The committed World Cup viewer, determined to watch every single match from Brazil in full including build-ups and preambles, will hear the 32 national anthems played a total of 128 times over the course of the tournament. If each airing takes 90 seconds – a conservative estimate, as anyone who has ever watched Uruguay will attest – that adds up to a full three hours and 12 minutes of anthem-listening. But which of these anthems are worth hearing, and which best avoided? We asked some leading hitmakers for their opinions…
Brazil - Billy Bragg
Over 30 years Bragg has had 11 top-40 albums including the 1986 classic Talking With the Taxman about Poetry, and reached No1 with a cover of the Beatles’ She’s Leaving Home in 1988, a duet with Cara Tivey. He is celebrating 10 years of the Left Field at the Glastonbury Festival. billybragg.co.uk
Brazil have a wonderfully jaunty national anthem that climbs up and down the scales with the agility of a young Jairzinho. Dating from 1822, its florid lines were never designed to be sung by 80,000 people in a massive stadium, so it is not unusual for the crowd and the music to fall out of sync. The opening line places us beside a stream in the vicinity of São Paulo and the lyrics make passing reference to a death-defying chest and the bosom of freedom. And unlike our own God Save the Queen, it does mention the name of their country, surely the bare minimum requirement of a national anthem.
Croatia – Martin Fry
Martin Fry is the singer from ABC, who had a string of hits in the 1980s including Poison Arrow and The Look of Love. The Lexicon of Love, released in 1982, was named the 92nd greatest album of all time by Q magazine. abcmartinfry.com
Lyrically it’s an unapologetic heads up to the glory of the beautiful homeland. You wouldn’t expect anything less from a national anthem. With instructions to Drava to keep on flowing and the Danube to not lose it’s vigour. A real Croat love fest. What is surprising is the tune. Nothing prepares you for the brazen ferocity of the Croatian anthem. It sounds not unlike a child with a wooden spoon and a biscuit tin followed by a stern beating. Percussion supplied by dustbin lids on boots and sledgehammers. At least it’s mercifully short. It should fire up the team in Brazil. Anything less than victory and Luka Modric will be forced to listen to it repeatedly on the bus home.
Mexico – Charlie Simpson
As a member of Busted Charlie Simpson had four No1 singles and two triple-platinum albums between 2002 and 2004. He then formed the Kerrang! award-nominated rock group Fightstar. His latest solo album, Long Road Home, is released on 14 July. charliesimpsonmusic.com
My first thought was that it sounded like a war march, and when I read the lyrics it is a sort of war cry. I suppose a call to arms is a fitting thing for a sportsman to hear before they go into battle. The other thing was how complex the melodic structure was in comparison with the British and American anthems. Our anthems are like nursery rhymes; they’ve gone for the equivalent of Schubert’s fifth symphony. I imagine it’s hard for their kids to learn at nursery. I’m not a massive football fan myself, but I get into the big international competitions, as I suppose everyone does. My wedding’s actually in the middle of the World Cup, so the biggest thing for me was that we didn’t have to compete with an England game. Thankfully we’ve got away with that one.
Cameroon – Steve Harley
Steve Harley is best known for his 1975 No1 hit Make Me Smile (Come Up and See Me). His June tour of the UK includes shows at the Royal Albert Hall and Birmingham Symphony Hall. steveharley.com
Suitably overblown and pompous, this is a proper national anthem. Translated from its native French, the libretto does become a mish-mash of fourth-form poetry (“O Cameroon, cradle of our ancestors/Go, stand, be jealous of your freedom”, and other beauties such as, “May [your children] serve you as their sole purpose/To fulfil their duty forever…”), but given the full-blown orchestral treatment, with percussion, flutes, and horns of every type, played in a marching tempo, all-the-while betraying its French ancestry, it is a really stirring piece. It is musical and charming. Plus, it is short.
Spain - James Blunt
James Blunt’s album Back to Bedlam was the biggest-selling of the 2000s in the UK, selling over 3m copies, and spawned the single You’re Beautiful, which reached No1 in 10 countries including the UK and the US. His latest album, Moon Landing, is out now. jamesblunt.com
Spain’s national anthem, written in 1761, has no lyrics, so fans repeat just one word - “lo”. This translates as … well … nothing. It’s meaningless. And surely, if you’re going to sing a song at football matches, that’s what you want? Watching “our lads” pretending to mouth questionable lyrics about God giving the Queen near-immortal life, and her being the victor when she’s not really of fighting age, is silly. We should strip our own national anthem back, and replace the lyrics with our own best-known meaningless word – “oi!” Unless of course Big Liz turns up, and then we can stick in those other words – but she’s not going to, is she?”
Netherlands – Tinchy Stryder
Tinchy Stryder has had two UK No1 singles, Number 1 and Never Leave You. His latest album, 360º, is out in later this year. tinchystryder.com
I always enjoyed Holland as a national team, I’m sure most people that grew up in my generation will feel the same. They always seem to have a few exciting players and obviously always had a great attacking philosophy. Plus Van Der Sar and Van Nistelrooy were incredible for my club; and even though he was Arsenal Bergkamp is one of the best players ever. I like the sound of the Dutch anthem, it’s quite epic like a lot of national anthems. The strings and melody are nice. I don’t speak Dutch so couldn’t understand the lyrics at first, when I had a read through a translation I found them interesting, with references to Germany and Spain in there – turns out it’s officially the oldest national anthem in the world and also is written in the first person perspective of William of Orange who fought for The Netherlands’ independence. This national anthem will definitely provide a talking point with locals the next time I visit some of my favourite cafes in Amsterdam! I like it.
Chile - Eggsy
Goldie Lookin’ Chain had a series of hits in 2004 and 2005, the biggest being Guns Don’t Kill People Rappers Do. At the height of their fame, Eggsy came second in a special edition of Celebrity Weakest Link. youknowsit.co.uk
This track is an absolute belter, that wouldn’t go amiss as the soundtrack to a good Sunday afternoon war film, which in turn conjures up images of that classic war/football movie Escape to Victory. I know nothing of football but I can hear pride in a rhythm from 50 yards and this tune blew my tits clean off. The Chileans have seen their fair share of political upheaval over the years and if this reflection of national spirit is anything to go by, then they more than deserve to win the World Cup and have a film made about it that’s loosely based around World War Two. Is it possible to get Sylvester Stallone to play in goal for them? Can we get them a dressing room with a giant bath that leads to an escape tunnel? Is there any chance we can get Ossie Ardilles to come on as a ball boy for them? I just don’t know, but at least every time I hear this great piece of music I can picture all this and more in my tiny drug-addled mind. Go Team Chile. My fave new football heroes.
Australia – Paul Smith
Paul Smith is the singer in Maxïmo Park, who have released five albums including Our Earthly Pleasures, which reached No2 in 2005, and this year’s Too Much Information. maximopark.com
Australia’s national anthem begins with the flourish of a classic Hollywood movie. I have no intention of ever watching Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Australia’ but if he didn’t use this piece of music to kickstart his reputedly overblown depiction of early Aussie settlers then he’s missed a trick. As with many national anthems there’s a whiff of an ice skating hall to the whole affair and the word ‘gala’ comes to mind when listening. In that respect, it resembles the pompous tune it replaced as official anthem in 1984 - God Save The Queen. At least it trumps its predecessor thanks to the inclusion of the word ‘girt’, which undercuts all the guff about “golden soil” and being “young and free” by virtue of sounding like an Irishman saying ‘girth’.
Colombia – Justin Howard-Young
Justin Young is the singer in The Vaccines, who have released two albums, 2011’s What Did You Expect from the Vaccines? and Come of Age, which reached No1 in the UK the following year. thevaccines.co.uk
Before reading up on the story of the Colombian national anthem, I thought I would probably just create a history of my own, as very few would be any the wiser. But the truth is actually strange enough. ¡Oh Gloria Inmarcesible! (O Unfading Glory) essentially started life as a poem by former President Rafael Núñez. It was bought to life in 1887, one year after the Republic of Colombia was declared, when an actor from Bogotá, named José Domingo Torres, asked his friend, the opera singer Oreste Sindici, to compose music against the words. It wasn’t actually officially adopted until 1920. As a result of its poetic origins, and possibly its resemblance to Italian opera too, it is long. Too long I would say. Typically just one of it’s eleven verses, normally the first, is sandwiched between two choruses. And the lyrics are as impassioned, emotive and colourful you’d expect from a South American President in the 19th Century; ‘In agony, the virgin tears out her hair’ and ‘the river runs with blood and weeping’, for example. Good to know the next time we find ourselves lined up against them on the football field.
Greece – Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook
Chris Difford and Glenn Dilbrook are songwriters and vocalists in Squeeze, whose best-loved songs include Cool for Cats and Up the Junction, both No2 hits in 1979, and the 1981 No4 Labelled with Love. They are on tour in July. squeezeofficial.com
Glenn One of the versions of this on Youtube is 55 minutes long give or take a couple of seconds, which is befitting as according to Wikipedia it’s the longest national anthem in the world.
Chris If they sang the complete anthem at a football match, the game would kick off about 4pm and not 3pm.
Glenn It makes you realise how skilled those early Hollywood songwriters were because they parody these sorts of things. It sounds almost Slavic with the stirring choir and the jaunty piano.
Chris You go Slav if you like … when I first heard it it kind of reminded me of something that the Marx Brothers would interrupt. Does it make you feel patriotic?’
Glenn I’m not Greek so I can’t really say that it does.
Chris They say Grease is the word, but it is like thousands of words by the sound of it.
Glenn It’s a fact that if we gave you a review of all 185 verses of the Greek national anthem we would have this entire feature to ourselves
Chris What I like most about football when they sing the national anthem is the ambient vocal mic picking up the goalie singing really out of tune, and not really knowing the words
Glenn We did just scan down a YouTube of the Greek team singing the national anthem (short version!) and there was a good deal of bluffing going on
Chris Anyway we will be back in a couple of days once this is over
Ivory Coast – Fatboy Slim
Norman Cook had No1 records with The Housemartins and Beats International before adopting the pseudonym Fatboy Slim. He has since topped the charts with the single Praise You in 1999 and the album You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby, in 1998. His latest release is the compilation Fatboy Slim presents Bem Brasil, which is out now. fatboyslim.net
Normally I’ve got all these electronic noises coming out of my office, and when I was listening to this my wife came in to check I was OK. I think it’s quite a good one. It’s in A flat major, which is always a stirring key. That’s one semi-tone higher than God Save the Queen, if you’re interested. It’s a very traditional marching pace. It sounds like the Marseilleise part two, which is interesting as it’s a post French-colonial effort. The lyrics are very traditional national-anthem stuff about a “land of hope” and “full gallant legions”, and the pay-off at the end is “the fatherland of true brotherhood”, which is half right-wing and half left-wing, which is probably what any good national anthem should aspire to. If you watch the team singing it before matches you learn a couple of things: some countries don’t look very interested in their anthems but the Ivorians are quite stirred, and Yaya Touré is a loud singer but he’s absolutely awful.
Japan – Una Healy
Una Healy is a member of the Saturdays, whose hits include Just Can’t Get Enough, Forever is Over, and the UK No1 What About Us. She is married to the England rugby international Ben Foden. The Saturdays Greatest Hits is out on 11 August. thesaturdays.co.uk
I thought it was a lovely piece of music. It’s very short so they often sing it twice. It was composed in the 1800s, and I could tell it was in the time of Tchaikovsky, in the classical romantic period. When I was listenting to it Ben thought it sounded like church music, because with the classical music behind it it might sound a bit churchy. I thought it was a nice piece of music and quite emotional and moving. Wherever you’re from, when your anthem comes on you get quite patriotic, it seems to really rev you up. I want Ben play, and he gets so fired up when he’s singing his anthem. I’m sure it’s the same for footballers, and helps to release the nerves and the adrenaline when they’re waiting for the game. I’m sure I’ll watch a bit of the World Cup, even though there’s no Irish team. I can still remember watching Italia 90, aged eight, with Niall Quinn and Paul McGrath in the team. I can still remember most of the team from then, but I could hardly name a player now.
Uruguay – David Gray
David Gray has released three No1 albums – 2000’s White Ladder, A New Day at Midnight in 2002, and Life in Slow Motion three years later. His latest, Mutineers, is out now. davidgray.com
I’m getting oodles of eastern pride with lusty overtones of death or glory, I’m getting a spine of florid pomposity with top notes of Tom and Jerry, I’m getting Viennese marching music with a strong hint of moustache oil, I’m getting really bored, this thing goes on and on … Weighing in at a hefty five minutes, six seconds, this is officially the longest national anthem in the world.
Costa Rica – Tony Hadley
Tony Hadley is the singer in Spandau Ballet, whose hits included the UK No1 True, which went gold, and the No2 Gold, which went silver. spandauballet.com
It’s an incredibly grandiose and rousing tune, extremely jolly and strident, almost like an operatic piece. It’s a big anthem, and a big lyric, for a small country. The words talk about peace and blue skies and the nation as a “loving mother” – it’s not as sabre-rattling as some other countries. I can imagine it played in the stadium, with all the fans – I’m not sure how many fans Costa Rica take to a World Cup, but however many of them there are – singing and feeling very proud. There might be a few tears. I know from experience that when you’re in that situation, singing a song that’s meaningful to you and thousands of people joining in – whether it’s a national anthem or Gold – it brings a sense of pride. It’s a special moment. I visited Costa Rica a few years ago, and trekked from one side to the other to raise money for Action Medical Research, so I’ve been there and experienced the country and the jungle. It’s a fascinating and beautiful place. It took about 14 days to go from the Caribbean coast to the Pacific and it was a fabulous trip. We took a couple of short cuts.
England – Whigfield
Sannie Carlson, best known as Whigfield, became the first artist to go straight to No1 in the UK singles chart with her debut single with Saturday Night in 1994. She followed that up with the top 10 hits Another Day and Think of You. whigfield.eu
Researching this, I got really curious and spent an evening listening to the various anthems of the world. There are some good ones in there. I like the Danish one because it’s very sweet, the Dutch one is very majestic, and Australia’s reflects the way Australians are – they’re very bright, joyful, easygoing, happy people – and Germany’s quite militaristic. And God Save the Queen does that too – it’s very subtle, calm and controlled, in the way people outside the UK think British people are. I wouldn’t want to put these lyrics into a pop song, but they also reflect that mannered, reserved attitude. It was written in the middle of the 18th century, and it reflects I think the era it was made. It’s how people spoke in those days. It’s quite a good tune to sing along to, very simple, but I’m not sure everyone connects with the words now. Watching the team as the anthem plays before a match some of the players are just mumbling along. I think that you should maybe rewrite the anthems every 50 years, because the world is moving so fast, and I think it would be interesting to hear what would be created
Italy - Joe Dolce
Joe Dolce spent three weeks at No1 in 1981 with the unforgettable Shaddup You Face and has since forged a second career as a poet. His latest book is Hatbox. joedolce.net
The National Anthem of Italy – Il Canto degli Italiani, which translates as The Song of the Italians – is a lively patriotic lyric, a musical mix between a church hymn and a military march. A rousing and bloody oompah-oompah call to arms against foreign occupiers. There’s drinking blood, heartburn, Roman slaves, cohorts – Italians really are the experts at sticking it up authority. And partying afterwards. This song was sung by Garibaldi when he kicked the Bourbons out of Sicily. Some have said that it’s not that challenging musically (I personally prefer the Russian National Anthem – which is written in a minor key and sounds bitchin’ on the accordion) but Verdi himself championed this song as being of equal stature to God Save the Queen. And who’s going to argue with Verdi?
Switzerland - Josh Cuthbert
Josh Cuthbert is one quarter of Union J, a product of the ninth series of the X Factor. Despite finishing fourth they signed a record deal with Sony and have so far had two top 10 singles, Carry You and Beautiful Life, and a self-titled debut album. unionjofficial.com
It’s not the most gripping, I’ve got to say. I think it lacks that crowd appeal – I can’t really imagine anyone singing along with it. It’s important at a World Cup that the anthem rallies the fans and team before the game, and that’s definitely missing here. It’s very slow and doesn’t really go anywhere, it kind of ploddles along. And then the lyrics are all about the weather and mountains and sunsets and clouds. I read that they’re looking for a new one at the moment, and let’s just say I can understand why. There’s a prize of about £7,000 for whoever writes the winning song, so maybe next time I’m in the studio I’ll stay behind for a bit and submit one to the parliament of Switzerland. An anthem is important for a country, it needs to be relevant and it needs to work, and if it isn’t working they’ve got to change it. I have to say I like God Save the Queen, I think that should stay just the way it is. Maybe a bit of guitar would be cool, but I think that’s a solid national anthem. I think many countries will look at it and go, “Wow, that’s a good one.” They’ll be very jealous. Especially the Swiss.
Ecuador – DJ Fresh
DJ Fresh has had two No1 singles, Louder in 2011 and Hot Right Now the following year. His new single, Make U Bounce, is released on 22 June. thedjfresh.com
I love Latin music and culture! My recent hit Dibby Sound with Jay Fay was heavily influenced by Brazilian samba axa music. It’s so weird hearing other national anthems because you grow up with your national anthem, it’s in your blood (literally). I’m sure if I was Ecuadorean this would sound a lot less like a cross between jingle bells and onward Christian soldiers. I guess I was hoping for some of that incredible latin rhythmic heat! But hey, I grew up in maidenhead, so what do I know?
France – Engelbert Humperdinck
Engelbert Humperdinck had No1s with Please Release Me and The Last Waltz in 1967 and represented Britain in the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest. The duets album Engelbert Calling is out now. engelbert.com
The pomp, power and military bombast of La Marseillaise draws me into the history of France, and my own. The surname I was born with was French: D’Orsay; perhaps an ancestor was amongst those troops that marched to this evocative anthem for the first time as they entered Paris 200 years ago! I think also of my dear friend Charles Aznavour, he’s 90 now but we sang together on my latest album, Engelbert Calling. La Marseillaise sounds best ringing around a packed sports stadium. Its lyrics evoke revolution, conflict, taking up arms, preparing for the fight – everything my music does not! Even in our largely peaceful times it retains its rousing, martial air that gives it a power that hasn’t diminished. A great stirring, inspiring anthem to take the field to!
Honduras – Carol Decker
Carol Decker is the lead singer in T’Pau, whose hits included the 1987 No1 China in Your Hand. Their new album, Pleasure & Pain, will be followed by a tour of England in October and November. tpau.co.uk
When you think of God Save the Queen, it’s just one melody all the way through. This, though, is structured like a song – it’s got a verse, a pre-chorus and then it goes into what I would call a chorus and then back to a verse. It’s quite a jolly, memorable melody, punctuated with a lot of cymbals, which lock the melody down. The lyrics are almost a battle cry, full of dramatic lyrics – crashing waves, volcanoes, marching to the death. Personally I think our anthem is really dreary, but this has a better tempo, a more interesting structure. I think it’s a good singalong, and can really picture them bellowing that out, very proud, before kick-off. I’m not much of a football person, but I’m a glory girl, so I’ll tune in for the final, perhaps a semi-final. I doubt I’ll see much of Honduras this summer.
Argentina - Example
Example’s hits include the No1s Changed the Way You Kiss Me and Stay Awake, and the No2s Unorthodox and Say Nothing. He also reached No1 with the album Playing In the Shadows in 2011. His new album, Live Life Living, is released on 30 June. trythisforexample.com
I’ve watched a few videos of the national team whilst the anthem’s being played. They don’t seem to know the words. Or care that it’s playing. This is odd because most Argentinian people I know are hugely patriotic. It’s got a bit of an odd time signature to it, it’s not as easy to singalong to as our own national anthem - maybe it’s hard to sing along to something like this when you have a tango rhythm in your bones like the South Americans do? Also it’s not every anthemic in my opinion, it’s more like The Marriage Of Figaro. Apparently the old version had anti-Spanish lyrics! Naughty. They’ve obviously changed that since for something a bit more Gallagher-esque as the translation goes: “Let us live crowned in glory… or let us swear in glory to die!”. Could be straight from Champagne Supernova couldn’t it?
Bosnia & Herzegovina – Jack Savidge
Jack Savidge is a DJ and the drummer in Friendly Fires, who were nominated for the Mercury Prize in 2009 for their self-titled debut album. The follow-up, Pala, reached No6 two years later. wearefriendlyfires.com
Ceremoniously slow and with a mood of solemn self-satisfaction and reflective pride, the most I can say about this is every note of it is archetypal national anthem fodder. The melody is reminiscent of any number of late Victorian hymn tunes- its verses end with perfect cadences following imperfect cadences at the halfway points, which creates comfortable if tired-sounding resolutions. In footballing terms its the stodgy 4-5-1 of a relegation-battling team of cloggers looking to flood the midfield and frustrate creativity. The lyrics aren’t much better, praising Herzegovina’s “wonderful blue sky”- not the strongest USP there. I’d speculate that at B-H’s inception something so bland was chosen to not inflame tensions between the ethnicities of the new state, what with Bosnian Serbs, Bosnian Croats and Bosnian Muslims all having separate (and hopefully way more banging) anthems with which they identify.
Iran – Pat Kane
Pat Kane is the singer in Hue & Cry, who stormed the top 10 with their debut single, Labour of Love, in 1987. Their latest release, the four-disc set Major to Minor, is out now. hueandcry.co.uk
On first listening, the Iran team’s national anthem “Soroud-e Melli-e Jomhouri-e Eslami-e Iran” sounds like yer standard pomptastic European 19th-century neo-classicism. But do some musicology, and you find that Iran’s precursor, Persia, has a strong clam to be the originator of the operatic form, with its song and drama tradition of Ta’zieh. Symphonic music is hugely important in contemporary Iran, often inspired by a native classic tradition that goes back to the Sasanian empire in the 2nd century. Don’t know how the team’ll do. But the anthem – composed in 1990 – is competitive and fighting fit.
Nigeria – Mike Batt
In addition to masterminding the career of Katie Melua and writing many of her most successful songs including The Closest Thing to Crazy and Nine Million Bicycles, Batt’s songwriting credits include Art Garfunkel’s No1 Bright Eyes, and The Wombing Song. madhouserag.com
The lyric line, “One Nation bound in freedom, Peace and Unity” is a bit of a tall order for most countries but sadly for Nigeria it is at most a hopeful dream. The song – which cannot be described as great art - like many National Anthems including our own, is strident and solemn, and could be hymn. Indeed several of its melodic lines are ripped straight from familiar hymns, specifically “Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer” (Bread Of Heaven). It serves the purpose as a familiar anthem and call for loyalty and togetherness. Its lack of originality combined with its passionate formulaic construction is probably why it sounds like most other National Anthems on Earth, and why it does the job and very little more!
Germany – Chris De Burgh
Chris De Burgh’s hits include the worldwide smash The Lady in Red, a No1 in 1986. His new album, The Hands of Man, will be released later this year. cdeb.com
I have a great connection with this piece of music, which was written by Haydn in 1797. I went to Marlborough College in Wiltshire, and they had a beautiful chapel where we had matins most days. I remember singing the hymn Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken, to this tune, which with 800 voices was a thrilling sound. I was brought up Church of Ireland, and one of my earliest memories would have been in church with mum and dad, listening to this melody. There’s an interesting thing with music like this, how the beat falls with the melody; they often say music is mathematical in construction and this is a very good example. The melodic pattern repeats itself several times throughout, then you have a mid eight, and for me the most thrilling part is the reprise, those rising notes, and then it hits the top. It’s a hell of a piece of music.
Portugal – Felix Buxton
Felix Buxton is one half of Basement Jaxx, whose hits include Red Alert, Rendez-Vu and Romeo, all included on the No1 complilation The Singles. Their new album, Junto, is out in August, and the current single is Unicorn. powertothepeople.fm
It sounds like a good bit of music and it’s rousing, but I found the lyrics - “to arms, to arms! For the fatherland, fight!” - a bit steeped in warfare and the glory of battle. Anthems often revel in that, which I find personally is not in my mindset and hopefully most people in the modern world will feel like that. Anthems are a piece of your heritage, though, like your old racist grandma – you don’t tell her to get lost just because her views are a little outdated. Melodically and as a piece of rousing hymnal music it’s great. It’s definitely the sort of thing I’d drop in a DJ set – not the whole thing, just 30 seconds or so - because you feel it’s the music of the people. I wrote with a friend something like a hymn, for the Olympics, and I played it to my dad who’s a vicar and he said it was too lofty and wouldn’t connect to the working man. Hopefully we’ll complete it at some stage, but writing a hymn that connects to people and is uplifting is hard to do. I’ll be watching the World Cup – when I was at school football supporting was about fighting and violence, but those days are gone. I’ll always watch England, and experience that groaning feeling of depression as they’re lauded and then they fail. I don’t know why they’re lauded so much, all they do is kick a ball about.
Ghana – Nik Kershaw
Kershaw’s hits include Wouldn’t It Be Good, The Riddle and I Won’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me, and he also wrote Chesney Hawkes’ 1991 No1, The One and Only. nikkershaw.net
Apparently, this was adopted to take over from “God save the Queen” when Ghana stopped being a British colony in 1957. Ironically, you’d be hard pushed to find anything more British. Sounds like it was rescued from Elgar’s recycling bin. I’m struggling to understand why they couldn’t come up with something a little more “independent” sounding to celebrate their Independence. That said, it contains all the elements required to stir the loins: a glorious and triumphant opening string and brass salvo, followed by a regal and stately middle section (to the manor born), building to a rabble rousing climax. Classic stuff. Looking forward to hearing Michael Essien belt this one out.
United States – Tim Booth
Tim Booth is the singer in James, who have had 10 top-20 albums over the last 20 years and enjoyed hits including Sit Down and She’s a Star. Their latest album, La Petite Mort, is out now. wearejames.com
“It’s a decent melody, actually quite rousing. Like most anthems it’s intended to create unity in the face of adversity, coming from a time when America was a new country trying to forge its identity. It’s certainly better than God Save the Queen, because it’s less sturgy and ploddy, but my theory is that anthems should be changed quite frequently so they reflect the times we live in, in a language we understand. “O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming” – what does it mean? It’s a martial national anthem and maybe in peacetime, or something close to it, we should be having more forward-thinking anthems, with lyrics that inspire us to be more inclusive of races and genders.
I think in Britain we’re aware that our country has seen better days, and we’re a bit more cynical about the flag-waving thing. America’s a younger country, with more naivety and innocence to it, and they believe they were born into the best country on earth. They do what humans do when they’re extremely fortunate, which is to say God gave it to them, or that they earned it in some way, when in fact there’s a lot of luck involved, and these things are always cyclical.
I find the World Cup fascinating. I’m less interested in the tribalism of soccer, but I watch Barcelona every week and when they play at their best it’s with a shoal mentality. They’re like a murmur of crows, they seem able to read where their team-mates are going with something close to telepathy. Watching it can touch you, in a way some artists can when the ego disappears into the creation. And Barcelona at their best are art, and Spain, Brazil, Holland have been, and other teams will be.”
Belgium – Kate Nash
Kate Nash is best remembered for the 2007 No2 Foundations, from the No1 album Made of Bricks. She was named best female artist at the Brit Awards in 2008. myignorantyouth.com
I love the lyrics. “Our heart and soul are dedicated to you. Our strength and the blood of our veins we offer.” This is the kind of thing I want to hear from my next boyfriend. I also love the idea that it was originally written by some young people in a cafe. I’m a fan of epic crescendos so I’m glad that’s how the piece ends. If I was in charge of re-recording, I think I would add more swooping crescendos that don’t come down – they just keep getting bigger. All in all, I feel like I should be windswept and on my way to overcoming something emotionally difficult when I’m listening to this anthem. It sort of has a “be the bigger person” vibe. It feels sonically stoic, proud and dignified.
Algeria – Ed Harcourt
Ed Harcourt has released six albums, of which the first – 2001’s Here Be Monsters – was nominated for the Mercury Prize. edharcourt.com
On first listening it didn’t strike me as the catchiest national anthem that I’ve heard, though I’m not completely au fait with all the world’s national anthems. But then I listened to it a couple of times and it really started to grow on me. The music, all trumpets and strings, is quite rousing, quite full-on. Then I looked at the lyrics, and what strikes you is the crazy dichotomy of the very perky music, and these incredibly revolutionary lyrics. They use a poem that Mufdi Zakariah, a prisoner of French colonial forces in the 1950s, wrote in his own blood on the wall of his cell. It’s very powerful, very stirring. Even in translation there are some great lines – “we have taken the drum of gunpowder as our rhythm and the sound of machine guns as our melody”. It’s a very positive, very proud lyric, very much of its time. There’s no mention of any one person, or any specific leader – it’s a song to bind a people, and a nation. It’s unusual for an anthem to mention another country like France is mentioned here, which roots it to a particular period of their history. Maybe they don’t ever want to forget about the oppression, but I wonder if maybe in 100 years time someone might say, ‘We can forget about France now.’
Bonus review! Algeria – Steve Brookstein
Steve Brookstein was the winner of the first series of The X Factor in 2004. His debut single, Against All Odds, and album, Heart and Soul, both reached No1. His new album Forgotten Man is out now. stevebrookstein.com
The Algerian national anthem is quite an upbeat ditty but is pretty repetitive. The lyrics are from a poem called Qassaman by Mufdi Zakariah, which he wrote while he was being held as a political prisoner by France in 1957, so despite it’s chirpiness it talks of guns, blood, fighting, freedom and more blood. When Zakariah wrote “so we have taken the drum of gunpowder as our rhythm, and the sound of machine guns as our melody,” he wouldn’t have known composer Mohamed Fawzi would accidentally borrow a bit from The Laughing Policeman. Not the greatest melody for a national anthem but the lyrics are bound to evoke memories of the bloody fight for independence. I find songs based on poems rarely work but it does have a pop at the French so it’s not all bad.
Russia – Joe Elliott
Joe Elliott is the singer in Def Leppard, who have sold 100 million records worldwide, with their biggest album, 1987’s Hysteria, selling 20 million. Their most successful singles include Let’s Get Rocked and When Love and Hate Collide, which both reached No2 in the UK charts. The Further Adventures Of …, the second album by his other band, Down ‘n’ Outz, is out now. downnoutz.com
My first impression was: my god that does go on a bit. I always thought all anthems were like ours, 30 seconds long. But then there are loads of other verses to God Save the Queen that we never bother with because we get bored. The Russian one’s got all the key attributes of a good anthem – it’s grandiose, over the top, classical leaning, a bit intimidating – but it just went on and on and on. Lyrically it is a bit overbearing, and there’s no mention of food or vodka, which is a bit strange. I read that they only introduced this anthem in 2000. Imagine if someone tried to change our anthem – there’d be uproar. I can just picture the front page of the Sun.
The thing about anthems is that you never listen to them because you want to – it’s always forced upon you. You’re at a stadium, waiting for the start of a match, and you’re trapped. It’s like if you’re taking a road trip in a mate’s car and he makes you listen to the whole of the new Duran Duran album. You can’t get out. I remember we played a gig in Russia about five years ago. The fans were great, but someone gave us Russian dolls of ourselves, which was a bit weird. They were really well done. At least we got paid – back in the 70s an English band called UFO played in Russia and they were paid in trombones. They weren’t allowed to bring roubles out of the country, so they were given things they could sell.
We’ll be touring America during the World Cup but I’ll watch every game I can. I might glue an iPad to my wedge so I can keep up with scores while we’re on. Are England going to win it? Of course not. On home soil Brazil have to have a chance, but then I don’t really know how good their team is because I haven’t seen it.
South Korea – Lethal Bizzle
Lethal Bizzle is a rapper, an actor, and the cousin of the former Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Frimpong. His biggest hit was his debut, Oi!, which reached No11 in 2002. His latest single, The Drop, is out now.
I didn’t know anthems were so long. Normally at a football match it’s about a minute, and this is about three and a half minutes long. The weird thing about anthems is that they all sound very similar, all those big melodies and stuff. Why are they all sung in an operatic style? I don’t understand. That’s not where it is right now. To be fair, at first it had that epic appeal to it, almost like the Champions League opening music. Me personally, that’s not going to get me excited for a game. I want to hear DMX or something. 2Pac maybe. Something energetic that’s going to get you hyper. I might as well fall asleep as listen to this. The last international match I went to was England v Ghana at Wembley. Both of those anthems, they’re nice and simple – about one minute, it’s done. Maybe the Koreans do a short version, a bit of an edit. I hope so.
