Monday, July 4, 2011

National anthems

I have always considered our national anthem unsingable and painful. A sorry thing but our own. The Onion has a goofily sanguinary set of supposedly heretofore undiscovered verses. ['Tear their heads from our foes / Let their hot blood gush forth / Chop their limbs from their trunks ...']. A hoot.

Restoration Of 'Star Spangled Banner' Uncovers Horrifying New Verses
And for a nice comparison with The Onion's satire, a partial Yahoo Answers translation of the Mexican national anthem:
War, war without quarter to any who dare
to tarnish the country's coat of arms!
War, war! Let the national banners
be soaked in waves of blood.
War, war! In the mountain, in the valley,
let the cannons thunder in horrid unison
and may the sonorous echoes resound
with cries of Union! Liberty!
Stanza VI
Oh country, ere your children, defenseless
bend their neck beneath the yoke,
may your fields be watered with blood,
may they leave their footprints in blood.
And may your temples, palaces and towers
collapse with horrid clamor ...

So, how would you satirize that?

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