Hey folks what’s up with you Americans ?
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-1393037,00.html
The National Anthem’s easier to sing too.
…as if you didn’t already know. 
The current US national anthem is sung to a bawdy English bar room tune/song fomerly known as To Anacreon (sp?) in Heaven…pretty much speaks for itself, eh?
I’ve seen quite a few Canadian flags on backpacks around here in the last three months. I’ve yet to see an American flag being displayed on someone’s person or possessions.
Don’t suppose you have the original words do you?
JB, I’ll have to do some digging, but I think that I do somewhere. I’ll post them when I find them.
I
To Anacreon in Heaven, where he fat in full glee,
A few fons of Harmony fent a petition,
That He their Infpirer and Patron would be;
When this anfwer arrived from the Jolly Old Grecian
"Voice, Fiddle, and Flute,
"no longer be mute,
"I’ll lend you my Name and infpire you to boot,
"And, befides, I’ll infruct you like me to entwine
"The Myrtle of Venus with Bacchus’s Vine.
Play the melody.
II
The news through OLYMPUS immediately flew;
When OLD THUNDER pretended to give himfelf Airs
"If thefe mortals are fuffer’d their Scheme to perfue,
"The Devil a Goddefs will ftay above the Stairs.
"Hark, already they cry,
"In tranfports of Joy,
"Away to the Sons of ANACREON we’ll fly,
"And there, with good Fellows, we’ll learn to entwine
"The Myrtle of VENUS with BUCCUS’S Vine.
Play the melody.
III
"The YELLOW-HAIRED GOD and his nine fufty Maids
"From Helicon’s Banks will incontinent flee,
"IDALIA will boaft but of tenantlefs Shades,
"And the bi-forked Hill a mere Desart will be
"My Thunder, no fear on’t,
"Shall foon do it’s Errand,
" and, dam’me! I’ll fwinge the Ringleaders, I warrant,
"I’ll trim the young Dogs, for thus daring to twine
"The Myrtle of VENUS with BACCUS’S Vine.
Play the melody.
IV
APOLLO rose up; and faid, "Pr’ythee ne’er quarrel,
"Good King of the Gods, with my Vot’ries below:
“Your Thunder is ufelefs.” - then, fhewing his Laurel,
Cry’d, "Sic evitabile fulmen, you know!
"then over each Head
"My Laurels I’ll fpread;
"So my Sons from your Crackers no Mifchief fhall dread,
"Whilst fnug in their Club-Room, they jovially twine
"The Myrtle of VENUS with BACCUS’S Vine.
Play the melody.
V
Next MOMUS got up, with his rifible Phiz,
And fwore with APOLLO he’d cheerfully join
"The full Tide of Harmony ftill shall be his,
"But the Song, and the Catch, & the Laugh fhall be mine
"Then, JOVE, be not jealous
Of thefe honeft Fellows.
Cry’d JOVE, "We relent, fince the Truth you now tell us;
"And fwear, by OLD STYX, that they long fhall entwine
"The Myrtle of VENUS with BACCUS’S Vine.
Play the melody.
VI
Ye fons of ANACREON, then, join Hand in Hand;
Preferve Unanimity, Friendfhip, and Love!
'Tis your’s to fupport what’s fo happily plann’d;
You’ve the Sanction of Gods, and the FIAT of Jove.
While thus we agree
Our Toaft let it be.
May our club flourish happy, united and free!
And long may the Sons of ANACREON intwine
The Myrtle of VENUS with BACCUS’S Vine.
It’s as if nobody else here has heard of GOOGLE… 
http://www.contemplator.com/america/anacreon.html
Midi file and lyrics for “To Anacreon in Heaven”. “This melody was first published in England circa 1780, probably written by British composer John Stafford Smith. The words were written by Ralph Tomlinson. Both were members of the Anacreontic Club of London. To Anacreon in Heaven was their theme song. The Anacreontic Club was a group of wealthy men who met to celebrate music, food and drink.”
http://www.gbjann.com/anthem/history.htm
History of the US National Anthem, which uses the same melody. The lyrics come from a poem written by Francis Scott Key while witnessing a naval battle between the Americans and the British in 1814. Current lyrics are:
Oh, say can you see, by the dawn’s early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight’s last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O’er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets’ red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
There are more verses, rarely sung in my experience. http://www.robesus.com/usanthem.html
US citizens masquerading as Canadians in Europe is nothing new. When I was living in Switzerland in 1973-74 I met a number of American backpackers sporting the maple leaf. That was during the Watergate fiasco and the final days of Viet Nam war and USians were laying low then also. I have always found that a simple statement like, “Well, I didn’t vote for him,” does the trick when confronted by a left-leaning Euro citizen eager to discuss US foreign policy.
I am an Irish/Canadian/American (3 grandparents from Ontario) and I also find it humorous that Americans suddenly discover Canada at times like these.
Mike
…google? Google who? Thanks Martin. Sitting in front of computer practicing my pipes made it a tricky thing to go searching for the lyrics…without toppling the drones onto my sleeping Bull Terrier…who does not like to be woken abruptly.
Thank you Martin! I never “Googled it” because I couldn’t spell it!
I don’t think I would try to go that far to lay low. I think I’ll just remember to leave my Stetson and Tony Lamas at home and not to start “The Yellow Rose of Texas” in a pub session.
Hogtown and Cowtown, eh? that sounds really funny.
I would never do that.
I scoff at cowardly citizens of the US who parade behind a foreign banner.
Those very same ones who surrender their hard won freedoms for a false sense of security no doubt. Blood sucking offspring of Lilith herself.
Did that come off a little strong?
Edited to add: We better get Cuban cigars soon though or I’m OUT.
Frankly I think this whole deal about pretending to be Canadian is pretty pitiful. Frankly, the whole thing is overblown. It’s not like they’re going to be attacked for being American. My wife and parents and I were in Rome last year, just before the war started. The place was full of “Pace” (= “peace”) flags, but we didn’t get a single comment from anyone about us being from the US or blaming us for any foreign policy.
:roll:
Steven
Makes a change from pretending to be Irish I suppose…
Slan,
D. 
Hmmm, I guess whoever transcribed that wasn’t familiar with old manuscripts. “He fat in full glee,” eh?
My mom’s dad was born and grew up in St. John’s, New Brunswick. I think that makes me ethnically Canadian, right?
Not if you say St. John’s, New Brunswick!!! It’s St. JOHN, New Brunswick. St. John’S is the capital of Newofundland. You’ll never pull off being a canuck that way!
I’ve never met an American who pretended to be anything but American in my travels.
BTW, The cigars are on their way Flyingcursor.
sigh
How soon we lose our roots in this nomadic hemisphere.