Nationalist songs and anthems

In a gaming newsgroup, someone was discussing US foreign policy as
evidenced by the new wargame they were playing. The person was
surprised that the US hasn't exactly been isolationist throughout its
history. Someone else pointed out that the 1st line of the US Marine
Song (text and kitsch midi version available at
http://my.homewithgod.com/heavenlymidis/USA/marines.html) is "From the
Halls of Montezuma / To the shores of Tripoli," affirming action beyond
its borders and overseas. I said, it would be amusing if the song got
longer and longer every time the US went somewhere new. :-)

This in turn made me think of the US national anthem, The Star Spangled
Banner. http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0194015.html It was composed
by Francis Scott Key in 1814 and was adopted as the national anthem by
Congress in 1931 - surprisingly late, in the view of modern minds who
might regard such things as etched in stone. But then, people don't
notice that "Under God" was added to the Pledge Of Allegience in 1954
under the pressure of McCarthyism.
http://www.historyofthepledge.com/history.html

Anyways, in all of this, it struck me that US nationalist songs are
fundamentally 19th century in character. They are drawn from that
century's composers and perhaps from their historic sensibilities as
well. So this makes me wonder, do nation states emerging in the 21st
century have completely different music? Is someone composing on the
basis of Led Zepplin? :-) Or is there a tendency to reach farther
back in a country's history, thereby ressurecting colonial materials?


Cheers,
Brandon Van Every

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