What do you do when your country's national anthem is playing?

[seventeethdecember2016]

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[bad ideas actualised by alcohol]

I turn the sound off.

[Anarcho-Brocialist]

I laugh at it, because we're not free, and we're sure as hell aren't brave. Slavery, We've let the government take away our rights over fear terrorists, you get raped to board a plane. The Patriot Act, NDAA, you catch me drift. It's a contradiction, and it's not worth the effort to even sing along.

EDIT : I forgot you'll get stopped and asked for your papers if you look Hispanic in the south, Segregation, Placement of Japanese Americans in confinement camps, On going police brutality, NYPD spying on Muslim neighborhoods etc,.

[The Young Pioneer]

I play along. The music is pretty, anyways.

And I got enough crap in grade school for not standing and saying the pledge, so.

[Per Levy]

Your country's anthem is playing, what do you sing?

nothing, why bother. aslo i dont watch stuff where my anthem would be played anyway.

[Dennis the 'Bloody Peasant']

well, I sing nothing...I just get on with whatever I'm doing

[dodger]

Hop skip and fart, followed by a cart wheel.

If I have any breath left, I blow a long wet raspberry.

:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p

[Railyon]

I immediately stand up, raise my right arm and do the Hitler salute like any good, god-fearing patriotic German would.

No seriously, I don't give a fuck most of the time, and like Per Levy I usually don't watch stuff with anthems in it anyway, save a boxing match here and there.

[roy]

Why isn't there an option for standing in awkward silence? That's what I do whether or not my national anthem is playing.

[Per Levy]

I sing the Soviet Anthem(1944).

why? i mean the us working class movement(judging from your location) has so many great songs you could(if you really desire it so much) sing, yet you rather sing a nationalistic anthem to repel a other nationalistic anthem. anyway, whatever makes you happy.

[Bronco]

lol you seriously sing the Soviet Anthem? I just don't sing along most of the time, don't tend to hear the English one much anyway apart from during international football matches

[The Douche]

I sit or stand quietly, if I have a hat on, I take it off. I don't sing it, I don't put my hand over my heart, but I'm not a little brat or out to make a scene.

[NewLeft]

Just last week a city conciliator was talking about how she wanted students to sing the national anthem.. :rolleyes: We're becoming unpatriotic!!

And lol, the internationale? You're such a real life troll!

[Rooster]

My country doesn't have a national anthem. The closest thing we have is a cheesy thing that's sung at football matches. I wouldn't anyway and most people don't even know anything about the song apart from the first two lines. There's an alternative that's sung sometimes called A Man's a Man for [all] That which is decent enough if you're a socialist. The British national anthem is never played here at all either. Even if one of them is played, no one is expected to stand up and sing along.

[Vyacheslav Brolotov]

When our national anthem is playing, I stand at attention, salute our glorious flag, sing along in the loudest voice possible, start crying, and think about the time our Eternal President George Washington crossed the Delaware River to defeat the Nazis, save Jesus from being crucified, nuke hell and destroy Satan!!!!!! USA! USA! USA! AHHHHHHHHHH! :p

[WanderingCactus]

I don't sing anything. I'd probably be pretty annoyed if some dolt standing next to me was singing the soviet anthem though.

[Railyon]

My country doesn't have a national anthem. The closest thing we have is a cheesy thing that's sung at football matches.

Seven Nation Army?

[honest john's firing squad]

I have a friend who sings the 1944 Soviet anthem at literally every possible opportunity (even mid-conversation, and in Russian no less). I have never wanted to punch someone so hard in the mouth before in my life.

[hatzel]

My country doesn't have a national anthem. The closest thing we have is a cheesy thing that's sung at football matches.

Wait what song are you talking about here? Engerland! Engerland! Engerland, Engerland, la-la! perhaps? :lol: (Oh wait you're Scottish. I knew that...)

Nah but serious what do you have in mind because I actually can't think at the moment :confused:

[honest john's firing squad]

P.S. why is Horst-Wessel-Lied not a poll option? I get the feeling many of my compatriots where I live could sympathise with its themes.

[Manic Impressive]

My country doesn't have a national anthem. The closest thing we have is a cheesy thing that's sung at football matches. I wouldn't anyway and most people don't even know anything about the song apart from the first two lines. There's an alternative that's sung sometimes called A Man's a Man for [all] That which is decent enough if you're a socialist. The British national anthem is never played here at all either. Even if one of them is played, no one is expected to stand up and sing along.
RPaJhlIIYjM

But yeah they're more your monarchy than ours God Shave the Queen :p

Use Spoiler tags.

[ParaRevolutionary]

Well i was born in England, raised in the US. I stand in silence during the US national anthem.

[Book O'Dead]

Whenever I'm at an event in which the 'Star Spangled Banner' is played I solemnly rise to my patriotic feet and go:

"Blah-blah-blah, blah-blah-blaaaaaaah,
Blah-blah-blah, blah-blah-blaaaaaaaaaaah!"

It swells my heart to be part of a herd that can intone such a marvelous tune.

[Rooster]

Seven Nation Army?

I wish. That'd be awesome.


Wait what song are you talking about here? Engerland! Engerland! Engerland, Engerland, la-la! perhaps? :lol: (Oh wait you're Scottish. I knew that...)

Nah but serious what do you have in mind because I actually can't think at the moment :confused:

Flower of Scotland that Manic Impressive posted.

[El Oso Rojo]

I don't go to places, where I have to do that anymore. So I don't care.

[MustCrushCapitalism]

Somewhat related: one time I farted very loudly during the pledge of allegiance.

Not to make myself sound like a slob or anything....

[Workers-Control-Over-Prod]

I don't watch too many things that would have the national anthem. Every few years i join my dad in watching football. When the national anthem plays there's just an awkward silence. I remember talking to my dad about the anthem one time and i guess it is ingrained in every german's brain that since the reunion of Germany we have back the old Deutschlandlied. We agreed it sounds Übermenschlich and arrogant. What makes it more odd is that they cut out the first two phrases although Every One first thinks of the first two when you hear the tune, "Deutschland Deutschland über alles..." Holocaust und Panzerfaust!

[Ostrinski]

nothing because im not a weirdo

well I am but you get the point

[Left Leanings]

In Britain, you don't hear the National Anthem sung all that much, tbh.

It was never sung when I was in school, as a matter of routine, at the end of asemblies or anything like that. I recall singing it once in music class when I did Music O-Level. But that was to do with singing practice, not out of national identity or anything.

I know the BBC used to play the National Anthem before it shut down for the evening. But that was years ago, before 24/7 television.

It's sung on Remembrance Sunday, when peeps gather at cenotaphs to commemorate soldiers who have fought in wars.

I can't forsee a time when I would actually have to sing the anthem again.

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

yeah public tv stations here still play the national anthem before ending their programing at night. like everybody else i dont do anything when i hear it.

[MotherCossack]

Wait what song are you talking about here? Engerland! Engerland! Engerland, Engerland, la-la! perhaps? :lol: (Oh wait you're Scottish. I knew that...)

Nah but serious what do you have in mind because I actually can't think at the moment :confused:

that is the best answer anyone could possibly give in response to such a question.
i am dead jealous.... can i have your answer... mine was shit... and you cant change your mind....
Vin-DA-LOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!
and a lump o cheese pleaze!

[Omsk]

The anthem is too reactionary and i usually ignore it.I really hate it.

[Leonid Brozhnev]

Had to learn Flower of Scotland in primary school, so I know most of the words. Never sing it though, I'm rarely in situations where a national anthem of any kind needs to be sang.

[hatzel]

Vin-DA-LOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another classic tune expressing our love for England, yeah! :thumbup:

To be honest the only English patriotic song that has ever really resonated with me in the slightest is 'Jerusalem,' because only a real cretin would fail to recognise that it's wonderfully well-written. And I actually don't even think the message is particularly patriotic or geared towards a nationalistic cause, it's not appealing to the English as a people, England as a nation-state or anything like that, simply to our environs, a certain space that we can improve upon...

Of course I have to justify this all to myself by pretending that the Jerusalem-element is more prominent than the Jesus-element - you won't catch me singing Jesus-songs! - but what the hey, I guess I can handle it :)

[NorwegianCommunist]

I actuallt really like the Russian/USSR national anthem.
Love it! Can't the lyrics :/

[Rafiq]

This would be at school assemblies or whatever, usually I'm on my phone or sleeping. You're supposed to stand, though, but me and my friends don't because we are that cool. No one pays attention, anyway.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

[TheRedAnarchist23]

People are supposed to stand when the anthem is playing?!
fascism anyone?

In my country nobody gets up when the anthem plays, neither do we sing along.

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

People are supposed to stand when the anthem is playing?!
fascism anyone?


0_o

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

no, btw tbh

[TheRedAnarchist23]

"no, btw tbh"

WOT!?

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

nationalism isnt the same as fascism init
read a history book m8

[TheRedAnarchist23]

It is when you are forced to do it.

[Yugo45]

My country doesn't have text in it's anthem so ha. I just stand there or whatever, I guess. I hear it like once or twice a year anyway..

[Krano]

If i tried to sing the Soviet Anthem in my country i would probably end up in jail.

[Kronsteen]

The Star Spangled Banner is written to the tune of an English drinking song.

So if you're American, I suggest you sing the original lyrics (http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Anacreontic_Song).

There's always the Douglas Adams rewrite as an ancient Betelgeuse funeral dirge.

Or better still, make up your own, to suit your tendency. I'd like to hear a Maoist version, or an Occupier's anthem. You could get an outraged spot on Faux News with your anarchist debasement of a patriotic song!

[ВАЛТЕР]

I don't even know the words to Serbians nationalist, bullshit anthem "God of Justice" or whatever...

I'll stick to "Hey Slavs".

[Comrade Samuel]

Other: jack-jack-jackin it in San Diago!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzwnaW-qBpU

[WanderingCactus]

It is when you are forced to do it.

I'm not sure you understand what fascism is.

[TheRedAnarchist23]

I use the word fascism in a very liberal way, I call everything that is authoritarian fascism

[pax et aequalitas]

Had to learn Flower of Scotland in primary school, so I know most of the words. Never sing it though, I'm rarely in situations where a national anthem of any kind needs to be sang.

I only know like the first 3 or 4 lines of the Dutch anthem, yet I know Flower of Scotland completely. It sounds nicer than ours IMO. Flower of Scotland introduced me to folk music so I still kinda like it despite it being a nationalistic song.

Also, I never sing our anthem, few people do so really, when watching the national football team on TV it is always funny only half of the players move their mouths and of those even fewer are actually singing the song. Our anthem is boring anyway.

[Caj]

I don't do anything when my national anthem plays.


I use the word fascism in a very liberal way, I call everything that is authoritarian fascism

Don't do that.

[Pretty Flaco]

i have a terrible singing voice, so i dont sing shit.

[TheRedAnarchist23]

@Caj

"Don't do that."

FASCIST!!!

[hatzel]

But fascism liberates the abstract essence of nationhood from destructive foreign interference, therefore it is a type of anarchism. Haven't you read post 52?

[Stand Your Ground]

Went to a hockey game a couple weeks ago. US anthem played first of course, I was the only one that I could remaining seated. Fuck em.

[svenne]

My countrys anthem, of course. I'm not a seventeen punk anymore (although i do still listen to punk music, it propably wouldn't fit with the melody of our national anthem). I find being a socialist/communist/anarchist a lot easier when your main practice isn't bashing random things people in common like, but doing something nice and constructive (like standing in a picket line). But of course, Sweden isn't the US. And The Internationale IS a better song.

[Trap Queen Voxxy]

I sing nothing, I'm a gypsy, I'm a citizen of the world.

I just remain seated or if drunk, sing a non-related pop song.

[Vyacheslav Brolotov]

What language was Hey Slavs sung in? Serbian? SERBIAN NATIONALISM!!! Or was it sung in the individual languages? YUGOSLAV NATIONALISM!!!!!! :)

[TheRedAnarchist23]

@hatzel

"But fascism liberates the abstract essence of nationhood from destructive foreign interference, therefore it is a type of anarchism. Haven't you read post 52?"

Is post 52 going to become a popular meme now?

[Doflamingo]

It really depends on my surroundings. I don't like to make a scene, so if I'm with family or friends I just stand quietly. If I'm alone, I'll just flip off the flag and sit back down.

[Luís Henrique]

I immediately stand up, raise my right arm and do the Hitler salute like any good, god-fearing patriotic German would.

Well, that's Haydn, so as long as music goes all other countries could immediately renounce their independence and accept their condition of undeserving provinces of Germany.

Luís Henrique

[Yuppie Grinder]

Once at a 4th of July celebration two friends and I sang the internationale while everyone else was singing patriotic songs. It was a nice time.

[gorillafuck]

I use the word fascism in a very liberal way, I call everything that is authoritarian fascismthat's really ridiculous.

I stand, like everyone else. I don't sing or put my hand over my chest though. why would anyone not stand? you're not bravely standing against US imperialism or whatever by not standing for the pledge.

[Fawkes]

why would anyone not stand?

It burns valuable calories that could be more efficiently spent daydreaming

[Fawkes]

As far as the actual question, I usually don't bother standing, and I never sing it.


Fun fact: my sister sang the national anthem for the red sox and the dodgers a couple of times. (now to reclaim my revolutionary cred: when she was in jail, fellow prisoners always asked her to sing for them on their bus rides to the courthouse. all you humanists out there will appreciate that one time she apparently succeeded in getting one of the screws to break down in tears)

[El Oso Rojo]

I just go along with the program, it shows my maturity.

[mo7amEd]

I actually don't know the lyrics to the national anthem of the country I reside in (Sweden)... but this thread made me curious, so I went to google it and learnt that it doesn't have any official recognition:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Du_gamla,_Du_fria

However, the pre 2003 national anthem of Iraq (where I am originally from) is kind of unique though. I mean, 8 minutes for a national anthem, who can beat that? Try standing up during the whole period ;)

http://youtu.be/SaYnjHeM8i0

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ardh_Alforatain

[A Revolutionary Tool]

I just kind of stand there awkwardly.

[DDR]

Mostly sing it with alternative lyrics, like this:

Franco, Franco
Que tiene el culo blanco porque su mujer
lo lava con ariel
La reina Sofia Lo lava con Lejía.
Y el coronel, lo lava con Bernel

[Zav]

you're not bravely standing against US imperialism or whatever by not standing for the pledge.
You are refusing to acknowledge the validity of the symbol of the government. People might react like you spat on the President, but in doing so you retain your dignity.


I just go along with the program, it shows my maturity.
It shows your cynicism. Maturity is having the gall to stand up (or not, in this instance) for your beliefs despite scorn, not being a sheep.

I do nothing. I had a teacher who had offered several times to buy a flag (any flag I wanted) for her classroom so I would stand for the pledge, but I refused every time because "I shall not give that symbol of Capitalist Imperialism the honor of being equal to one of freedom and equality." I could have been ballsy and asked for a Soviet (or North Korean!) flag just for the reactions, but I didn't think of it at the time. As for the national anthem, I have never sung it. I mouthed the words when the school made us do it, but that's it. It's really disgusting that they teach children to worship the Stars and Stripes and hail the government before they know what Europe is.

[JAM]

I never give any importance to the Portuguese national anthem, not even before I embraced Marxism. The only national anthem that I like to listen is the soviet one and not only for ideological reasons but also because was really the most beautiful anthem of all and even anti-communist people recognizes that (just see the commentaries in YT).

Fortunately, people here only care about the national anthem when the football (soccer) national team is playing.

[garymeyer]

I stand up and put my hand on the heart

[Niall]

the only time I hear it really is at the football, internationals or GAA matches. I sing mine, Amhrán na bhFiann

[Quail]

I only know the line "God save our gracious queen" of the national anthem and tbh I've never been in a situation where it's come on, but I guess if it did I just wouldn't sing.

[Obs]

I use the word fascism in a very liberal way, I call everything that is authoritarian fascism
I'm not sure deliberately sounding like you have no fucking clue what you're talking about is having the effect you intend, champ.

As for national anthems, I don't make a scene. I'm not a communist because I'm attention-starved and want to be different somehow. Maybe you oughta take that to heart, OP.

[The Garbage Disposal Unit]

O! Canada, our home ON native land . . .

[thriller]

I usually sing Murder the Government by NoFX

[Princess Luna]

I just stand there awkwardly, not singing, and wait for it to end. If I was going to get creative I would sing it in the most loud and obnoxious voice possible, and if anybody says anything I would counter "WHAT?! DO HAVE A PROBLEM WITH ME LOVING AMERICA, ARE YOU A COMMIE OR SOMETHING?!

[Vyacheslav Brolotov]

America's national anthem is not that bad. It can be historically manipulated to be progressive, when we forget the fact that it was a song written in a war in which we . . . invaded Canada. We can pretend it's an American revolutionary song :)

I usually just stand there and don't sing, like everyone else. I don't know where you guys live, but where I live, we don't sing. It doesn't bother me that much. If I was around when Whitney Houston was singing it . . . God, I think I'll even start crying.

[GPDP]

When I was a kid and lived in Mexico, they would make us sing it at school, but I was pretty patriotic at the time, so I would sing as much of the lyrics as I knew at the time. Strangely enough, once I moved to the US, they would play it right before the Saturday morning cartoon block would start at like 7 AM, but I do live in South Texas, so maybe the proximity to Mexico has to do with it. In any case, I would mouth the lyrics and feel good about it. Nowadays, I'm pretty ambivalent about it.

As for the American anthem, I never really liked it. When I first moved here, I was still pretty patriotic towards Mexico, so I hated it along with other songs like America the Beautiful because they sounded arrogant as fuck, as if the US was God's promised land above all other nations, and the fact that I was aware of the US's transgressions against Mexico didn't help. Thus, I never sang unless I had to. Nowadays, I only hear it during high-profile boxing matches and the Superb Owl, and I mostly just sit there and tune it out, though the latter is especially irritating given the entire spectacle is basically the ultimate celebration of American capitalist extravagance. The fact that they add fucking jets just seals the deal for me. It all sickens me so much I almost have to leave the room until it's over.

[marl]

I conform and stand up, but not sing.

[Rusty Shackleford]

I sit or stand quietly, if I have a hat on, I take it off. I don't sing it, I don't put my hand over my heart, but I'm not a little brat or out to make a scene.
this.


ill stand, ill do the physical formalities to an extent but i wont go beyond that. no singing or any of that.


ive gotten weird looks, but no; im not going to start singing something else.

[Regicollis]

It depends on how drunk I am. If I'm really drunk I sing along as loud as I can. In the rare occation I happen to find myself sober in a place where people are singing the national anthem I politely stand up and hums a little like the rest of the people.

Sometimes I actually sings some lines from various national anthems in the shower (the music is pretty and the lyrics are often too silly to be taken serious) but they tend to get mixed up with folk songs, opera, drinking songs or whatever music is on my mind.

[OnlyCommunistYouKnow]

I don't sing, I just stand in honor of those who have died fighting imperialism and capitalism/fascism.

[Robespierres Neck]

In high school, I wouldn't stand up and continued with what I was doing. If the teacher made me, I stood up and continued with what I was doing.

[Angry Young Man]

Roll my eyes and tut.

[Fawkes]

I only hear it during high-profile boxing matches and the Superb Owl
http://s-ak.buzzfed.com/static/enhanced/terminal01/2011/2/6/14/enhanced-buzz-14751-1297021148-8.jpg

[homegrown terror]

i used to do an anarchist hand-sign (two fingers down on one hand, another across to form an A) but now just stay seated, or turn away from the flag if there's one nearby.

when my kid starts going to school, if they force him to stand for the anthem or say the pledge of allegiance, i'm gonna tell him he has the right to decline, and if anyone give him any trouble over it, there WILL be trouble in return. even though teachers and principals are fellow workers, if they actively try to support the bourg by forcing their State down my kid's throat, i'll see them penniless on a street corner.

[Sir Comradical]

Have you heard how god awful the Australian national anthem is? I usually stand there trying not to cringe which makes it impossible for me to even think about beautiful anthems like the Internationale, the East German one, or the Soviet one.

[Left Leanings]

Have you heard how god awful the Australian national anthem is? I usually stand there trying not to cringe which makes it impossible for me to even think about beautiful anthems like the Internationale, the East German one, or the Soviet one.

I don't know much about the Aussie anthem, but it changed a few years back, to 'Advance Australia Fair' or something like that, didn't it? I remember listening to it, and thinking, wtf was that lol.

Anyways, fuck national anthems, and fuck nation states. No borders for me :) :star:

[Lanky Wanker]

It's kinda sad how a lot of Americans can't even sing along to their own national anthem because of what it stands for.

[Sir Comradical]

I don't know much about the Aussie anthem, but it changed a few years back, to 'Advance Australia Fair' or something like that, didn't it? I remember listening to it, and thinking, wtf was that lol.

Anyways, fuck national anthems, and fuck nation states. No borders for me :) :star:

If by a few years back you mean in 1984, then yes.

[Permanent Revolutionary]

Why would I want to sing the Soviet anthem when my national anthem is playing?
I usually don't sing along, I just listen (if I'm not present)

If I'm attending a football match I sure as hell sing along.

[Igor]

If I'm attending a football match I sure as hell sing along.

Pretty much this, just with ice hockey because we suck in football. Call me reactionary or whatever, but I, while consider myself an internationalist, am not staying silent when there's a pub full of people singing it too. I might not care for the nation but my team is a completely different matter.

Other than that, I don't really attend things where they'd even play the anthem.

Also lol @ tankies singing soviet anthem, try at least L'Internationale. being wannabe russian doesn't make you guys any more communist, I'm sorry to say.

[TheAltruist]

I've tried, but it turns out I really can't sing, there's just too many notes that are hard to hit. Sad that they really aren't all that high...

[Aussie Trotskyist]

Iusually try not to sing. however, I usually think the Hymn of thew Soviet Union (1970s) is about to play.

I would rather sing the Internationale though. Because it is the original socialist song, not tainted by any tendencies.

[Althusser]

I grab my genitals with the utmost disrespect.

[DasFapital]

I stick my middle fingers christward

[LeftAbove]

Nothing. I do not agree with my country's foreign policy.

[Davide]

I stand up once and listened full anthem with full of respect.

[Invader Zim]

Nothing.

[The Jay]

I stand there awkwardly.

[Jesus Saves Gretzky Scores]

I like the idea of the Internationale, but I just sit. I might stand if it feels awkward enough, like I might be yelled at by a whole bunch of people, I might just stand, but I won't say anything, and I'll keep my beanie on.

Such a badass, right?

[Hermes]

I just stand there, I don't feel comfortable enough with my voice to sing anything in front of anyone.

[Spirit]

I wait for it to finish.

[Admiral Swagmeister G-Funk]

shit on the floor whilst screaming incoherently about the illuminati

[cynicles]

I sing my own reworking of the song to reflect what realy happened.

[Sasha]

I only sing the two lines that everybody is really embarrast about, really really loud (our national anthem is pretty old, from when our independence was still build on very shaky fundaments so its really self deprecating and asslicking to our (then) neighbours so has the lines "i always honored the king of Spain" and "I'm of German blood")

[The Intransigent Faction]

I wonder whether the irony of the line "Our home and native land" was somehow intentional. A couple of times in high school I even managed to keep headphones on and listen to something else (the Soviet anthem) :P.

[Agent Ducky]

I sing the song of Silence.
Although I should memorize a whole Rage Against the Machine song and just start rapping like a motherfucker during the national anthem.

[cynicles]

I wonder whether the irony of the line "Our home and native land" was somehow intentional. A couple of times in high school I even managed to keep headphones on and listen to something else (the Soviet anthem) :P.

O Canada, our home built from stolen land,
True patriot love, is just a reactionary scam!

[brigadista]

dont have a country

[Crux]

I yawn. It's a pretty shit song too.

[Galileo]

There is a funny version of the Australian national anthem done by a comic bluegrass band called The Sensative Newage Cowpersons. It makes fun of the fact that noone can ever remember the words of the national anthem. I always think of that.

[Il Medico]

I don't really sing anything. Just stand there awkwardly till it's over.

Humorous side note, when I was a little kid I thought that the UK's anthem "God Save the Queen" was the Sex Pistols song.

[Raúl Duke]

I stay seated and quiet.

[radicalbaker]

Absolutely nothing.

[Rugged Collectivist]

I wasn't a commie the last time I was in this situation so I never had to deal with it. I think I would just sit there silently until it's over. I feel like singing the Internationale or something would make me look like a douche so I wouldn't do that. I also wouldn't stand or take my hat off or put my hand over my heart. I don't want to be obnoxious but I'm not going to exert energy to appease a few mouth-breathing nationalists sitting near me.

[StalinInAScarf]

Look about, alone in a sports bar while watching a MLS game.

*shrugs*

[leftistman]

I stand there awkwardly and silently.

[Karabin]

The Australian Anthem is absolutely the most horrendous anthem I have ever heard. I admit that I have a bit of a passion for national anthems; I'm a sucker for good ones like Deutschlandlied, the Soviet Anthem and Hey Slavs/Poland is Not Yet Lost. But the Australian Anthem is just...wow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtcILZFqJGw&feature=related

Most people, including myself, barely know the first verse. Nobody I have ever met knows the second verse.

Now that I'm in College I never hear the anthem; I never really watch sports either. However, when I was in High School they'd play the anthem at every assembly, so once a fortnight. I would usually stand but not sing, and a lot of my friends noticed that and would point and laugh at me for being such a 'Eastern European Stereotype'. I don't see why I was singled out though; people would always muck around and hit each other when the anthem was being played.

[Veovis]

And lol, the internationale? You're such a real life troll!

One of my life goals is to get invited to sing the national anthem at some sort of sporting event, but instead start singing the Internationale, and in French to boot.

Extra points if it's at a NASCAR race.

[Pirate Utopian]

I do nothing.

[ClassLiberator]

I sing O Canada mockingly in an opera-esque voice. My friends will join in and we salute. It's very clear that we're joking. Either that or I stand silently.

[DoCt SPARTAN]

I Play f*ck the system by system of a down rite back!!!

[roy]

The Australian Anthem is absolutely the most horrendous anthem I have ever heard. I admit that I have a bit of a passion for national anthems; I'm a sucker for good ones like Deutschlandlied, the Soviet Anthem and Hey Slavs/Poland is Not Yet Lost. But the Australian Anthem is just...wow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PtcILZFqJGw&feature=related

Most people, including myself, barely know the first verse. Nobody I have ever met knows the second verse.

really? I've never met anyone who doesn't know the first verse and i'm always hearing from other Australians that the second verse is a mystery yet I've always heard it sung as a standard

[Mackenzie_Blanc]

During the national anthem, I realize how brainwashed the populace is, accepting social problems and inequalities as 'Mercian. What better place to die of heart disease from the quarter pound baconator than the good 'ol USA.

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

I die a little inside, because the UK's anthem is a fucking dirge.

Another reason to hate that sickeningly pompous and eye-rollingly bombastic song: "Rebellious Scots to crush"

[Ostrinski]

I always thought God Save the Queen was one of the catchier national anthems :lol:.

But to answer the question, I just roll my eyes and do nothing. I live in a country where people always have to get so fucking emotional over the national anthem, and I've never understood it - it isn't even that catchy.

I think I do remember hearing from somewhere though that The Star-Spangled Banner is written to the tune of a British drinking song. Can anyone vouch for that or is that bs?

[Flying Purple People Eater]

I'm not usually in places where they play the anthem - I cannot believe that kids are supposed to sing that shit in schools.

[Sentinel]

Yeah the Internationale does fill the same function for me as a national anthem does for most, but obviously I wouldn't make a fool of myself by singing it in protest when others sing the finnish or the swedish anthem. Both of those are musically quite good; I wouldn't sing along for political reasons, but it's not like anyone would force me - they'd probably just assume I don't know the lyrics. But I don't really attend to events where it would come up.

As for the internationale, luckily I get to sing it often enough at our own events; I love singing. The most awesome instance without doubt being at the end of the CWI summerschool, where people from 40+ countries sing it at the same time in their respective languages so that they all melt into a powerful roar, very powerful experience.

[sixdollarchampagne]

My country doesn't have a national anthem. The closest thing we have is a cheesy thing that's sung at football matches. I wouldn't anyway and most people don't even know anything about the song apart from the first two lines. There's an alternative that's sung sometimes called A Man's a Man for [all] That which is decent enough if you're a socialist. The British national anthem is never played here at all either. Even if one of them is played, no one is expected to stand up and sing along.

By the "cheesy thing," do you mean Burns' poem, "Scots wha hae with Wallace bled," or something else? I thought I read that the Scottish nationalists usually sang the Burns verses, in opposition to "God save the Queen." Maybe there aren't any Scottish nationalists any more, I don't know. Burns' poem is moving, I believe (though I have never heard it set to music).

EDIT: I just listened to "O Flower of Scotland." I think it has a nice tune, and the text is, at least, anti-Edward, which is not a bad thing, I think.

[sixdollarchampagne]

The Star Spangled Banner is written to the tune of an English drinking song.

So if you're American, I suggest you sing the original lyrics (http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Anacreontic_Song).

There's always the Douglas Adams rewrite as an ancient Betelgeuse funeral dirge.

Or better still, make up your own, to suit your tendency. I'd like to hear a Maoist version, or an Occupier's anthem. You could get an outraged spot on Faux News with your anarchist debasement of a patriotic song!

When I was in high school, they used to sing the Confederate (slaveholders') anthem, "Dixie," at pep rallies. I am proud to say that I always sat silent in those assemblies, when everyone was standing to sing "Dixie." Funny thing, "Dixie" was apparently written by a black family, if I remember correctly what I read, a long time ago.