Top 3 favourite anthems (not including your own)

First topic message reminder :

Mine are:

3. Argentina (longest intro ever)
2. France
1. Italy

Oi, you lot leave sosban fach alone !!! It is a very popular song down here and do not let the Westies or Sospans as we valley boys call em here you say otherwise, on a serious note though it is about a load of jibberish. It's about maids and David burning his little finger and big and little saucepans on and off the fire and little Dai not being a soldier with his shirt tails hanging out and looking all scruffy. I hope that has cleared things up for some of you. Oh and there is a bit in it about a baby in his crib that is crying.

I thought Ireland's call was written by Jedward?

Knowsit17 wrote:

munkian wrote:Most Irish people I have met dislike Ireland's call. My girlfriend's cousin called it ' a feckin' Eurovision entry'

Could be worse. They could have Jedward write their own idea of a unifying patriotic anthem and then perform it live before games

I propose a a piece of performance art where Declan Kidney dresses up as the Pope and the lads alll give him a good old kick up the arse

I haven't got a problem with Sosban Fach. I think it's catchy, used to sing it in school myself though I've long forgotten all the words. Still enjoy hearing it being belted out at PYS.

Oh and I forgot the most important bit of the song, the cat that scrammed little Johnny.

munkian wrote:

Knowsit17 wrote:

munkian wrote:Most Irish people I have met dislike Ireland's call. My girlfriend's cousin called it ' a feckin' Eurovision entry'

Could be worse. They could have Jedward write their own idea of a unifying patriotic anthem and then perform it live before games

I propose a a piece of performance art where Declan Kidney dresses up as the Pope and the lads alll give him a good old kick up the arse

"Don't call me Deccie you little pr!ck, I'm a head coach"

Knowsit17 wrote:I haven't got a problem with Sosban Fach. I think it's catchy, used to sing it in school myself though I've long forgotten all the words. Still enjoy hearing it being belted out at PYS.

Here you go Knowsit17:-


Welsh
Mae bys Meri-Ann wedi brifo,
A Dafydd y gwas ddim yn iach.
Mae'r baban yn y crud yn crio,
A'r gath wedi sgrapo Joni bach.
Sosban fach yn berwi ar y tân,
Sosban fawr yn berwi ar y llawr,
A'r gath wedi sgrapo Joni bach.
Dai bach y sowldiwr,
Dai bach y sowldiwr,
Dai bach y sowldiwr,
A gwt ei grys e mas.
Mae bys Meri-Ann wedi gwella,
A Dafydd y gwas yn ei fedd;
Mae'r baban yn y crud wedi tyfu,
A'r gath wedi huno mewn hedd.
Sosban fach yn berwi ar y tân
Sosban fawr yn berwi ar y llawr
A'r gath wedi huno mewn hedd.
Dai bach y sowldiwr,
Dai bach y sowldiwr,
Dai bach y sowldiwr,
A gwt ei grys e mas.
Aeth hen Fari Jones i Ffair y Caerau
I brynu set o lestri de;
Ond mynd i'r ffos aeth Mari gyda'i llestri
Trwy yfed gormod lawer iawn o 'de'
Sosban fach yn berwi ar y tân
Sosban fawr yn berwi ar y llawr
A'r gath wedi huno mewn hedd.

For every one else:-

English (literal translation)
Mary-Ann has hurt her finger,
And David the slave is not well.
The baby in the cradle is crying,
And the cat has scrammed little Johnny.
A little saucepan is boiling on the fire,
A big saucepan is boiling on the floor,
And the cat has scratched little Johnny.
Little Dai the soldier,
Little Dai the soldier,
Little Dai the soldier,
And his shirt tail is hanging out.
Mary-Ann's finger has got better,
And David the servant is in his grave;
The baby in the cradle is crying,
And the cat is 'asleep in peace'.
A little saucepan is boiling on the fire,
A big saucepan is boiling on the floor,
And the cat is 'asleep in peace'.
Little Dai the soldier,
Little Dai the soldier,
Little Dai the soldier,
And his shirt tail is hanging out.
Old Mary Jones went to the fair in Caerau,
To buy a tea set;
But Mary and her teacups ended up in a ditch,
Through the consumption of rather too much "tea".
A little saucepan is boiling on the fire,
A big saucepan is boiling on the floor,
And the cat is 'asleep in peace'.

Ta Dowlais

Knowsit17 wrote:Ta Dowlais

No probs mate, now you had better hurry up and learn it, as it took me ages to type all that I want at least one hour a night devoted to learning it and I want you to sing at the top of your voice so that it annoys everybody in your house.

I voted for the Italian national anthem and if I was in any way proficient in the language (which I'm not), I'd sing along with them just because it seems so jolly and upbeat.

I remember there used to be a rather rude version of La Marseillaise sung at the Rectory Field some years back. I'm not sure if they still do, but it did used to get aired on certain occasions. I'm sure I and the other youngsters around weren't supposed to hear it, but we did and it's funny how the words stick in the memory, isn't it.......?

I can never hear the French National Anthem.... as stirring a call to arms as it is.... without sniggering at the memory of that naughty version.

Tell you what, I'll sing it if Wales win tomorrow. With the mood I'll be in if we do I could probably sing it naked in the town square in front of the municipal offices if I didn't mind a night in a cell.

I'd take that over amputating a certain pair of private parts anyway.

I went for:

Wales
Scotland
Georgia

The Georgia vote was more out of respect for them as a rugby paying nation than the anthem itself. I think I'm right in saying that the Georgian Rugby Federation annexed itself from the Russian Federation before the Country itself annexed itself from Russia which is one of those odd things I really like for some reason.

On a side note, and pretty much unrelated to the vote but to me is "quite interesting", The Star Spangled Banner was originally loosely based upon a combination of a peom by Francis Scott Key and an old English Club's drinking song called "To Anacreon in Heaven" and also has a great line saying "And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air" which relates to the battle for Fort McHenry in 1812 where Sir William Congreve's highly unstable artillery rockets were used.

There, I think that should be quite enough of me boring the bejeesus out of you lovely bunch of chaps and chapesses for now

I really like the SA anthem - lovely tune, real passion.

I also enjoy all the anthems from countries where the soldiers dress like the soldiers from Trumpton - you know lots of medals, shoulder pads and big hats. The anthems go on for ever with no real tune. Always makes me giggle.

I particularly dislike our British anthem as I don't care much for the royals and there is no god. So all your left with is a bit of noble, gracious, victorious and glorious long rainy days.

The English literal translation seems a little off from what I remember from singing at school.

Sure I remember it as 'And David the servants feeling sick' as it pretty much rhymed with a previous line.


I remember something more like this

My sweet Mary Ann's hurt her finger,
And David the servant's feeling weak (oi oi oi)
And the baby's crying now in its cradle,
The cat's scratching Johnny on the cheek
Sospan fach is boiling on the fire,
Sospan fawr boils over on the floor,
The cat's scratching Johnny on the cheek.
David's a soldier,
|: David's a soldier. :|
His shirttail's hanging out.
2. My sweet Mary Ann's feeling better,
And David the servant's in his grave;
And the baby's sleeping now in his cradle,
The cat has decided to behave.
Sospan fach is boiling on the fire,
Sospan fawr boils over on the floor,
The cat has decided to behave.
David's a soldier,
|: David's a soldier. :|
His shirttail's hanging out.


Other variations include the following.

Who beat the Leicester Tigers?
Who beat the Leicester Tigers?
Good old Dafydd James

There are loads of ways which you can translate it though Munkian, I did it literal, word for word if you like so that it would not confuse people who cannot speak Welsh. Your translation is more of a common sense translation than an exact translation if you get what I am on about.

I do m'dear, songs always work best in their native language.

Some people think the song is a hym if sung slowly and solomly enough

AS far as national anthems are concerned.

1. La Marseillaise

< a country mile >

the rest.

The reason its so good is that its a war song , has to be catchy and rousing so the French peasants would sing it

NZ

FR

SA

In no particular order Ireland, Scotland, Italy.

GSTQ is utter bilge and is unbelievably bad lyrically as far as a unifying and patriotic song goes.

For me its:
Russia
Wales
Australia

If there was a competition for the worst anthem, the Irish fans know which one would win that!

The Italian and Russian anthems are magnificent..!

1 Russia
2 Japan
3 Italy

I'd of voted Ukraine as well if possible their anthem is beautiful.

Went for Scot, USA & NZ. It's the quality of the singing that makes the hairs stand on end for the Welsh one, the anthem itself isn't great. Words to Flower of Scotland are a bit silly but sung by the Welsh would be spontaneous orgasm material, then again they could make any anthem sound good.

Italian one is amazing to belt out, or it would be if I knew the lyrics, then 2nd and 3rd are between France and Wales, other good belters. I don't actually like our anthem (Scotland) its utter miserable dirge, second most boring only to 'God Save the Queen' imo! Scotland the Brave would be better, or 'If it Wasnae fer yer Wellies' by Billy Connolly ;-)

I dislike them all and wished they'd just be scrapped. Just keep the Cibi, Siva Tau, etc.

Barney McGrew did it wrote:GSTQ
Verse 1 – the Queen’s great
Verse 2 – we’re gonna kick arse
Verse 3 – something about shopping (drops off a bit here)
Verse 4 – hugs & kisses all round
Verse 5 – good attack starts with good defence
Verse 6 – pesky Scots (just to be inclusive)

Perfect.

Perfect.
Shouldn't we add a nice verse about beating the Springboks, just for the next two weeks? Then insist all verses are sung before the match. Nice..........and............slow.

I like a good choon with melody that can tingle the spine. Not the belt it out with passion marching songs like France, Argies, et al.

There's only three I like and in no particular order...

Wales (fav)
SA
Ireland (call - why dont the Irish like it?)

can i just say jerusulem - and it should be ours

that would be the best, germany is also a classic

Linebreaker wrote:

majesticimperialman wrote:NZ

FR

SA

mine are very similar to yours

NZ

FR

USA

Russian anthem reminds me of "Go West" and Argentinian and Italian ones make me I don't know why... but they're not my favourites.

NZ for me everytime

It reminds me of a good old fashioned chapel hymn. Bach (the German not the welsh small person) would agree. Simple, yet perfect.

It's so soulful.

This may seem like a wum, but believe, me it isn't.

Knowsit17 wrote:

munkian wrote:Most Irish people I have met dislike Ireland's call. My girlfriend's cousin called it ' a feckin' Eurovision entry'

Could be worse. They could have Jedward write their own idea of a unifying patriotic anthem and then perform it live before games

I think Ireland's Call was really commissioned by the IRFU blazer's elderly wives. The composer, Phil Coulter, is kitschy and a housewives favourite.

But we're stuck with it so we might as well belt it out properly.

slartibartfast wrote:NZ for me everytime

It reminds me of a good old fashioned chapel hymn. Bach (the German not the welsh small person) would agree. Simple, yet perfect.

It's so soulful.

This may seem like a wum, but believe, me it isn't.

Are you having a bubble?

I'm surprised NZ has a couple of picks. It's quite dreary don't ya reckon? Kinda good for funeral processions.

Have a soft spot for Advance Australia Fair.

Not too long, excellent chorus, silly archaic word ("gurd") in the first verse.

GSTQ is of course anti-Scottish ("and with a mighty rush, rebellious Scots to crush, god save the Queen"). Then we get accused of being princessy for pointing that out and are expected to sing it anyway.

Mae Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau is the best sung anthem, which makes it one of the best.

argg i loathe the USA anthem, I dont think much of GSTQ either but its certainly better IMO than that one.

George Carlin wrote:Have a soft spot for Advance Australia Fair.

Not too long, excellent chorus, silly archaic word ("gurd") in the first verse.

GSTQ is of course anti-Scottish ("and with a mighty rush, rebellious Scots to crush, god save the Queen"). Then we get accused of being princessy for pointing that out and are expected to sing it anyway.

Mae Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau is the best sung anthem, which makes it one of the best.

george why is it that people concentrate on an old lyric that isnt there any more. it just adds to your fuel for no reaosn- however i dont like it either, they need to take the god and queen part out before i can relate to it- thats basically the whole thing!!

I am happy with bad lyrics as long as the tune is decent - but GSTQ isnt my cup of tea

No offence to Aussies and Kiwis but i find their anthems dull, Australia's in particular has pointless words.
Argentina is basically an instrumental
I quite like Soldier's Song (Republic of Ireland) but i hate Ireland's call
God Save the Queen is boring but good to belt out though
I like Flower of Scotland but i prefer Highland Cathedral and Scotland the Brave to it.
Don't really know Russia's, Georgia's, Romania's or Namibia's
Japan's sounds rather "soft"
Fiji, Samoa and Tonga quite dull
Canada simple lyircs/words

Italy's was actually very close to being on my list

No offence to the people of those countries, that's just my opinion.


1.SA
2.France
3.USA

I love Ireland's Call.

George Carlin wrote:GSTQ is of course anti-Scottish ("and with a mighty rush, rebellious Scots to crush, god save the Queen"). Then we get accused of being princessy for pointing that out and are expected to sing it anyway.

Except of course that line has NEVER been in the national anthem. There are lots of unofficial verses. Do you cry about those as well?

The Italian anthem is my favourite, the most fun, great to belt out and cracking fighting words. French next which has a great emotionality to it. Then probably Japanese, which is quite different to most anthems but has a real noble beauty.

I love the Scottish and Welsh anthems... also voted for French.

Im surprised to see Irelands call has 8%, I even hate that and I'm Irish.

South African
French
Italian

When i was younger i learned the former two, pretty pointless as i don't know what much of what i'm actually saying but meh..nice anthems

i am surprised no one else has mentioned the german anthem, its a beauty:)

HammerofThunor wrote:

George Carlin wrote:GSTQ is of course anti-Scottish ("and with a mighty rush, rebellious Scots to crush, god save the Queen"). Then we get accused of being princessy for pointing that out and are expected to sing it anyway.

Except of course that line has NEVER been in the national anthem. There are lots of unofficial verses. Do you cry about those as well?

mankiaow wrote:

Knowsit17 wrote:

munkian wrote:Most Irish people I have met dislike Ireland's call. My girlfriend's cousin called it ' a feckin' Eurovision entry'

Could be worse. They could have Jedward write their own idea of a unifying patriotic anthem and then perform it live before games

I think Ireland's Call was really commissioned by the IRFU Blazers' elderly wives. The composer, Phil Coulter, is kitschy and a housewives favourite.

But we're stuck with it so we might as well belt it out properly.

I noticed that at the last two games between NZ/IRL the singers of Irelands Call were hopelessly out of tune and it squirmed off into the night with barely a whimper. Whereas the NZ anthems on both occasions were clear and in tune.

As for the awful electric guitar riff at the start, enough said. Thank goodness Ireland didn't need the extra inspiration for their decent performance. Why can't the IRFU get their act together?

Munkiaw, why do you not like Irelands call ? I actually think it is a very stirring song and it encourages all four provinces to join together, I actually quite like it.

the verses are ok but the line "together standing tall" is a bit schoolkid-need-a-line-to-fill-out-the-chorus and detracts massively from the song

Ireland's - both of them whenever one or other or...em.... well.... - anyway, not good, either of them.

That's my own taken care of.

Top three:

France,
Italy,
Tough one - between SA and New Zealand. I confess I don't think I really sat back and listened to the New Zealand anthem closely until last year at the WC. And I really got into it and captured it as if listening to it for the first time... came to love it.

That's it then France, Italy and New Zealand.

LordDowlais wrote:Munkiaw, why do you not like Irelands call ? I actually think it is a very stirring song and it encourages all four provinces to join together, I actually quite like it.

Don't get me wrong Lord, I appreciate the sentiment more than you know.

I just can't handle the tune.