the.com/anthem
a song so good a whole country agrees to stand for it.
means A rousing, uplifting song adopted as the official or emotional emblem of a nation, group, or cause.
from From Old English 'antefn,' a song sung by two voices answering each other, which came through Latin from Greek 'antiphona' — 'anti' (against, opposite) plus 'phone' (voice, sound), the same 'phone' you hear in telephone. So at its root an anthem is voices singing back and forth; only later did the spelling drift toward the 'th' we use now, and the meaning swell from church responses to the grand songs of nations.
- oldest standing
- Japan's lyrics date to a 10th-century poem
- no words
- Spain's anthem has zero official lyrics
- endurance test
- Uruguay's runs nearly six minutes long
- banned tune
- Germany now sings only the third verse
the star-spangled banner — u.s. national anthem written by francis scott key in 1814
la marseillaise — french national anthem adopted in 1795, written by claude joseph rouget de lisle
god save the king — british national anthem, official since 1745
advance australia fair — australian national anthem adopted in 1974