National Anthems of the World: The Beautiful, Boring and Bonkers 

This was meant to come out after an actual alternate history video. But scheduling switched em. So you got this first. If you want to contribute to this madness, follow me on Twitter I guess. twitter.com/AltHistoryHub Art style is just experimenting for future side projects

Not every nation has an anthem - Afghanistan under the Taliban didn't have an anthem, because music was banned.

I love how the Soviet anthem needs only a single chord for you to know it’s the Soviet anthem

As a non-communist (West-)German I would have loved to take "Auferstanden aus Ruinen" as the anthem for unified Germany. It's just so fitting and epic in my opinion. Goosebumps everytime.

I really think Cody didn't give enough credit to Poland's anthem, "Poland Is Not Yet Lost". It was pretty influential on anthems in the late 1800s among East Europe nations struggling for independence. Ukraine and Yugoslavia in particular are/were heavily inspired by it. It clearly struck a chord with a lot of people and the lyrics are pretty powerful imo. The Poles standing firm, singing of thier heroes, and how despite so many trying to destroy them, they still live, and reaffirming thier right to exist.

Interestingly, the East German anthem had the line “Germany, united fatherland”, which I guess would have made more sense nowadays, but oh well

Fun fact: The reason queen Elizabeth hasn't died, is because of the anthem's healing abilities.

Thank you SO MUCH for including the East German anthem "Auferstanden aus Ruinen"

The Hungarian anthem was composed by a guy who wrote mostly opera (pretty kickass ones, too) and it shows :D It has an uncomfortably large range for the average person without any singing training. Then there's the other, not-anthem called Szózat (roughly "Speech" but the fancy kind of speech) that we also sing at the end of celebrations that call for it, and it's EVEN HARDER to sing. A banger definitely, but it goes very deep.

“Every nation has a song, even Somalia has a song, and it doesn’t have a country” Now That’s allot a damage

Aruba anthem: chilling Ukraine: depression Nigeria: proudness Soviet: marching Azerbaijan: *WAR OF WIZARDS*

what is actually funny about the east- and west-German anthem topic: The East German is, according to my knowledge, written so the lyrics of the West-German fits to the music, for the day of reuniting. Which i think is really said they didnt combine those two, but was a genius move from East-Germany. Great video

Just realized that the bit of sheet music in this video’s thumbnail is the opening to Megalovania from Undertale

Fun fact, Polish Anthem mentiones Italy and Italian Anthem mentiones Poland.

"LET'S GO ON AN ADVENTURE, CHILD SOLDIER." Congo's anthem is the unofficial anthem of MMO's.

I have to tell you that this is one of my favourite videos. I always come back and watch it in through completely! The azerbaijan part is one of the things i look forward the most and the broad overview of different anthems in the middle!

the best thing about the Irish national anthem is seeing people sing one line in Irish, then the next in English, depending on whichever they remember first

Poland’s has the most amazing starting verse: “Poland is not yet dead, as long as I yet live”. Wow, harsh history there.

Fun fact, you can sing the lyrics of the German and East German anthems to the melody of the respective other and it almost works out perfectly.

Thanks for including the colombian anthem. I like it a lot, its about the independence and national heroes, who fought to liberate La Gran Colombia, that disolved later into 4 countries

I came for one thing in particular, to see what your opinion on Amhrán na bhFiann was. Managed to stop the video in just the right place to see it. 10/10, nailed it. Hilarious that you didnt even attempt the pronunciation later in the video though. You can call it "The Soldier's Song", its fine. ;-)

"Come child soldier, let's go on an adventure." You owe me a glass of lemonade Cody.

“Go on an adventure child soldier!”

For a side project this was really amazing.

I'm from Poland, so obviously my opinion is biased, but I don't think our anthem is mediocre at all. While I can see the melody being boring, the lyrics are very important to us. For a hundred years Poles were under German, Austrian and Russian rule, and later we got caught up with the nazis and communists, but we never forgot who we were. All our stories and poems were about regaining independence and returning to our homelands to be reunited once more since the times of the Commonwealth. With all that knowledge, the lyrics of "Poland is not yet lost" hit so much harder, because it would truly live on inside of us, while we still drew breath. In any case I'm just some Polish dude writing this in a democratic Poland, which is already independent, but the lyrics still resonate with me, because they make me stop and think how long my ancestors had to fight, how many sacrifices they've made, so I'd be able to sit my ass down in a building, in front of a computer, ethnically a Pole in a stable (mostly anyway) Polish state. While most of us Poles don't exhibit the same traits, I think our ancestors would look proudly upon us, for this is waht they fought to create. And that's the beauty of this anthem. It represents all the people that fought and died for this Polish state, this place where we can feel at home, where we can thrive safely, without oppresion or homesickness. It is truly a memoir worthy of our people, our heroes.

I'm german and my music teacher wanted to sing the anthem but accidentally printed the whole song and than a second class shouted/sang "Deutschland Deutschland über alles" :*

I feel like Tyler is giving Cody some of his acid

As a Brit, I think ‘Jerusalem’ is far more a representation of what Britain is than ‘Rule Britannia’ or ‘God Save the Queen/King’. It’s the transporting Blake’s ‘Jerusalem’ poem about the Industrial Revolution and the transition Britain was in into a patriotic hymn . And it gives me shivers every time! The only time I get that with a song was with the East Germany ‘Rise from Ruins’. It’s the idea of hope for the future and how it’s always in the current generations hands to shape their nation for their future generations

Italy’s anthem gets super hype when it’s being played at the F1 Italian GP with an Italian driver on top of the podium oh and if they drive for Ferrari? You will never hear a country more fucking hyped during its anthem.

Fun Fact: Italy and Poland reference each other in their rispective national anthem.

I always like the fact that the US's anthem sounds so out of place compared to most. Because its lyrics were a poem never meant to be sung, combined with the tune of a drinking song. Which honestly sound like America to me.

My country technically has an anthem. The words haven't been sung in almost 30 years though. For... Reasons.

We definitely want that full ranking

The "Germany, Germany, above all" thing is one of the most misunderstood lines ever. The original meaning is not as bad as it seems. When the song was written, there was no german state. There were a lot of small states that spoke german. The line "Germany, Germany, above all" does not intend to say that Germany is the best country (how could it when that country didn't exist?), it says that the german speaking people desire nothing more than a single, unified german state. Of course, the Nazis misused the song to actually imply that Germany is better than any other country, but this is a wrong interpretation of the lyrics.

"Balkans anthem is just insulting each others" Sounds Balkans to me

Honestly enjoyed this more than most of your normal content.

Great posting. Thank you. I agree like many others have already posted, that the East Germany anthem was a great one. About Africa, have you gotten the time to listen the current one of the Central Africa Republic? Unless you speak French, try to get the orchestral version. To me it was a discovery of one of the most beautiful anthems. The version you get in Google is a short one.

"It would be fitting playing in the morning in a concentration camp" And that was the moment cody got on a very black list in Beijing.

''the further east you go, the more peaceful the melody is" North Korea: AEGUKKA

The Finnish national anthem is a really good listen, because of just how many As are in the Finnish language and especially how many are in the words chosen for the song, it’s very melodic, and it’s lyrics are really soothing too. I genuinely listen to it while playing games and writing

You should make a serie where you make a tier liste of all national anthem i would love that hahahaha

Fun fact: Sweden doesn't have an official anthem. The Swedish parliament have debated whether or not they should adapt "Du gamla, du fria" as the official anthem, but never passed it into law. The argument is that since the Swedish people all consider it their anthem, that's a stronger claim than any law passed down from the state would ever be. That also means that if all Swedes just started to sing "Waterloo" by ABBA at hockey and football games for long enough, that would eventually become Swedens anthem.

Other countries: "Look at our beautiful landscapes and architecture." Liechtenstein: "Castle"

Germany missed a great opportunity in the 90ies: You can swap the lyrics and the instrumental of the GDR and FRG anthems and it works.

Mate, can you please make another channel where you just talk about stuff like this? Literally watched this video a few times now, it's just good vibes. Also, a discord that is focused around anthems, flags etc would be a cool idea!

The Soviet anthem is like the Megalovania of national anthems, you literally only need to hear first note and you instantly know.

“The German anthem has some choice words” France: Act natural!

Honestly I've always loved anthems. They tell you a lot about the cultures and the cultural values of said countries.

Funfact about the german anthem: While the modern reading of the first stanza and specifically the line "deutschland deutschland über alles" is usually seen in the context of nazi germany and read as a supremacist message, the originally intended meaning is quite different. It was written in a time where there was no german nation, but instead a vast collection of several hundred kingdoms and principalities and it called for a unity of the german people in a unified nation. Only much later it was misappropriated to reflect the supremacist notion we associate with it today.

"The Chinese before the revolution" Do you have any idea how little that narrows it down?

National Anthems are actual country music

YUP THAT LAST BIT, although the Korean Empire anthem from way back when is actually my spirit animal now.

I feel like the GDR's anthem and military orchestra is criminally underrated. It blends German and Soviet music so well.

I thought Waka Waka was the official anthem of South Africa as a kid.

"This is Botswana" shows Cape Town South Africa and Portugese soldiers in Angola...nice

in the topic of latin american anthems, when it comes to Uruguay's anthem, that long intro before the actual lyrics feels a bit overwhelming when Uruguay is your opponent in soccer... and then the lyrics go hard like a roundhouse kick

Finally remembering to watch this after a year Edit: this video represents the anthem enthusiasts perfectly

"Rule for Asia is the further east you go, the more peaceful the melody is" China: *March of the volunteers intensifies*

Let’s be real all of the history/politics nerds have sometimes spent hours on youtube going through national anthems and patriotic songs

Happy to see Aruba mentioned. Glad the roadwork was done for these anthems!

Omg I found your second channel…. Or main channel!?!? I’m not sure yet???

"You can just picture this playing as the Death Star appears over the horizon to blow up Armeni- I mean, Alderaan" Holy shit that got me.

"Rule Britannia" is such a better song than "God Save the Queen" that I usually forget it's _not_ the UK's national anthem.

Ireland and New Zealand have two of the best national anthems out there. As an Aussie, the latter is something of a guilty pleasure for me.

I (American) just love that the Star-Spangled Banner is less of a list of nice adjectives and more of a poem. Pretty obvious synecdoche but still warms my heart.

I can’t stop thinking that South Sudan’s anthem sounds like “If you’re happy and you know it”

“As the Death Star appears on the horizon to destroy Armen-I mean.”

7:00 Finland and Estonia are geographically close and have the same anthem

I heard about the previous anthem of Georgia playing as them in a hoi4 mod. Gave me goosebumps. Still enjoy to listen to it

What most people (also Germans) don't know is that the verse "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles" isn't reffering to "Germany over all the other states", but "united Germany as an idea or goal above everything else". Because it came from a time in which Germany wasn't one big state but a lot of small kingdoms and states loosely categorized as Germany

"National Anthems: the anime OP of a country." -Cody I'm stealing this

I imported a right hand drive 1990 Land Rover Defender 90 from the UK to the US last year. It was heavily customized, massive lift, 35" mud terrains, bull bars, winch, wildly expensive stereo system, the works. I entered it in a British car show. There were your usual Rolls-Royces, Aston Martins, McLarens, then I came in, union jack flying on a pole at the back, and I was playing Rule Brittania on the stereo. I won a trophy for "Most British."

13:41 I’m dying 😂😂😂

My brain thought that "The only picture of Lichenstein is this castle" was a subtitle translation of their anthem...

A note about the first stanza of the German anthem: The phrase "Germany, Germany above all in the world" had a very different meaning in the context it was written in. It was a time when Germany as a nation didn't exist and was made up of many small indepent realms. In that context it meant putting the new unified German nation above the smaller states. Of course, times change and so those words mean something entirely different in the context of the 20th and 21st centuries, so it makes sense they weren't kept.

I vastly prefer the Azerbaijani anthem to any of the "peaceful" or "relaxing" ones. Those ones feel like they're lying to me about humans. Like, the kind of music we'd send aliens that we want to start bilateral trade with. The Azerbaijani anthem sounds like...how humans *really* are.

The UK had another one, "Land of hope and glory" and is still sung today by the royal air force and royal armed forces (Mainly the Royal Marines) it is often dubbed as the "Get up and fight" song by the welsh.

The best anthem is goofy’s moral lesson, the anthem of seaburgerland

*Some national anthems roughly summarized* 🇺🇸 "1812 was tough, but our cool flag's worth fighting for" 🇬🇧 "English monarchy best monarchy" 🇫🇷 "No monarchy best monarchy" 🇷🇺 "Let me tell you *exactly* how was my visit to this badass country called Russia!" 🇨🇳 "Ay everyone let's make this huge human wall" 🇯🇵 "Your highness, your reign is gonna be long. No, but I mean like, REALLY long." 🇰🇷 "No, Arirang is not our national anthem." 🇮🇳 "Damn, we got many people groups don't we." 🇵🇱 "That dude didn't come all the way from Italy for us to be foolin' around. Don't even think about it." 🇭🇺 "Can y'all chill? We're trying to carry on with our lives here" 🇳🇱 "Hey Wilhelmus. Don't forget that I love you" 🇮🇹 "By the foot or by the knife Italy comes back to life!" 🇮🇱 "Yo, Jerusalem, remember when they tried to exile us 2000 years ago? Good, I got excellent news for you." 🇸🇦 "The boss of the Muslim world is in the houuuuuuuse! 🙌" 🇦🇪 "The jewel of the Muslim world is in the houuuuuuuse! 🙌" 🇪🇬 _(Hook)_ "My homeland" _(×837)_ 🇧🇷 "Come to Brazil 🙃" 🇬🇷🇨🇾 "Heyyy liberty! Thought I wouldn't recognize you didn't ya?" 🇹🇷 "Okay, first of all it's not logically possible that I'm not the best country in the world. Did you know that I..." _(five hours later)_ "...therefore, Turkey number one, and you can't factually deny it." 🇫🇮 "Umm... I think I have Oedipus complex" 🇸🇮 "Y'all like wine?" 🇪🇦 " "

The great thibg about the east-German anthem is that you can still sing the regular text to it. It's a lot more engaging than the 1840s melody and overall a mich better anthem, in my opinion.

The Spanish one you mentioned was the one used during the dictatorship. The melody is the same now but withour any lyrics 😊

AlternateHistoryHub: **Makes a video about anthems** Me: wait he didn’t take that chance to play the Soviet/russian anthem? Not even for jokes? AlternateHistoryHub: **plays his spirit anthem** Me: ah

Curious fact: Mexico probably one of the only countries that got its national anthem by making a contest and asking people to make one. The lyrics and the tune as separete competitions.

The pronunciation of Māori hurt me a lot as a New Zealander. For anyone who wants to know how we pronounce it it’s like Mau-re, kinda. We have a weird accent down here.

God bless you for your opinion on the east german anthem!

"Deutschland uber alles" means "Germany above everything", written as a plea to put "Germany" above local loyalties to Bavaria, Prussia, etc. Not as a call for Germany to dominate all others

"LETS GO ON AN ADVENTURE CHILD SOLDIER!" THAT WAS AMAZING

Russian Federation's Oblasts also each have an anthem, most of which slap. My favourite is Buryatia, closely followed by Tuva

I also like sea shanty's, the Great Stan Rogers was take from us too soon, please do alternative history on if he lived.

"Even Somalia has a song, and it doesn't even have a country" Kurdistan: Depression 100

By the way, ironic tidbit of German-German history: You can seamlessly sing the lyrics to each German anthem to the melody of the other one.

04:58 Thank you for helping me learn that those are called ABC islands, how nifty!

5:25 as a german i gotta say, i never wipped my head aeound so fast to my second monitor as i hears that first note. Terrible country PTSD man, shits kicking in hard

fun fact: all of mexico's anthem sings about war against Spain, and how everyone there will unite against a common tresspaser and painting the hills red with the blood of the enemy... we are a little bit spicy

Fun Fact: Everyone is waiting for their anthem.

You got me laughing out loud for the spirit anthem bro

Honestly i would like to see all the anthems ranked. I think that would be fun.

Fun fact: the Italian national anthem was written by a 19 years old who died at the age of 21 defending the second roman republic

The first stanza of the german anthem more referred to putting the idea of Germany as a whole above regional squabbles. It also references certain "german borders" that referred to german speaking regions in an attempt to unite a fractured after the Napoleonic wars. But yeah nowadays it sounds more like conquest and supremacy because of... you know... that guy.

As a political active german I argue so much about the east german anthem and how it fits our view towards the world so much better as our own anthem does! It's driving me insane that any(!) conter argument I get back is that it's from the east. So? Rotkäppchen (a very well received sparkling wine is so too!)