Anthems (5) – Russia (finale), Canada, and Israel

One last thing about the current Russian national anthem that I like very much—and which also bothers me, although it also challenges me.

 

The chorus ends with the phrase, “We are proud of you!”

Part of me says that this is the whole point:  To be proud of your country.  And how wonderful it is to have a country you can be proud of!

Still, another part of me asks whether this isn’t impossible.  Can anyone be proud of their country?  What does it mean, “to be proud,” anyway?  In what sense are you proud of a country that may have committed great crimes in the past, and may still be unjust—or at least imperfect?  Your country may have done great things, may be great, but—I’m just not sure.

That goes for all countries.  Can anyone be proud?  Still—If it is possible, how wonderful it would be:  To have a country you can be proud of, and to be proud of it!

Now, concerning national anthems, many people criticize the anthem of my own country, the United States, and wish we could have an anthem that is more beautiful, more singable, more like…one of those other countries; more like, say, Canada.

And “O Canada” is a lovely anthem—beautiful.  I’ve known the music for a long time; ever since I spent a month in Canada with my fiancée back around 1974 (her family was Canadian).  As far as the words, mostly I remembered “the cold north bold and free.”  Which turns out to be wrong.  It’s “the True North strong and free!”  I remember that “we stand on guard for thee.”

On the whole, I like the music (although I realize now that I think it sounds like an Anglican hymn); but to me the words seem only “adequate” (sorry!).  We love our country and guard her.  That makes sense, after all.  But….well…I…um…

And, curiously, the French version is rather different.  Roughly:  Ready to fight or be at peace, valor and faith will protect the land.

So I have fond memories of “O Canada,” but…I wish I felt more inspired.

As also with “HaTikvah,” the Zionist and Israeli anthem.  I found the music and words back when I was studying Biblical Hebrew in college.   The music may or may not be related to the main theme of Smetana’s “The Moldau” (“Vltava”)—the theme seems to be related to several different songs from several different countries.  Because I first heard this theme when I was nine or so, I’m biased in its favor.  Someone asked why I hadn’t included “HaTikvah” in my catalog of anthems.  Well—again—as with “O Canada”…I like the music, but I’m ambiguous about the words.  They speak of the two-thousand-year longing of Jews to return to the Land of Israel.  I’m not Jewish.  I can understand the longing intellectually—but I don’t feel it in my gut.  Perhaps you have to be Jewish.  Pretty—and haunting—the melody, though—a fine song.