Only much later was it superimposed on a British musical anthem.

Even Yankee Doodle would be better in every respect

Fath'r and I went down to camp,
Along with Captain Gooding,
And there we saw the men and boys
As thick as hasty pudding.
Chorus

And there we saw a thousand men
As rich as Squire David,
And what they wasted every day,
I wish it could be saved.
Chorus

The 'lasses they eat it every day,
Would keep a house a winter;
They have so much, that I'll be bound,
They eat it when they've mind ter.
Chorus

And there I see a swamping gun
Large as a log of maple,
Upon a deuced little cart,
A load for father's cattle.
Chorus

And every time they shoot it off,
It takes a horn of powder,
and makes a noise like father's gun,
Only a nation louder.
Chorus

people or country. 'This Land Is Your Land' has my vote on every front.

originally a drinking song.

raise your glass on the high notes and lower it on the low notes, taking a swig whenever you screw up

I don't think I'd make it past the second verse.

That would be my choice.

The Star Bangled Banner is a horrible, unsingable, song.

n/t

much better.

n/t

I have no problem with America The Beautiful, as it's just a freaking gorgeous song. And in my mind the second and third stanzas are very humble. Along the lines of, yeah, we're good, but we've got a long way to reach our full potential.

My choices in order
1 - America the Beautiful
2 - Battle Cry of Freedom
3 - This Land is Your Land
4 - Marching Through Georgia

... with the non-word "nucular" somewhere in the lyrics.

Be careful what you ask for ...

All hail to the corporation and the oppression for which it stands for.

That's propaganda. If they were 'fleeing in terror' it was from something else they saw or thought they saw, like reinforcements or rumours thereof.

They were classic. I used to have a complete set, but loaned them out over the years and they never came back.

Just because it has antiquated, militaristic lyrics and can't be sung by anyone with less than a 2 octave range?

Oh. Wait. Never mind.

that would only be fair to people who can't carry a tune.

which are also for average singers.

And they are positive about love for the country rather than about a battle.

I wonder if it affects us to explain why we are so militaristic.

My younger daughter once took part in an elementary school "olympics" as her class at the Anne Frank Schule here in Düsseldorf had 16 or more different nationalities in it out of a class of 28. The French Marseillaise is just as militaristic as our own ("aux armes, citoyens!&quot , as was the old Soviet anthem (I don't know if Putin's Russia still uses the tune). The tunes from places like Iran and Pakistan were curiously like folk tunes. This was 20 years ago, so they may have since changed.

or war, or battles.

In reality, no "national" anthem for the U.S. can overcome our history.

of the great state of Tennessee, which currently seems to have ten official state songs

It unites us. We all start out confidently singing the first couple of lines, then we fall off to quiet mumbling, then bring it to a rousing end "...o'er the land of the FREEEEEEE! and the home, of the, braaaave. Nothing could be better, IMO.

....yeah everybody ends up laughing trying to sing it in a group...

Or is music better to thump ones chest and shout USA, USA or other such nonsense.

When I go to derby events and they play national anthems from other countries, they're about national pride, community and other good things. Ours is about perilous fights, rockets, war, battles, "freedom isn't free" . . . I don't even want to stand up for it, much less sing that militaristic piece of crap.

America the Beautiful is something I could get into.

You might be surprised.

Let's go children of the fatherland,
The day of glory has arrived!
Against us tyranny's
Bloody flag is raised! (repeat)
In the countryside, do you hear
The roaring of these fierce soldiers?
They come right to our arms
To slit the throats of our sons, our friends!

Refrain

Grab your weapons, citizens!
Form your batallions!
Let us march! Let us march!
May impure blood
Water our fields!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Sweden:

Thou ancient, thou free and mountainous North
Thou quiet, thou joyful beauty!
I greet thee, most beautiful land upon earth,
Thy sun, Thy sky and meadows green.
Thy sun, Thy sky and meadows green.

2. Thou rest upon memories of great olden days,
When honored thy name flew across the world,
I know that thou art and will be as thou were,
Yes, I want to live I want to die in the North
Yes, I want to live I want to die in the North

Canada:

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

Germany:

Unity and Right and Freedom
For the German Fatherland!
After these let us all strive
Brotherly with heart and hand!
Unity and Right and Freedom
Are the pledge of happiness.
Bloom in the splendour of this happiness,
Bloom, my German Fatherland!
Bloom in the splendour of this happiness,
Bloom, my German Fatherland!

Lithuania:

Lithuania, our homeland,
Land of worshiped heroes!
Let your sons draw their strength
From our past experience.

Let your children always follow
Only roads of virtue,
May your own, mankind’s well-being
Be the goals they work for.

May the sun above our land
Bannish darkening clouds around
Light and truth all along
Guide our steps forever.

May the love of Lithuania
Brightly burn in our hearts.
For the sake this land
Let unity blossom.

United Kingdom:

1. God save our gracious Queen,
Long live our noble Queen,
God save the Queen:
Send her victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us:
God save the Queen.

2. O Lord, our God, arise,
Scatter her enemies,
And make them fall.
Confound their politics,
Frustrate their knavish tricks,
On Thee our hopes we fix,
God save us all.

3. Thy choicest gifts in store,
On her be pleased to pour;
Long may she reign:
May she defend our laws,
And ever give us cause
To sing with heart and voice
God save the Queen

Switzerland:

1. When the morning skies grow red
And o’er their radiance shed,
Thou, O Lord, appeareth in their light.
When the Alps glow bright with splendour,
Pray to God, to Him surrender,
For you feel and understand,
For you feel and understand,
That he dwelleth in this land.
That he dwelleth in this land.

2. In the sunset Thou art nigh
And beyond the starry sky,
Thou, O loving Father, ever near
When to Heaven we are departing,
Joy and bliss Thou’lt be imparting,
For we feel and understand
For we feel and understand
That Thou dwellest in this land.
That Thou dwellest in this land.

India:

Thou art the ruler of the minds of all people,
Dispenser of India’s destiny.
Thy name rouses the hearts of Punjab, Sind,
Gujarat and Maratha,
Of the Dravida and Orissa and Bengal;
It echoes in the hills of the Vindhyas and Himalayas,
mingles in the music of Jamuna and Ganges and is
chanted by the waves of the Indian Sea.
They pray for thy blessings and sing thy praise.
The saving of all people waits in thy hand,
Thou dispenser of India’s destiny.
Victory, victory, victory to thee.

Hell, let's look at evil Iraq:

My homeland, My homeland
Glory and beauty, Sublimity and splendor
Are in your hills, Are in your hills
Life and deliverance, Pleasure and hope
Are in your air, Are in your Air
Will I see you? Will I see you?
Safe and comforted, Sound and honored
Safe and comforted, Sound and honored
Will I see you in your eminence?
Reaching to the stars, Reaching to the stars
My homeland, My homeland

You guys were saying?

COME on.

America Uber Alles?

...then I vote for Socialist Woody Guthrie's "This land is your land". Super-easy to sing, too!

But what do I know ?

It has no words.

Al lot of them just go La La La La or something like that

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcha_Real

The Marcha Real (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈmartʃa reˈal], "Royal March&quot is the national anthem of Spain. It is one of only four national anthems (along with those of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and San Marino) in the world to have no official lyrics.[1]

Of course, I learned it as "Franco, Franco, que tiene culo blanco..." and it went downhill from there.

The debate last night would have been a good time and place.

I was in Vienna, Austria on 9-11-2001 and was a "displaced person" for a couple of days before I managed to crowd onto a flight home. When the flight was landing at Philly, the passengers applauded the crew and spontaneously sang "God Bless America."

OK, I'm not much of a God-believer -- I pretty much reserve judgment on theology -- but I think that experience demonstrates that it is our real national hymn, regardless what the official choice may be.

It's an easy song to sing, and whatever I believe about God on any particular day, I do believe we are blessed.

it would raise such a ruckus and cost too much in political capital to make it worthwhile.

The Star Spangled Banner is a difficult song to sing but it isn't going anywhere.

I think I first learned the lyrics when I was about 11 years old and still remember them. The only people who have problems are those that lose concentration. Anyone doing it as a solo should have a slip of paper with the lyrics printed, just in case.

a hymn without mention of god, just some very american virtues:

Not fast-paced enough though.

The Money Dance.

It is a great anthem...as are some other countries. I am partial to O'Canada

I mean, we're already headed full-steam toward an Idiocracy. Let's just get it over with.