National Anthems - Souls Of Nations In Words And Song

Of late, I have been listening to some national anthems on youtube. I never listened to many before, but internet is a good tool to dig them out and one can listen to them and understand the depth of lyrics and music. All national anthems are very intriguing and thought provoking.
Some show the struggles of their people, their hopes, their aspirations, their tears and suffering and all the unsurmountable odds their people had to overcome to build their nations. Some represent revolution, some represent a long standing spiritual quest to lead their people to enlightenment, while others represent the beauty of their land. Anthems that represent the beauty of the land are very thought provoking as they subtly tell you that what these people are singing is infact about the earth and not just a country, listen carefully and understand, these anthems gently nudge you to the thought of a global union, even though they were not meant to be so by their creators.
Here are some of the anthems that keep inspiring me.
The Polish anthem......this anthem is one of those that directly show the struggles Poles have gone through, over the centuries and their unwavering will to save the nation. This anthem reminds Poles of their violent and turbulent past, being at the cross roads of Eastern and Western Europe. These words show some poignant memories of Poles:
"Poland has not perished yet
So long as we still live
What foreign force has taken from us
We shall take back with the sword...............
Father, in tears
Says to his Basia
Just listen, it seems that our people
Are beating the drums

March, march"



The Indian anthem...this is a unique anthem(anthem of my nation) which reminds the spiritual quest of Indians over the millenia, the lyrics that truly represent the soul of India. This anthem directly praises God and asks Him to lead and unite the people and mould their destinies. Some words from the anthem:
"Thou art the ruler of the minds of all people,
Dispenser of India's destiny.........

They pray for thy blessings and sing thy praise.
The saving of all people waits in thy hand,
Thou dispenser of India's destiny.
Victory, victory, victory to thee"



The Finnish anthem......this anthem sings about the beauty of Finland and urges it's people to love and cherish and strive for it's glory. Here are parts of the lyric:
"No mount that meets the heaven's band,
No hidden vale, no waterwashed strand,
Is loved as our native North, our own forefathers' earth"



This is the kind of anthem that is most thought provoking, it is because, these anthems though not really intended, sing about the beauty of not just one country but the whole earth. There would be no one who would be awestruck after witnessing such beauty and not love it, not just the people living there.
Our collective acions globally are changing the planet, and only collective action can save it. This kind of anthems make me long for a global union, where everybody is equal and everybody is the child of this beautiful and only home we have.

The anthem of erstwhile USSR.....this one has long inspired me, it packs a force, in that it refelcts the thought of a nation born out of one of the greatest revolutions in the history of mankind. Here are parts of the lyric:
"In the victory of the immortal ideas of Communism
We see the future of our country,
And to the Red banner of our glorious Fatherland
We shall always be selflessly true."



Communism is more or less dead as the mainstay of political ideology of many nations. But it represents one extreme of human socio-economic thought, the other being capitalism. Both are almost the same end of extreme at their individual extreme selves, in that both are anarchist and chaotic.
I haven't listened to all the anthems, but as I uncover each one of them, each is a treasure in itself representing human thought, I love each one of them. These anthems should have also been on the list of cargo on Voyager1 spacecraft with intensions to showcase earth to a possible intelligent alien who might pick it up.