> Hmmmmm...I'm not really keen on national anthems anyway. The Star-Spangled Banner's not so bad with its words (even though all national anthems are patriotic twaddle) but I really don't agree with the lyrics to our national anthem (I'm English, in case some of you have never seen my posts). Why the heck should God want to save the Queen any more than anyone else?

Heh. I *love* our anthem. Usually people only sing the first verse, first in English then in Maori, and I think it sounds GREAT. Also, these days, it's rather humorous and ironic to sing "God Defend New Zealand", since the next line really ought to be "Because Nobody Else Will".

Brunnen-"the good thing about a bilingual anthem is that if you object to the actual meaning of the words, you can just sing it in the language you understand least"G