. ^note The gent in the video is a professional opera singer famous for playing the role in the opera superbly in his youth. Unfortunately while the video shows him in his twilight years, the sound is the most famous recording of him in his prime.
• "La Brabançonne", Belgium's anthem. Here you can find it as commonly arranged in French, German, and Dutch.
• Ще не вмерла України (Ukraine has not yet perished) appears to take some inspiration from the Polish anthem. Pavlo Chobynsky wrote a patriotic poem in 1862, expressing hope for his country's freedom, that got him exiled to Arkhangelsk by Russian officials. Suppressed by the Russians and later the Soviet Union, it only became the official anthem of the newly-independent nation in 2003.
  Never perished is Ukraine's
  Glory and freedom!
  Still upon us, young brethren,
  Fate shall smile!
  Our enemies shall vanish
  Like dew in the sun;
  We too shall rule
  In our beloved country.
• The anthem of the Ottoman Empire has no lyrics, but it can only be described with one word, epic, and it definitely commands respect. Imagine being an Allied soldier in World War I and hearing the Ottoman troops approaching with this background music; it's just terrifying. It is even rumored that John Williams was inspired by this hymn to create the soundtrack for Star Wars.

Oceania

• In the land of Everything Trying to Kill You, it has to be "I Am Australian".
  • Tragically, the actual Australian anthem, "Advance Australia Fair" is probably one of the more pedestrian, safe and flat anthems around. But sung by Adam Hills and set to the tune of "Working Class Man" by Jimmy Barnes? Very awesome.
  • "Waltzing Matilda" is often referred to as the the unofficial national anthem of Australia and with good reason.
• The national anthem of New Zealand, sung in the modern day both in Māori and English, is easily one of the most powerful national anthems there is. There are several absolutely majestic renditions on YouTube, mostly as performed at large sporting events.
• For a small island nation, the people of Tonga can boast a pretty darn epic anthem. Bonus points if it's being played before a rugby match.

Other

• While it isn't precisely a national anthem, it's an anthem nonetheless: "The Internationale", the international anthem of the socialist movement. The music is stirring no matter what language is in (and since there are socialists everywhere, it's been in pretty much every language), but the best versions are in the original French and in Russian (it was the national anthem of the Soviet Union from 1917 to 1948). English versions are less awesome, as it is rather difficult to translate.
  "So, comrades, come rally, for this is the time and plaaace..."
  • Alastair Hulett would disagree on the English.
• STRONG AND PEACEFUL, WISE AND BRAVE / FIGHTING THE FIGHT FOR THE WHOLE WORLD TO SAVE... Now, take a guess what anthem that one is. It's the Oceanian one, composed for the film adaptation of Nineteen Eighty-Four. Yes, it may not be a real-life anthem (and does therefore not truly belong on this page either), but is does deserve mention for being a very realistic fictional Awesome Music anthem, being based to a very high extent on old Soviet and other communist anthems.
• The Sealand national anthem sounds pretty epic. Too bad you'll never be a real country.
• Most of the anthems with an unusual modality. The minor scale (e.g. Turkey, Bulgaria, etc.) is grandiose and majestic, the pentatonic scale (e.g. Bhutan, Kenya, etc.) has a feeling of tradition, and the two anthems left are Turkmenistan and Afghanistan, both awesome in their own, almost indescribable way.

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