No *true* Belgian

Abdul Alhazred

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Belgian leader makes anthem gaffe (BBC)

The man expected to become Belgium's next prime minister has caused a stir by singing the French national anthem when asked to sing the Belgian one.

Yves Leterme, head of the Flemish Christian Democrats, broke into La Marseillaise instead of Belgium's La Brabanconne on the national day.

His gaffe was filmed by Belgian RTBF television, as he was about to attend a church service in Brussels on Saturday.

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How the hell do you **** that up?

Many people have butchered the lyrics to the Star Spangled Banner over the years, but I have yet to see even the ditziest of pop stars accidentally start singing "Oh Canada" instead.
 
Darat said:
"Last Updated: Monday, 23 July 2007, 10:24 GMT 11:24 UK "

Slow news day Abdul?
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:D I wondered too. Since this gaffe, Leterme has become PM, has seen his government collapse and a new government has been formed in which he is again PM.

And Abdul, everyone knows there's only one true Belgian: the King. The rest are Flemish or Walloons. :D
 
Cleon said:
Many people have butchered the lyrics to the Star Spangled Banner over the years, but I have yet to see even the ditziest of pop stars accidentally start singing "Oh Canada" instead.
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Have you watched the Colbert Report recently (5 minutes into the video) ?
 
Cleon said:
How the hell do you **** that up?

Many people have butchered the lyrics to the Star Spangled Banner over the years, but I have yet to see even the ditziest of pop stars accidentally start singing "Oh Canada" instead.
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I've seen (on tape) a singer at a baseball game start trying to sing "O Canada", but only knowing the words and tune of "America the Beautiful".

But she was an American singer, not a Canadian politician (although I wouldn't be surprised if Stockwell Day or Brian Mulroney had done the same....)
 
I thought Belgium had the least national unity pride of any country in Europe. It makes Franco/Anglo Canada look like kids arguing about who gets the clicker.
 
ddt said:
And Abdul, everyone knows there's only one true Belgian: the King. The rest are Flemish or Walloons. :D
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So true. I'm Flemish and I've actually never properly learnt to sing our national (Belgian) anthem. Our "regional" Flemish anthem is only slightly better, I manage to produce 2 sentences there instead of 1. And I've had enough time to learn both if I wanted. So I was absolutely not surprised he didn't know the other regional anthem, but he should have been careful and just shut up.

For those following football, keep an eye on the Belgian team in international matches (if they ever get through a qualification again), there are probably only 2 out of the 11 players who try to sing along with the anthem.

Due to the precarious political/linguistic situation we've learnt not to be very nationalistic. The only things keeping up a kind of national pride are beer and chocolate :)
 
A question I would be glad to have answered, silly though it may seem: does "La Brabanconne" go to the same tune as the "Marseillaise"? (Tried to get enlightenment on this via "Google" -- being none too clever computer-wise, all I managed to find out thereby, is that the two seem to have similar rhythm and metre.) If the tune is the same, perhaps the guy's gaffe is a little bit more understandable...
 
lauwersw said:
So true. I'm Flemish and I've actually never properly learnt to sing our national (Belgian) anthem. Our "regional" Flemish anthem is only slightly better, I manage to produce 2 sentences there instead of 1. And I've had enough time to learn both if I wanted. So I was absolutely not surprised he didn't know the other regional anthem, but he should have been careful and just shut up.

For those following football, keep an eye on the Belgian team in international matches (if they ever get through a qualification again), there are probably only 2 out of the 11 players who try to sing along with the anthem.

Due to the precarious political/linguistic situation we've learnt not to be very nationalistic. The only things keeping up a kind of national pride are beer and chocolate :)
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Good chance to check out the English team tonight (playing Egypt) My bet is half will sing it correctly, a quarter will do the awkward time lag version and a quarter cant speak never mind sing.
 
There's always John Redwood, who was the minister for Wales, but never learnt their national anthem.

 
I don't know many americans, even 'true' americans who can sing all of the "The Star Spangled Banner'. Most are taught at least the first verse, maybe the first and last if they've got a really patriotic first grade teacher. Its made a bit more difficult by the fact that it has an atrocious vocal range. IIRC, it was a poem first, and just happened to fit the tune of a popular song of the day. I can actually sing "La Marseillaise" with somewhat more ease.

I did find audio of the french version of the belgian anthem online, and the lyrics are very similar in spirit, but the tune was different. I tried, and I could sing it to the tune of 'marseillaise', but it was a rough fit. That excuse, at least is out.

A
 
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Like Belgians, Canadians aren't real big on nationalism and have two linguistic communities, but how would it be if a Canadian politician sang The Star Spangled Banner by mistake? :eek:
 
Andrew Wiggin said:
I did find audio of the french version of the belgian anthem online, and the lyrics are very similar in spirit, but the tune was different. I tried, and I could sing it to the tune of 'marseillaise', but it was a rough fit. That excuse, at least is out.
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It would seem, then, just to be a case of "what a silly Flemish Christian Democrat".
 
ddt said:
:D I wondered too. Since this gaffe, Leterme has become PM, has seen his government collapse and a new government has been formed in which he is again PM.

And Abdul, everyone knows there's only one true Belgian: the King. The rest are Flemish or Walloons. :D
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Or Limburgers.
 
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