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I always found the Welsh national anthem beautiful. But it never brought tears to my eyes until I heard it sung by Shirley Bassey, who brings a quality of passionate nostalgia to it that makes it not only grand but also affecting. A wonderful performance, even for the Land of Song.

In my childhood in Italy,( Read more... )

...this is the final of speechless anthems. The Spanish national anthem, the Grenadiers' March, has no words (and I heard the Spanish fans singing along without words, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh, etc.); the first stanza of the German national anthem is connected with some rather nasty past notions and is usually regarded as forbidden. ( Read more... )