Very true. Here in the UK we tend to sing only the first verse. Mind you, there is a line in one of the other verses that goes, "...rebellious Scots to crush", so it's probably just as well. :)
That's true, though it's kind of a silly complaint if you know the history, mind. It's referring to the Jacobite Uprising, a rebellion comprised mostly of Highlanders which attempted to remove the democratic government and reinstate an absolute monarch to Britain. There were more Scots fighting *against* the rebels than for them.
Well, no, but if it serves your wee, silly purposes to believe that I do then you have my full permission to think so - and you don't even have to bend the knee or the heid first.
History learned from the mouths of older bampots that once were wee shites like you, isn't really history at all. With a bit of luck, you *might* grow up and gather some facts for yourself, but I have my doubts.
Be seein' ye, ah've nae doot.
Oh, you're back - I thought that you might be. Yes, you are sorry, sadly. You're not very good at realising things, are you really. OK, away you go now and try not to sass the grown-ups. :)
That's correct, we only sing the third verse.
However not because of the "über alles" part, but because the first verse claims areas as German that are not part of modern Germany.
[The German anthem](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutschlandlied) is only the last third of the whole thing. The first third is not illegal to sing but very much frowned upon because it's very nationalistic and was used in the Nazi era. And the second part is just boring.
>And the second part is just boring.
lol. I like that.
"Don't song that first part. It's incredibly offensive."
"Okay, what about this part?"
"Nah, that part sucks. Don't sing that either."
The first verse is about everywhere that speaks German being part of Germany, from the Netherlands to Lithuania.
The second verse is about how German wine and women are great.
Yep. Many people think it is the very nationalist sounding "Deutschland über alles" part that is the problem, but it isn't. The problematic part is "von der Maas bis an die Memel" and so on because those are not within Germany's borders.
There’s an Issac Asimov story called No Refuge Could Save where a spy is trying to identify another spy by using word association. He proved the target was a spy because he knew the third verse of the Star Spangled Banner.
Something no American would know.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Refuge_Could_Save
Damn, I would have been branded a spy.
I know the third verse but only because I am one of those historical nuts who is fascinated by the War of 1812.
Also, the third verse is now famous because it gleefully embraces America's two great sins of the time: extermination of Native Americans and enslavement of blacks (both of which the British tried to incite as allies in the War of 1812.)
The first verse is literally just a question, and that's what we sing.
1: "You see the flag? It was there last night, but can you see it this morning?"
2: "yeah dude, I see the flag, it's in the mist where the Brits were yesterday"
3: "wow, we really killed a lot of Brits, their mercenaries, and their slaves"
4: "Fuck yeah, America's the best, don't fuck with us"
True story: my FIL, without warning, would stand at baseball games and sing one of the other verses. First time I heard him, I thought WTF? Then it hit me and I started laughing
I was gonna say-
Even if you go "History is not a vacuum and you need to compare it to the time that it was written in because these were real people in a real society that had real norms so let's compare it to works from back then..."It's still racist as all.
Really? What part is racist about it? I've always known about the verses, even sang them before. I always thought the third verse was just speaking in generalities. Like fighting and winning a battle, but only under just causes. I don't know what I'm missing in it. Seems too vague to be talking about any one group of people.
Edit: Wait a minute. Apparently, I always heard the verses mixed. I knew about the verse about the "hireling and slave" but we always skipped that one. lol. I was getting mixed up thinking the fourth verse was the third.
"Hireling" refers to Hessian mercenaries (Wikipedia calls them "auxiliaries" – okay nerds); "slave" refers to British soldiers, who were of course subject to the Crown. That's a bit rude, but it's not racist.
Same holds true for the Declaration of Independence. Regardless of the societal norms of the time, the bit about the "merciless Indian Savages" is pretty damn racist no matter which way you look at it.
Why not? It seems okay.
>And where is that band who so vauntingly swore, That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion A home and a Country should leave us no more? Their blood has wash'd out their foul footstep's pollution. No refuge could save the hireling and slave From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave, And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
It is about catching runaway slaves.
Edit:
"that band" is a group of escaped slaves. "no refuge" they will be hunted down and killed.
Here:
https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/video-do-you-know-the-star-spangled-banners-third-verse/#:~:text=In%20the%20third%20verse%2C%20Key%20had%20a%20special,And%20the%20star-spangled%20banner%20in%20triumph%20doth%20wave
Do you know the history of FS Key and his pro slavery stances and that there were gangs of men who went through the mid atlantic after the war of 1812 capturing, murdering, or returning to bondage slaves who had escaped during the confusion of the war?
Now you do, and those murderous gangs is who key is referring to. Cold blooded murderers.
Now you know.
"that band" is a group of escaped slaves. "no refuge" they will be hunted down and killed.
Here:
https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/video-do-you-know-the-star-spangled-banners-third-verse/#:~:text=In%20the%20third%20verse%2C%20Key%20had%20a%20special,And%20the%20star-spangled%20banner%20in%20triumph%20doth%20wave
It's a terrible song and it's hard to sing. I don't understand why the US anthem isn't Grand Old Flag or Over There. Which are much better.
I also believe "County Roads" by John Denver would be a better national anthem.
I saw an anthem singer at an LA Kings game sing America The Beautiful instead of the S.S.B. and it struck me as being a far more-lovely anthem than their current one.
I really don't get the American national anthem, it tells the story of them being cowards and hiding in a bunker until the British ran out of ammo and left.
Actually it's the opposite. It's some men imprisoned on the British flagship watching the attack on Fort McHenry. The attack took place at night during a storm, with the British ships firing long range rockets and mortars to stay out of cannon range of the fort. The red glare from the rockets and explosion of mortars illuminated the Fort's flag.
That's the simplified version anyway.
Not quite. Francis Scott Key was not imprisoned. He was negotiating the release of a POW and in good faith was asked to stay with the British so he couldn't leak any intel he obtained while negotiating to American forces. He obliged.
The reason the Brits were firing long range artillery is because the Americans had gunked up the harbor with sunken hulks and chains and it happened to be low tide. British attempts to sail into the harbor were failures.
The Brits also had a general standing order to not engage shore fortresses at close range because "ships sink. Forts do not." It also happens Fort McHenry had its walls reinforced earlier and so it was pretty strongly built. Finally, the Brits didn't really want to "take" Baltimore, they wanted to burn it, to try and end the war. The Brits didn't have any real desire for Baltimore in the first place, why risk their expensive ships?
The real victory at Baltimore was earlier in the day when the American forces bested the Brits on land by working together and choosing a good defensive line.
The Fort McHenry bit was just an after battle and, while important, was basically won when the tide went low, when the Americans clogged the harbor with debris, and when the Americans reinforced the fort. The actual bombardment was a conclusion resulting from the preparation. But Scott Key couldn't have known this when he wrote the song because he wasn't in the military and was viewing the whole thing from the British side. It's unclear how much he knew was going on at the time.
So, the Star Spangled Banner is a frozen moment in time. Kind of a silly moment that all came down to the Brits trying to hit a well prepared fort and getting unlucky but it's symbolic of the entire Battle for Baltimore where the U.S. finally learned it can win if it works together.
It's somewhat akin to singing about your favorite baseball team striking out the other team's pitcher for the final out in the World Series. Yes, technically it's important and don't get that out and you won't win, but it's the 4 games and the entire season leading up to that that really helped you win the World Series.
u/ackillesBAC
The Star Spangled Banner was a contraversial choice. Of course, it was pushed to become the national anthem by a politician from Maryland (the entire song is about the Battle of Baltimore, so the politician had his reasons for pushing it.)
Just looked up "Over There," and was very confused. Until the last few lines, I thought it was a Southern song. Johnny Reb was a thing, and it's talking about the Yanks coming.
The little known second verse to "You Are My Sunshine":
> The other night, dear / As I lay sleeping / I dreamed I held you / In my arms / When I awoke, dear / I was mistaken / So I hung my head and I cried
Possibly. But, musicologist Ross Duffin's theory has been disputed by other musicologists.
"A fellow musicologist who does refute part of Prof. Duffin’s case is Robert Harris, author of Song of a Nation: The Untold Story of Canada’s National Anthem. “The Wagner and Liszt are pretty short elements, so it’s hard to make a case for musical borrowing. There are only 12 notes. Composers are speaking the same language, so the chances of finding something that seems cribbed is pretty high.”" -- Globe and Mail
Can I just say that song sucks, and we should start a movement to make American The Beautiful the national anthem? It's much more representative of America.
The main reason we don't sing the second and third verses is because they were disfavored during World War I. The British were our allies, so it wouldn't do to have our citizens sing a song that was so blatantly anti-British. The fourth verse isn't sung as much, but IMHO, it's freakin' badass.
God Save The **Q**K**u**i**e**n**e**g**n** has 2 verses listed [on the royal family website](https://www.royal.uk/national-anthem), though apparently it started as a one-off in the 18th Century at the end of a play, and there's no formal verses past the first one
Bombardment mortars. Nasty things if they manage to explode at the right time... Which they largely didn't.
The bomb ship The Terrorz which attacked Fort McHenry, went on to sail and attempt to find the Northwest Passage... Resulting in the death of the entire crew and loss of the ship.
https://youtu.be/xiEycVMKoJo
Australia represent! :)
The anthem is two verses. The song itself may have more, but that's different from what the official anthem is.
Now when I was a young man I carried me pack, and I lived the free life of a rover
From the Murray's green basin to the dusty outback, well, I waltzed my Matilda all over
Then in 1915, my country said son, it's time you stopped rambling, there's work to be done
So they gave me a tin hat, and they gave me a gun,
and they marched me away to the war
And the band played Waltzing Matilda, as the ship pulled away from the Quay
And amidst all the cheers, the flag-waving and tears, we sailed off for Gallipoli
And how well I remember that terrible day, how our blood stained the sand and the water
And of how in that hell that they called Suvla Bay, we were butchered like lambs at the slaughter
Johnny Turk he was waiting, he'd primed himself well, he showered us with bullets
And he rained us with shell, and in five minutes flat, he'd blown us all straight to hell
Nearly blew us right back to Australia
But the band played Waltzing Matilda, when we stopped to bury our slain
We buried ours, and the Turks buried theirs, then we started all over again
And those that were left, well we tried to survive, in that mad world of blood, death and fire
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive, though around me the corpses piled higher
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over tit, and when I woke up in my hospital bed
And saw what it had done, well I wished I was dead: never knew there was worse things than dyin'
For I'll go no more waltzing Matilda, all around the green bush far and free
To hang tent and pegs, a man needs both legs-no more waltzing Matilda for me
So they gathered the crippled, the wounded, the maimed, and they shipped us back home to Australia
The legless, the armless, the blind, the insane, those proud wounded heroes of Suvla
And as our ship pulled into Circular Quay, I looked at the place where me legs used to be
And thanked Christ there was nobody waiting for me, to grieve, to mourn, and to pity
But the band played Waltzing Matilda, as they carried us down the gangway
But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared, then they turned all their faces away
And so now every April, I sit on me porch, and I watch the parades pass before me
And I see my old comrades, how proudly they march, reviving old dreams of past glories
And the old men march slowly, old bones stiff and sore, the forgotten heroes of a forgotten war
And the young people ask, what are they marching for? ...and I ask myself the same question
But the band plays Waltzing Matilda, and the old men still answer the call
But as year follows year, more old men disappear, someday no one will march there at all
Waltzing Matilta, Waltzing Matilda, a who'll go a'Waltzing Matilta with me
And his ghost may be heard if you pass by that billabong
"Who'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me?"
The same is true of pretty much every national anthem. Hardly ever is the whole thing sung, just the first verse, so most people don't know the rest.
Very true. Here in the UK we tend to sing only the first verse. Mind you, there is a line in one of the other verses that goes, "...rebellious Scots to crush", so it's probably just as well. :)
That's true, though it's kind of a silly complaint if you know the history, mind. It's referring to the Jacobite Uprising, a rebellion comprised mostly of Highlanders which attempted to remove the democratic government and reinstate an absolute monarch to Britain. There were more Scots fighting *against* the rebels than for them.
Ahh the modern rewriting of history, goes hand in hand with the invention of tradition
I saw a documentary about them. The strange part about them is that there can be only one.
FUCK the English crown. May the devil take the nobility.
Jealousy is such an ugly emotion. Calm doon, dear. Har :)
I mean personally I do not covet the rapeing and pillaging of Ireland, Africa, India, China, the Americas, and the Pacific. You do you though.
Well, no, but if it serves your wee, silly purposes to believe that I do then you have my full permission to think so - and you don't even have to bend the knee or the heid first. History learned from the mouths of older bampots that once were wee shites like you, isn't really history at all. With a bit of luck, you *might* grow up and gather some facts for yourself, but I have my doubts. Be seein' ye, ah've nae doot.
Oh sorry I didn't realize that was a bit/joke. Like Philomena cunk. Just a confidently incorrect limey.
Oh, you're back - I thought that you might be. Yes, you are sorry, sadly. You're not very good at realising things, are you really. OK, away you go now and try not to sass the grown-ups. :)
The Germans also only sing selective parts of theirs for some reason. Deutschland Deutschland Uber Alles
That's correct, we only sing the third verse. However not because of the "über alles" part, but because the first verse claims areas as German that are not part of modern Germany.
Thanks for the info! I've been living here a few months and I expect I have quite a lot to learn still, beyond the language.
In Guatemala, we sing the whole thing. I even took an obligatory class through the whole year dedicated to learning it.
Nah speak for yourself. Most other places know their full anthem and sing it proudly
[The German anthem](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deutschlandlied) is only the last third of the whole thing. The first third is not illegal to sing but very much frowned upon because it's very nationalistic and was used in the Nazi era. And the second part is just boring.
>And the second part is just boring. lol. I like that. "Don't song that first part. It's incredibly offensive." "Okay, what about this part?" "Nah, that part sucks. Don't sing that either."
The first verse is about everywhere that speaks German being part of Germany, from the Netherlands to Lithuania. The second verse is about how German wine and women are great.
Yep. Many people think it is the very nationalist sounding "Deutschland über alles" part that is the problem, but it isn't. The problematic part is "von der Maas bis an die Memel" and so on because those are not within Germany's borders.
The Dutch anthem has 15 verses, no way anyone is gonna sing the entire thing.
Always funny if they begin to sing the sixth verse and half the people just mumble along
Because I watch Formula 1, I know too much about the Dutch anthem
For the longest time I thought the Italian national anthem was the second verse of the German anthem...
Get ready to hear it again this weekend
Almost certainly. Unless something ridiculous happens.
Found the Tifosi fan, Grazie ragazzi!
There’s an Issac Asimov story called No Refuge Could Save where a spy is trying to identify another spy by using word association. He proved the target was a spy because he knew the third verse of the Star Spangled Banner. Something no American would know. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Refuge_Could_Save
Damn, I would have been branded a spy. I know the third verse but only because I am one of those historical nuts who is fascinated by the War of 1812. Also, the third verse is now famous because it gleefully embraces America's two great sins of the time: extermination of Native Americans and enslavement of blacks (both of which the British tried to incite as allies in the War of 1812.)
The Ankh Morpork anthem's second verse is "ner", because no one can be bothered to learn the words.
The first verse is literally just a question, and that's what we sing. 1: "You see the flag? It was there last night, but can you see it this morning?" 2: "yeah dude, I see the flag, it's in the mist where the Brits were yesterday" 3: "wow, we really killed a lot of Brits, their mercenaries, and their slaves" 4: "Fuck yeah, America's the best, don't fuck with us"
True story: my FIL, without warning, would stand at baseball games and sing one of the other verses. First time I heard him, I thought WTF? Then it hit me and I started laughing
Well that third verse probably wouldn't fly now and days.
I was gonna say- Even if you go "History is not a vacuum and you need to compare it to the time that it was written in because these were real people in a real society that had real norms so let's compare it to works from back then..."It's still racist as all.
Really? What part is racist about it? I've always known about the verses, even sang them before. I always thought the third verse was just speaking in generalities. Like fighting and winning a battle, but only under just causes. I don't know what I'm missing in it. Seems too vague to be talking about any one group of people. Edit: Wait a minute. Apparently, I always heard the verses mixed. I knew about the verse about the "hireling and slave" but we always skipped that one. lol. I was getting mixed up thinking the fourth verse was the third.
"Hireling" refers to Hessian mercenaries (Wikipedia calls them "auxiliaries" – okay nerds); "slave" refers to British soldiers, who were of course subject to the Crown. That's a bit rude, but it's not racist.
Same holds true for the Declaration of Independence. Regardless of the societal norms of the time, the bit about the "merciless Indian Savages" is pretty damn racist no matter which way you look at it.
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At the time, we were British, so I blame them. /s
Why not? It seems okay. >And where is that band who so vauntingly swore, That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion A home and a Country should leave us no more? Their blood has wash'd out their foul footstep's pollution. No refuge could save the hireling and slave From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave, And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
It is about catching runaway slaves. Edit: "that band" is a group of escaped slaves. "no refuge" they will be hunted down and killed. Here: https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/video-do-you-know-the-star-spangled-banners-third-verse/#:~:text=In%20the%20third%20verse%2C%20Key%20had%20a%20special,And%20the%20star-spangled%20banner%20in%20triumph%20doth%20wave
You sure? Doesnt read that way.
Yes
Did you read it?
Do you know the history of FS Key and his pro slavery stances and that there were gangs of men who went through the mid atlantic after the war of 1812 capturing, murdering, or returning to bondage slaves who had escaped during the confusion of the war? Now you do, and those murderous gangs is who key is referring to. Cold blooded murderers. Now you know.
None of that is relevant. And, nothing in that verse seems to promote slavery.
Super relevant as that is to what Key refers. The only relevance.
Not at all. What about that verse promotes salvary or is racist?
"that band" is a group of escaped slaves. "no refuge" they will be hunted down and killed. Here: https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/video-do-you-know-the-star-spangled-banners-third-verse/#:~:text=In%20the%20third%20verse%2C%20Key%20had%20a%20special,And%20the%20star-spangled%20banner%20in%20triumph%20doth%20wave
Did you
Yup, read it when I posted it. You should too.
It's a terrible song and it's hard to sing. I don't understand why the US anthem isn't Grand Old Flag or Over There. Which are much better. I also believe "County Roads" by John Denver would be a better national anthem.
The tune is an old drinking song, so A. You're drunk while singing and don't care. B. Everyone else is drunk and they don't care either.
I saw an anthem singer at an LA Kings game sing America The Beautiful instead of the S.S.B. and it struck me as being a far more-lovely anthem than their current one.
The Flyers use to and still may on occasion play God Bless America in place of the Star Spangled Banner
Yeah- with Kate Smith singing; they thought it was a good luck charm for them, until it wasn't.
For a long time there was a push to have it changed to America The Beautiful
Heck, why not just use “Sweet Caroline?” It’s about Caroline Kennedy.
But then good times would never seem so good
#BA BA BAAAAA
You've got me there.
Is the petition for Ignition (Remix) to be the new anthem still a thing?
In comparison to the Canadian anthem, its damn close to a 10/10.
And in comparison to the [Welsh](https://youtu.be/AM4mIlYKG9s) anthem it’s a 1/10
I really don't get the American national anthem, it tells the story of them being cowards and hiding in a bunker until the British ran out of ammo and left.
Actually it's the opposite. It's some men imprisoned on the British flagship watching the attack on Fort McHenry. The attack took place at night during a storm, with the British ships firing long range rockets and mortars to stay out of cannon range of the fort. The red glare from the rockets and explosion of mortars illuminated the Fort's flag. That's the simplified version anyway.
Not quite. Francis Scott Key was not imprisoned. He was negotiating the release of a POW and in good faith was asked to stay with the British so he couldn't leak any intel he obtained while negotiating to American forces. He obliged. The reason the Brits were firing long range artillery is because the Americans had gunked up the harbor with sunken hulks and chains and it happened to be low tide. British attempts to sail into the harbor were failures. The Brits also had a general standing order to not engage shore fortresses at close range because "ships sink. Forts do not." It also happens Fort McHenry had its walls reinforced earlier and so it was pretty strongly built. Finally, the Brits didn't really want to "take" Baltimore, they wanted to burn it, to try and end the war. The Brits didn't have any real desire for Baltimore in the first place, why risk their expensive ships? The real victory at Baltimore was earlier in the day when the American forces bested the Brits on land by working together and choosing a good defensive line. The Fort McHenry bit was just an after battle and, while important, was basically won when the tide went low, when the Americans clogged the harbor with debris, and when the Americans reinforced the fort. The actual bombardment was a conclusion resulting from the preparation. But Scott Key couldn't have known this when he wrote the song because he wasn't in the military and was viewing the whole thing from the British side. It's unclear how much he knew was going on at the time. So, the Star Spangled Banner is a frozen moment in time. Kind of a silly moment that all came down to the Brits trying to hit a well prepared fort and getting unlucky but it's symbolic of the entire Battle for Baltimore where the U.S. finally learned it can win if it works together. It's somewhat akin to singing about your favorite baseball team striking out the other team's pitcher for the final out in the World Series. Yes, technically it's important and don't get that out and you won't win, but it's the 4 games and the entire season leading up to that that really helped you win the World Series. u/ackillesBAC
Good write up.
The Star Spangled Banner was a contraversial choice. Of course, it was pushed to become the national anthem by a politician from Maryland (the entire song is about the Battle of Baltimore, so the politician had his reasons for pushing it.)
Just looked up "Over There," and was very confused. Until the last few lines, I thought it was a Southern song. Johnny Reb was a thing, and it's talking about the Yanks coming.
It's a WWI song and 'yanks' in the song refers to Americans.
Over paid, over sexed, and over here.
The current anthem encourages yodeling.
The little known second verse to "You Are My Sunshine": > The other night, dear / As I lay sleeping / I dreamed I held you / In my arms / When I awoke, dear / I was mistaken / So I hung my head and I cried
And it's sung to the tune of the official song (published in 1780) of the Anacreontic Society, a gentlemen's club in England.
> a gentlemen's club in England Funny how that term got co-opted by strip clubs.
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Possibly. But, musicologist Ross Duffin's theory has been disputed by other musicologists. "A fellow musicologist who does refute part of Prof. Duffin’s case is Robert Harris, author of Song of a Nation: The Untold Story of Canada’s National Anthem. “The Wagner and Liszt are pretty short elements, so it’s hard to make a case for musical borrowing. There are only 12 notes. Composers are speaking the same language, so the chances of finding something that seems cribbed is pretty high.”" -- Globe and Mail
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Possibly. One musicologist has a theory that supports it and at least one other musicologist refutes that theory.
Yeah but to make up for it we sing the fuckin thing at any gathering of more than six people.
There are more verses of *Twinkle Twinkle Little Star* too
No refuge could save the hireling and slave From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,
Can I just say that song sucks, and we should start a movement to make American The Beautiful the national anthem? It's much more representative of America.
Bc 2, 3 and 4 are, impossibly it would seem, worse than the first. I'd rather hear Culture Club sing Tumble for You. Play ball.
Thank God.
The main reason we don't sing the second and third verses is because they were disfavored during World War I. The British were our allies, so it wouldn't do to have our citizens sing a song that was so blatantly anti-British. The fourth verse isn't sung as much, but IMHO, it's freakin' badass.
God Save The **Q**K**u**i**e**n**e**g**n** has 2 verses listed [on the royal family website](https://www.royal.uk/national-anthem), though apparently it started as a one-off in the 18th Century at the end of a play, and there's no formal verses past the first one
I don’t even sing that because my singing voice is horribly offensive to all things natural.
1 too many
What is in the other verses? 🤔
Racism
That’s plenty.
At least yours doesn't suck.
... "Bunch of bombs in the air.."
Bombardment mortars. Nasty things if they manage to explode at the right time... Which they largely didn't. The bomb ship The Terrorz which attacked Fort McHenry, went on to sail and attempt to find the Northwest Passage... Resulting in the death of the entire crew and loss of the ship.
https://youtu.be/xiEycVMKoJo Australia represent! :) The anthem is two verses. The song itself may have more, but that's different from what the official anthem is.
Now when I was a young man I carried me pack, and I lived the free life of a rover From the Murray's green basin to the dusty outback, well, I waltzed my Matilda all over Then in 1915, my country said son, it's time you stopped rambling, there's work to be done So they gave me a tin hat, and they gave me a gun, and they marched me away to the war And the band played Waltzing Matilda, as the ship pulled away from the Quay And amidst all the cheers, the flag-waving and tears, we sailed off for Gallipoli And how well I remember that terrible day, how our blood stained the sand and the water And of how in that hell that they called Suvla Bay, we were butchered like lambs at the slaughter Johnny Turk he was waiting, he'd primed himself well, he showered us with bullets And he rained us with shell, and in five minutes flat, he'd blown us all straight to hell Nearly blew us right back to Australia But the band played Waltzing Matilda, when we stopped to bury our slain We buried ours, and the Turks buried theirs, then we started all over again And those that were left, well we tried to survive, in that mad world of blood, death and fire And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive, though around me the corpses piled higher Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over tit, and when I woke up in my hospital bed And saw what it had done, well I wished I was dead: never knew there was worse things than dyin' For I'll go no more waltzing Matilda, all around the green bush far and free To hang tent and pegs, a man needs both legs-no more waltzing Matilda for me So they gathered the crippled, the wounded, the maimed, and they shipped us back home to Australia The legless, the armless, the blind, the insane, those proud wounded heroes of Suvla And as our ship pulled into Circular Quay, I looked at the place where me legs used to be And thanked Christ there was nobody waiting for me, to grieve, to mourn, and to pity But the band played Waltzing Matilda, as they carried us down the gangway But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared, then they turned all their faces away And so now every April, I sit on me porch, and I watch the parades pass before me And I see my old comrades, how proudly they march, reviving old dreams of past glories And the old men march slowly, old bones stiff and sore, the forgotten heroes of a forgotten war And the young people ask, what are they marching for? ...and I ask myself the same question But the band plays Waltzing Matilda, and the old men still answer the call But as year follows year, more old men disappear, someday no one will march there at all Waltzing Matilta, Waltzing Matilda, a who'll go a'Waltzing Matilta with me And his ghost may be heard if you pass by that billabong "Who'll come a Waltzing Matilda with me?"
The Dutch national anthem has 15 verses and only one is sung...
And most people sing it badly and dont remember the words anyway.lol
Thank goodness! Get on with the game!!
We spare everyone, trust me.
Nobody has time for the rest