You would have been hearing a lot of national anthems recently; for a ready reference you can turn to this:
https://abn397.wordpress.com/2015/02/13/national-anthems-of-wc-2015/
But you would not hear the European Union’s anthem “Ode to Joy” at this World Cup or at any other sporting event. Here is one of the more popular renditions in German:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87qT5BOl2XU
It has versions in other languages, such as this one in English:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtvxwsiRge4
Oddly enough, this was sung by a choir in Georgia, USA far from Europe.
And then there is Rowan Atkinson’s version, which is something else again. You need to know a bit about Germany and the German language to get all the jokes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWGZdYNpaSo
Someone at Youtube has kindly provided explanatory notes:
“Berlin [capital], Hamburg [city], Schumacher [Toni Schumacher = German goalkeeper]
Baden-Baden [city], Lederhosen [leather pants/trousers, traditional garb in South-Germany and Austria], schnell schnell schnell [quickly quickly quickly]
ja ja [yes yes], nein nein [no no], Apfelstrudel [apple strudel, strudel is a type of layered pastry with filling that is usually sweet], Hoffmeister [German beer type], und [and], Holsten-Pils [German beer type]
Achtung [attention], Liebfrauenmilch im Porsche [Liebfrauenmilch in the Porsche, Liebfrauenmilch = German sort of wine, Porsche = German make of car], umpa [oom-pah], Vorsprung durch Technik [advantage through technology, slogan of the German make of car Audi]
Donner und Blitze(n) [literally: thunder and lightnings – referring to Santas reindeers Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen], britischer Architekt [british architect, that was the pay-off line for a TV advert for the Rover 800 in 1988, the advert depicted sleek British-made cars purring past the “Neue Staatsgalerie” in Stuttgart, designed by James Stirling], tomorrow belongs to me [that’s an allusion to the song “Tomorrow Belongs to Me”, a song from the American movie as well as the Broadway-Musical called “Cabaret” which thematise Berlin 1931 and the rise and takeover of the Nazis]
Schwein [pig] und [and]/ Schweinehund [skunk], Dummkopf [fool], ein Bier bitte [a beer please], Jürgen Klinsmann ist kaputt [Jürgen Klinsmann is broken, German soccer-player in the past and now a soccer-coach]
Boris Becker [German tennis player in the past and now something else], Himmel [heaven], Bum Bum [German ice sort originated in 1986 which is based on the form of a tennis racket, in reference to the moniker of Boris Becker “Bum Bum Boris” when he surprisingly won Wimbledon in 1985], Ich bin ein Berliner [I am a “Berliner”, it’s a quotation from a speech by U.S. President John F. Kennedy in 1963. With that he was underlining the support and solidarity of the USA for West Germany 22 months after Soviet-supported East Germany erected the Berlin Wall to prevent mass emigration to the West]
?holen [?fetch], Kindergarten [kindy/nursery school, originally a German word which became as well common in the English language], Glühwein [mulled wine, a traditional drink in Central Europe which is especially popular in the Advent season on Christmas markets], wo ist sein Skipass (where is his ski pass)
Edelweiß singt Captain von Trapp [Edelweiß sings Captain von Trapp, edelweiß literal translated = noble white, but actually here it means a song from a Musical called “The Sound of Music”], dankeschön [thank you], auf Wiedersehen Pet [literaly translated = See you soon/Goodbye Pet, but actually it means the British comedy-drama TV progamme about seven British migrant construction workers who live in the first series on a building site in the German city Düsseldorf] ”
abn397 