I'm guessing there are folks out there somewhere in this wide world of ours that are considered experts in countries' national anthems, either through their own claims or by endorsement of others. If there are (and I'm really totally guessing here; I actually have no clue), I'm not one of them. I think my only real contact with national anthems these days is sadly enough through watching sports. And since I gave up watching the Olympics years ago, I'm left with pro basketball and the FIFA World Cup to keep my anthem recognizing skills sharp.
If you asked me to sing or hum some national anthems, I could get to those of four countries and that's it: my original home country of the United Kingdom, my current home of the United States, Canada and France. I could maybe loosely describe Germany's or Italy's anthem as some sort of dour military march music from watching those teams play soccer, probably because that's exactly what those tunes are, but I'd struggle with anything else. Of the four I know, I'm not particularly a big fan of God Bless the Queen/King (too much royalty), The Star Spangled Banner (too old) or La Marseillaise (too French), but I absolutely love O Canada. While I have a limited canon to choose from, I can without a shadow of a doubt declare O Canada is my favorite national anthem of all time.
The thing I love about O Canada is that it represents a sort of timeless love ("true patriot love in all thy sons command") and protection ("we stand on guard for thee") for the nation, including the land that makes up the country ("our home and native land"). It is not about a moment in time when a battle was won, like The Star Spangled Banner. Nor for that matter is about a person who just happens to be the head of state like the United Kingdom's anthem. And it's simple with not too many words so rock stars are less liable to screw it up during prominent sporting events.
In many ways, I see it as the Canadian counterpart to America the Beautiful, which I think is a way better choice for our own national anthem than The Star Spangled Banner. America the Beautiful to me celebrates a love of the land that is the United States in all its variety and wonder. And the places that make up our country are some of the most beautiful and amazing in the world, at least from my eyes based on the 41 states I've seen so far. It also celebrates the values that make this country what it is (liberty, brotherhood, law, etc.) just like O Canada does.
O Canada has been Canada's official national anthem since 1980, which is not very long at all, but it served essentially as the national anthem for decades before that because Canada hadn't adopted one. O Canada comes in both English and French versions; I naturally assumed from my self-centered personal viewpoint that it was written in English first and then translated into French. Not true. The song was written by Adolphe-Basile Routhier and Calixa Lavallee (yeah, they are of French descent) and was first performed in 1880. It was not until 28 years later that the current English version of O Canada was written. Since then, it has been tweaked a few times as these things tend to be when they get into the public domain and, more particularly, parliament.
Each NBA season, I get to hear O Canada at least once and most seasons twice when the Toronto Raptors (worst nickname in basketball) come play the Wizards at Verizon Center. The NBA schedule consists of two games against every non-conference opponent, four games against each divisional opponent and three or four games against all the other teams in the league. So basically four out of every five years, you miss a home game against one of those "other" teams. Also, for some reason when the Raptors come to town, the anthems, which are usually played right after the warmup session, are played about halfway through. I've never been able to figure this out.
This year happens to be the fifth out of five years for the Wizards hosting the Raptors and the Toronto franchise will only be in town once (on January 31 which is also Marcin Gortat Action Figure Day) during the 2014-2015 season. That means I only get to hear O Canada once this year at Verizon Center, so I'm glad I took in the Wizards-Raptors game north of the border this past weekend to hear O Canada once more this year. The game was terrible for the Wizards but at least I got the Canadian national anthem out of it. I'm jealous of Raptors fans in this regard. They get to hear O Canada every game. Of course, they also have to listen to the Star Spangled Banner every game because there are no more Canadian teams so they play an American team each time they step on the court. Can't have everything I guess.
If you asked me to sing or hum some national anthems, I could get to those of four countries and that's it: my original home country of the United Kingdom, my current home of the United States, Canada and France. I could maybe loosely describe Germany's or Italy's anthem as some sort of dour military march music from watching those teams play soccer, probably because that's exactly what those tunes are, but I'd struggle with anything else. Of the four I know, I'm not particularly a big fan of God Bless the Queen/King (too much royalty), The Star Spangled Banner (too old) or La Marseillaise (too French), but I absolutely love O Canada. While I have a limited canon to choose from, I can without a shadow of a doubt declare O Canada is my favorite national anthem of all time.
The thing I love about O Canada is that it represents a sort of timeless love ("true patriot love in all thy sons command") and protection ("we stand on guard for thee") for the nation, including the land that makes up the country ("our home and native land"). It is not about a moment in time when a battle was won, like The Star Spangled Banner. Nor for that matter is about a person who just happens to be the head of state like the United Kingdom's anthem. And it's simple with not too many words so rock stars are less liable to screw it up during prominent sporting events.
In many ways, I see it as the Canadian counterpart to America the Beautiful, which I think is a way better choice for our own national anthem than The Star Spangled Banner. America the Beautiful to me celebrates a love of the land that is the United States in all its variety and wonder. And the places that make up our country are some of the most beautiful and amazing in the world, at least from my eyes based on the 41 states I've seen so far. It also celebrates the values that make this country what it is (liberty, brotherhood, law, etc.) just like O Canada does.
O Canada has been Canada's official national anthem since 1980, which is not very long at all, but it served essentially as the national anthem for decades before that because Canada hadn't adopted one. O Canada comes in both English and French versions; I naturally assumed from my self-centered personal viewpoint that it was written in English first and then translated into French. Not true. The song was written by Adolphe-Basile Routhier and Calixa Lavallee (yeah, they are of French descent) and was first performed in 1880. It was not until 28 years later that the current English version of O Canada was written. Since then, it has been tweaked a few times as these things tend to be when they get into the public domain and, more particularly, parliament.
Each NBA season, I get to hear O Canada at least once and most seasons twice when the Toronto Raptors (worst nickname in basketball) come play the Wizards at Verizon Center. The NBA schedule consists of two games against every non-conference opponent, four games against each divisional opponent and three or four games against all the other teams in the league. So basically four out of every five years, you miss a home game against one of those "other" teams. Also, for some reason when the Raptors come to town, the anthems, which are usually played right after the warmup session, are played about halfway through. I've never been able to figure this out.
This year happens to be the fifth out of five years for the Wizards hosting the Raptors and the Toronto franchise will only be in town once (on January 31 which is also Marcin Gortat Action Figure Day) during the 2014-2015 season. That means I only get to hear O Canada once this year at Verizon Center, so I'm glad I took in the Wizards-Raptors game north of the border this past weekend to hear O Canada once more this year. The game was terrible for the Wizards but at least I got the Canadian national anthem out of it. I'm jealous of Raptors fans in this regard. They get to hear O Canada every game. Of course, they also have to listen to the Star Spangled Banner every game because there are no more Canadian teams so they play an American team each time they step on the court. Can't have everything I guess.
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