So, I was listening to the Finnish anthem (don't ask) when I asked myself, how about the Dutch anthem? I never really listened the whole thing and only knew the first couplet. Sort of. So, I decided to listen the whole, almost 15 minutes long anthem of the Netherlands. I was surprised how often God was referenced. The song depicts the history of the Netherlands. The struggle with the Spaniards, the king van Oranje and the relation to God. What surprised me was that even tough the Netherlands was founded with freedom of religion in mind, God is referenced in almost every couplet of the anthem (13 out of 15 if I am not mistaken). If we were to create a new anthem, most likely, God would disappear from the anthem.
So, my question is the following: How does the national anthem of your country match up with the country nowadays? And most importantly, if your country were to change the anthem, what would change?
For those of you mad enough to listen to the song, here you can find the original Dutch lyrics and an English translation.