The French national anthem is greater than the American national anthem

Excellent points. 1. Whether or not the national anthem is easier to sing in France arguably has nothing to do with how great the piece is. I have been a choir member for a number of years now, and through my study of music I have never seen a composition or composer held in high esteem due to the simplicity of the music. A piece that is difficult to sing is quite frequently worth the challenge; for talented singers it is a way to display true talent, and for the audience it gives a valuable music experience. As for our previous argument of length, the difference is really quite miniscule between the first verse of the American Anthem and the first verse and chorus of the French Anthem; the two segments are very similar in this respect, both in quantity of words and total time of the song. The difference being only a few words, I would request that the reader not weigh too heavily upon this point. 2. The quantity of nations that have adopted the French Anthem are-or were-mostly French colonies; they did not adopt the anthem simply because they wanted to. The majority also still use the French flag, and if you look in Wikipedia, many are still credited as belonging to France and being governed at present by President Sarkozy. In my previous argument, I pointed out that the quantity of people following one anthem seemed about as relevant as the number of nations that adopted it; I fear I failed to communicate that I don't think either proves any significant point, particularly in the context of previous French colonialism. 3. The French Revolution brought many IDEAS of Liberty and Democracy, but ended in readopting the monarchy against whom the common people first revolted. In fact, over the next century the nation never adopted an actual Democracy, though it took turns as "a republic, dictatorship, constitutional monarchy, and two different empires," according to Wikipedia and my Modern European History class that I finished a few months ago which highlighted the French Revolution. What really happened during the Revolution is very different from the ideas that instigated it--the reality was much harsher, bloodier, and more destructive than the revolutionary ideals. La Marseillaise is a call to battle; the beginning of the chorus literally translates as "To arms, citizens! Form your battalions! March, march!" I personally don't believe that the order to start a battle, to begin a war, to kill others is a great thing at all. The American National Anthem calls for national pride, with the flag as a representative for the country's steadfastness, beauty, and liberty: the French national anthem is a call for bloodshed. 4. The Star Spangled Banner, words and music by an American, is glorious because it is the most moving of all national anthems. I say this because of the effect is has on those who hear it and feel oppressed. For example, see the youtube reference here: http://www.youtube.com... Forgive the copying, but the original statement made with these same terms has about as much, if not less significance than this one. The previous link gives the singing, in real life, of the American National Anthem at the World Cup of 2006. However, the French national anthem's use in Casablanca is fictional and merely symbolic, since Morocco was a French colonial nation at the time (though occupied by many European nations, including the Germans). The choice to sing the French national anthem in this particular case was simply a choice to drone out the Germans; the volume of the national anthem, not the lyrics or the melody, is the highlight of this scene. I don't expect any viewer to find much "greatness" in the youtube video I posted of the song; I only expect comparison between a fictional case of singing the appropriate national anthem at the time as loudly as possible to a real case of singing the appropriate national anthem at the time, well, as loudly as possible. Volume is not a sign of musical greatness: good lyrics, good melody, and good symbolism are. Though both national anthems are magnificent, The Star Spangled Banner displays all these traits more than La Marseillaise. I would like to challenge those reading my final statements to please vote on this debate based upon THE WINNER OF THE DEBATE, not the song you personally prefer. This debate was not intended as a display of patriotism, and as this is my first debate, I would like to be judged fairly. Thank you, Ylareina and any reader who's taken the time to read all this.