National Anthem sung in....Spanish?

[scaeagles]

Has any/every one heard about the new Spanish language version of the Star Spangled Banner?

Hmmm....I don't suppose I really like that. I'm not sure I can articulate a valid reason why except that I just don't.

[Gemini Cricket]

The national anthem should be sung in English -- not Spanish -- President Bush declared Friday, amid growing restlessness over the millions of immigrants here illegally.

Source (http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/04/28/bush.anthem.ap/index.html)
I mean, is he trying to lose the Latino vote for the GOP this Nov?

[scaeagles]

I don't think he could do anything to win the latino vote, which is one reason I don't get his stance on border issues.

My post wasn't meant to discuss it politically, though that's fine, I just personally think it's....I don't even know the word. I just don't like it.

[Ghoulish Delight]

The Spanish language anthem is intersting. On the surface, I have zero problem with the anthem being translated into Spanish. But, unfortunately, that's not quite what's happened. They've changed the lyrics. Admittedly, it's partly due to the difficulty of literal translations of poetic imagery, but some of the changed lyrics have a clear political slant, which severly hurts the "we're just making the anthem more accessible" angle. As does the already public plans for a remixed version with lines that translate to things like, "These kids have no parents, cause all of these mean laws ... let's not start a war with all these hard workers, they can't help where they were born." Bleh.

But, on the flip side, statements like these are equally assinine:

"Would the French accept people singing the La Marseillaise in English as a sign of French patriotism? Of course not," said Mark Krikorian, head of the Washington-based Center for Immigration Studies, a think tank that supports tighter immigration controls.If this country is taking it cues on what patriotism means from France, we're in deep merde. Sorry, but the French Acadamy has some retarded ideas about what language is.

[innerSpaceman]

Retarded or not, a national anthem is not something you translate to a different language. Just leave that alone. Songs, generally, do not translate well - since rhyming and poetry and imagery all matter intensely. But it's vaguely insulting to sing a national anthem in a foreign tongue, and blatently insulting to change the lyrics to a purposeful new meaning.

(Of course, at that point, isn't it just a parody rather than a translation?)

[Ghoulish Delight]

(Of course, at that point, isn't it just a parody rather than a translation?)Well, seeing as the only back-to-English translation I've seen seems to have been run through some crappy translation software rather than actually tanslated, I couldn't say. At some point I'll look up the actual Spanish lyircs and see if I can come up with my own translation back. But it didn't seem the gist was particularly parody.

Canada has an Engilsh and French official version of their national anthem. Israel and English and Hebrew. Yeah, I know, those countries both have each of those languages as official languages, so it's not a perfect parallel. But then, this isn't an official version is it? Which is why I don't particularly care about the act of translating it, especially if the intent is to be as close to the original meaning as possible. Well, even if not, I don't particularly care. Free country and all. Mostly, if the altered lyrics are as political as they seem from the bad re-translation, I'd find it laughable at worst. Insulting? Eh, you'll have to do a lot more than sing a song in Spanish to insult me.

[JWBear]

Let's just dump the damned thing once and for all, and go with America the Beautiful. So much nicer and easier to sing!

I never could understand what was so patriotic about an old drinking song!

[scaeagles]

I never could understand what was so patriotic about an old drinking song!

?????

I don't understand your post. The song was written during a battle in the War of 1812, if I recall.

[innerSpaceman]

But it all depends on usage. I guess we'd call it a sporting events song nowadays.



during a battle in the War of 1812, if I recall.
How is the old knee wound anyway?

[LSPoorEeyorick]

Eat, er, drink (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Anacreon_in_Heaven) your heart out, Leo.

[wendybeth]

I move that we translate 'Oh Canada" into American English. Maybe Ebonics.....:D

Seriously though- as was stated earlier, a national anthem should be sung in the language of the country that it represents, plain and simple. These people are just getting silly and hurting their cause in the process.

[scaeagles]

Eat, er, drink (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Anacreon_in_Heaven) your heart out, Leo.

OK...so the lyrics were written during the War of 1812. When you are as old as I am, historical events become blurry. (OK, ISM - I meant if I recall my history correctly, not recall the actual event.:p )

[Alex]

If you consider it to be just a song then it probably shouldn't be translated. It is pretty much impossible to translate a song into a foreign language, even with the best of intentions, without the effect being comedic. A recent example of this for me is Studio Ghibli's Whisper of the Heart in which a Japanese version of John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads" plays an important role.

If you consider the song a sacred text (based on the reaction of some I predict an amendment proposal banning desecration of the national anthem within days) then it should be translated. If the Catholic Church eventually decided that vulgar editions of the bible are ok then we can cope with a Spanish version of the Star Spangled Banner (assuming the intent is literal and not political as in the version I heard with altered lyrics).

[wendybeth]

I agree, Alex, and that's really a very good (to my mind, anyway) analysis of the situation. I consider it a song, one that is mangled on a regular basis and one that I dearly love, but not sacred in the slightest. I think the words have been changed a bit more than mere translation difficulties can explain, and so I think this is just very silly. Childish on the 'artist's' part and it would equally childish of us to respond in any reactionary way. Which, of course, we will.