La Marseillaise

As I’ve read about French history over the past year, I have been intrigued by the references to La Marseillaise, the song that has been the on-again, off-again French national anthem since the late 1700s. What first caught my attention was how the song gained its status as the national anthem after the French Revolution, lost the status when Napoleon came to power, and then went back and forth as France alternated between republics, empires, and monarchies. But what really caught my attention were the references to the people, gathered in the streets during times when the song was actually banned, singing La Marseillaise in open defiance against their rulers.

With my interest piqued, I looked it up online and had a listen. I could see why the people love it and why it is consistently considered one of the top national anthems. The tune is patriotic and rousing and the lyrics are great. You have to love a national anthem whose refrain begins with “To arms, citizens!”.

Aux armes, citoyens,	To arms, citizens,
Formez vos bataillons,	Form your battalions,
Marchons, marchons!	Let us march, let us march!
Qu'un sang impur	So that an impure blood
Abreuve nos sillons !	Will water our furrows!

I looked forward to hearing La Marseillaise in person and had the opportunity recently at a couple of football (soccer) games I attended at Stade de France. Both games were part of the 2014 World Cup qualifying, the first a 3-1 victory over Georgia and the second a 0-1 loss to defending World Cup and European champion Spain.

It was impressive to hear La Marseillaise in person, with the enthusiastic audience singing along. Here's a video I took prior to the match. And then, on a couple of occasions during the emotional game with Spain, the crowd spontaneously started singing it to root on the home team. Now that is a national anthem.