*requeue

Re-queueing this video for one more try; last queued Saturday, January 19th, 2008 10:49am PST - requeue requested by submitter Fjnbk.

National Anthems, Flags and Loyalty Pledges are kind of creepy when you think of it. Nice Music tho....

I can easily say that out of the national anthems of the world whose words I cannot understand, this is by far my favorite!

When I started school in the former Soviet Union, this was very stirring.

I remember how we all sat in front of our 'new' color TVs on new years eve, watching this transmitted live back in the 80s, they would play the anthem right after showing the Kremlin towers tick away to 12 and pronouce the new year. As the clocks struck 12 they would all raise up and clink their glasses of champagne while the anthem played, everyone in that room was from that era - raised in soviet schools that taught the greatness of Lenin, served in the Red Army, following career paths laid out by the State, my father had dreams of becoming the head state aneasthesiologist in the USSR for our countries region. How all that collapsed one day in 1991.

This year I spent new years eve with my relatives, we watched Russian TV this time again, our countries transmiters so poor that local state TV is rarely caught even in the capital and even then its rubbish. The same scene replayed itself, we watched Putin this time address Russia, we watched the Kremlin tower clock count to 12 and we clinked glasses of champange to the barrage of fireworks that were outside marking the coming of 2008. The anthem playing in the background the whole time again.

How little I thought things really canged from the early 90s, this is definately no longer the USSR but we are still intrisincally tied if not politically then economically, Russia is still our most important trade partner, our gas reserve supplemants theirs, which is then sold onwards to the EU. The USSR has been replaced by an illusion of managed democratic states, all seeminglky indepedent yet beneath the surface the same ties bind us all.

Definitely a very stirring anthem. I love the imagery of the Soviet Union. It really was an interesting and unique culture.

I'm biased, I guess, but I think the US national anthem is really excellent as well.

I really like the version Paul Robeson did - and the English translation he sings is a bit more natural (though likely less literally correct).

I'm going to go pop in my DVD of The Hunt for Red October now.

Lots of anthems are good.

My People! Ahhhhh *heart swells*

Wonder what people would say if I played that in the streets here.

Also what I've heard the former eastern block countries are totally not cool with the past and no one wants to talk about it. Wonder what they would say there if you played this.

Send only one PING!

Very impressive anthem.