National Anthems

I've been on a bit of a national anthem kick recently. Call me bored, call me in need of inspiration, but there is something stirring when you hear some national anthems. That is their point, after all -- to stir some kind of emotion.

In order of stirring:
1) Hymn of the Soviet Union (Alas, no more, but bar NONE the best national anthem in itself)
2) The Internationale (the Chinese version)
3) The Marseillaise (France)
4) March of the Volunteers (China)
5) Shche ne vmerla Ukrainy (Ukraine)
6) Ha'Tikvah (Israel; you must listen to the recording on the Wikipedia page of concentration camp survivors singing it though.)
7) Flower of Scotland (well... you guess)

(Special mention for the Star Spangled Banner -- perhaps if I hadn't been too exposed to it it would stir more)

Of these, the top 5 are revolutionary anthems; more than that they are anthems of successful revolutions. It's true -- the revolutionaries get the best songs. I guess it makes up for the torture, execution and general misery before the revolution ends (successful or not).

Note that China gets two mentions -- that's because there's nothing like a massed choir for a national anthem, and no prizes for guessing who can put together the biggest choir. But the massed Red Army choir is both big and disciplined...

Those who faced the hordes roaring the Marseillaise for the first time must have been genuinely terrified. I mean, when you're outnumbered by two-to-one, it can't help hearing the other side shouting "we're coming to kill you, your sons and your wives!" or declaring (with all likelihood of being correct) that they will "water their furrows with your tainted blood" (free form translation, by the way).

I've especially been listening to Flower of Scotland, because it's short, pointed and moving. Especially when you see it on Youtube being sung at a rugby match, where there are these massive bastard mountains of men who look in desperate need of kilts and cabers with which to beat their opponents into the ground with, belting it out with real emotion. (Especially watch out for Scotland v England matches -- oh boy, do the players look like they feel something.)

Unlike most Scottish songs which revolve around some battle where the Scots got their behinds handed to them (viz Loch Lomond), this celebrates a (rare) and actual victory. And everyone loves a winner.

By contrast, the Scandinavian anthems sound terribly civilized. At least all the Youtube renditions I could find point that way...

So where does Majulah Singapura sit? Well, normally I'd say it's a bit anodyne, on par with the Scandinavian ones but perhaps more aspirational. After all, the Scandinavians have history behind them and had plenty of time to work out the "let's go kill everyone around us who has more money than we do" urges. (If I didn't respect their economic system more, I'd make snide comments about death vs taxes.)

I remember listening with horror to Majulah Singapura at the Singapore consulate in New York when Kishore Mahbubani forever drove me away from National Day functions by playing it and demanding a sing-along before food could be served.

But, but, but.

I heard it sung -- and sang along with tearing and chills down the spine -- with fervor at probably the last place you could still find some form of revolutionary fervor in Singapore. That's right, at the National Stadium on January 26, 2007 at about 7:55pm. Against our auld enemy, Malaysia, in the Tiger Cup semi-final. And just like the Scots at Bannockburn, we sent the bastards homeward. Tae think agin.

There's no better test of an anthem than its ability to move those who hear it -- and that day, Majulah Singapura did it, all colours flying.