Allow me to officially open this thread with the words to the Dutch national anthem, known as het Wilhelmus. It is basically a long poem of fifteen verses, sung from the perspective of William of Orange, the man generally considered as the 'founder of The Netherlands'.
Yup, only four lines, but it has a very slow melody, so it's longer than God Save The Queen anyway... Translation!Wilhelmus van Nassouwe ben ik, van Duitschen bloed
Den vaderland getrouwe blijf ik tot in den doed
Een Prinse van Oranje ben ik, vrij, onverveerd
De koning van Hispanje heb ik altijd geëerd
Two things need some explanation. First of all: many people, even in Holland, find it extremely weird that the words van Duytschen bloed (in modern Dutch: van Duitsen bloed) are in the first line. In modern language these words mean 'of German blood'. WTF??William of Nassau am I, of Germanic blood
Loyal to my fatherland I will stay until I die
A Prince of Orange am I, free and unafraid,
The King of Spain I have always honoured
What William of Orange sings, however, is not 'of German blood' but 'of Germanic blood'. Which was a generic name back in those days for the Dutch, German and Flemish peoples.
Secondly: 'the King of Spain I have always honoured?' Once again: WTF??
Holland was occupied by Spain in the 16th century. William of Orange was initially loyal to the King of Spain (Carl the Fifth). However, when Carl died and his son Philip the Second became the new king, William of Orange became the big leader of the Protestant resistance of the Dutch and, essentially, the man to win the war against Spain, liberate The Netherlands and create the independent nation we still know today.
Wilhelmus is a song of fifteen verses and it is basically William of Orange telling his lifestory. In this verse (the first one) he tells us that he was once loyal to the King of Spain. In the later verses he will explain why he changed his mind and pretty much became a Dutch nationalist. But the first verse is the verse that has now become to national anthem, so the 'loyal to the King of Spain' bit is the only thing we sing these days.
K.