After watching some of the rugby World Cup I was reminded about the variety of anthems used by countries. Below are a selection of anthems that may be described as stirring (The Soviet, the French, the Italian and the Welsh) and sluggish (God save the queen). There are those that are toe-curlingly embarrassing (Redwood's rendition) and those that are life-affirming (The Internationale - Coming Later!!). There are those that full of revolutionary passion (The Soviet one and the French one) and those that are a reservoir of anachronistic sentiments (God save the queen)
