ANTHEMS OF CHANGE
What’s in an anthem?
If you plugged the word ‘anthem’ into Google, you would perhaps one of the driest definitions I’ve seen yet: “A rousing or uplifting song identified with a particular group, body, or cause”. Coming first from religious contexts, today associate anthems with the concept of the national anthem. In modern use, they draw the cultural contexts of a country, such as the twin languages used in our own NZ anthem (interestingly enough, we don’t use NZ Sign Language despite it being one of our official languages – time for a change?).
What point do they have?
However, the dictionary definition simply does not suffice. Where’s the revolutionary spirit? The collective drive to right society’s wrongs? Looking back on previous songs of unity, such as the French national anthem ‘La Marseillaise’, I am reminded of Dr Zizek’s talk on the French Revolution[1]. It originated as a song to unify French workers against invasion from near and, persisting as a bloody reminder of the ensuing conflicts. With its reference to “blood watering our furrows” and the “ferocious soldiers… coming to cut the throats of your sons”, La Marseillaise’ shows how an anthem can capture a country’s culture at a particular moment in history.
But the purpose of the anthem has changed. Where anthems once served as national revolutionary signposts, signals to authority, they are now used as backdrops to sports matches or school assemblies. Being a football fan (Arsenal FC if anyone’s wondering) I have seen firsthand the shift of anthem: now they can be used to inspire unity in a football side, just as much as they used to do so in an entire population. In my opinion, this is a positive thing: praising victory over the opposing football team is generally a more peaceful way of uniting a people than heralding bloodshed and violence over all who challenge the collective.
But James, why do they really matter?
Listening to Billy Bragg’s rousing rendition of Internationale, it’s difficult not to feel empowered[2]. Writing this post, it would make any person want to march out of their room and into the streets in the hope of forwarding the progressive cause. Of course, that’s what it’s meant to do: it’s an anthem! It would be a fairly poor song if it didn’t have that effect, given that is the entire reason for its existence. In this realisation, an unfortunate dose of reality drops on our understanding of ourselves. Ultimately, we want to be convinced of the righteousness of our cause and inspired to charge the frontlines, having been inspired by collective song. However, we must acknowledge the role anthems play in swaying us away from reason. Unfortunately, if we desire to achieve lasting social change, it’s vital that we examine the way society is set up and how it can be changed with a logical mind: revolutionary fervour can be inspiring, but it needs to be tamed in order to make a real difference.
WC: 499
Since I decided to continue the music theme to my posts, here are some of my favourite anthems!
Spain (no words!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DGqtEo4CF4
USSR (a classic): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U06jlgpMtQs
Brazil (another one with drive): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lc9bcN7ecQ
Hey James, Do you think anthems can reclaim nation solidarity? Do you believe that an anthem could give moral power to those during recent uprisings? Just because situations shift does the meaning of anthems shift, or do we not share the same concept of the anthem when we shout for our teams in sport comradery? Obviously, you got me thinking. I would like to mention, one of the only things I have watched on Netflix is ‘The Money Heist.’ A group of bandits sings an old chant and carries with them throughout this series. In the real world, they create a revolution of hope for the outcasts, and the courage for witty rule breakers. Thus reclaiming the actual meaning of an anthem. If you would like to look into it and watch spoilers watch the money heist: the phenomenon