"A Vivid Dream"
2007-06-04 17:40:59.14566+02 by
petronius
2 comments
National anthems are interesting. God Save the Queen has a stateliness that mirrors the utter confidence of the Victorians. La Marseillaise, with its rather blood-thirsty lyrics, makes you want to go bayonet a Prussian. And The Star-Spangled Banner, in its unsingability by any normal human voice, stubbornly clings to Yankee exceptionalism.
I stumbled on this video of Brazil's national anthem, which is pretty good. It has the air of a minor opera chorus, but the bombast listed in the rather badly translated lyrics is charming. I don't know of any other country that refers to itself as a 'vivid dream', do you?
[ related topics:
Language Music Video
]
comments in ascending chronological order (reverse):
#Comment Re: made: 2007-06-04 18:01:19.618568+02 by:
Dan Lyke
[edit history]
The problem with "The Star Spangled Banner" is that the tune ("To Anacreon in Heaven...") was never meant to be sung by sober people, or to sober people. Which, I suppose, makes it perfect for baseball games.
The Brazilian national anthem makes me want to forget everything I've ever learned about Brazil and move there. However, I am wondering what the actual translation of "iguality" is...
#Comment Re: made: 2007-06-04 18:39:11.793394+02 by:
petronius
Might'nt iquality refer to the very essence of a lizard? "I see many traits of iquality in you, President Nixon...."
We will not edit your comments. However, we may delete your
comments, or cause them to be hidden behind another link, if we feel
they detract from the conversation. Commercial plugs are fine,
if they are relevant to the conversation, and if you don't
try to pretend to be a consumer. Annoying endorsements will be deleted
if you're lucky, if you're not a whole bunch of people smarter and
more articulate than you will ridicule you, and we will leave
such ridicule in place.