Comedian, writer and former mayor of Reykjavík JÓN GNARR, writes a weekly column for the weekend issue of Fréttablaðið, Iceland's most read newspaper and we publish an English version here at Iceland Insider.
I was lucky enough to be in Houston when the annual Rodeo was held there. Rodeos like this are an international phenomenon. There are shows and entertainment but also shops and stalls and promotions of farming, livestock and related industry. The Rodeo in Houston is the largest one in the world. It’s at the Rodeo that daredevils ride untamed horses and vicious bulls. This is not just the biggest rodeo in the world but also the city's greatest festival. The festival attracts millions of people and receives a lot of attention during the 20 days it lasts. You might say that it takes over the city. People get out their checkered shirts and cowboy boots and put country music on full blast. Bars and restaurants show live broadcasts from the festival and the cowboy spirit is everywhere.
I had an access pass and I went four times. This is so big and extensive that you cannot see everything in one day. I started by going to the opening itself which was held at a giant stadium. I was in the press box, so I had a great view of everything. The climax was when a teenage girl walked on stage and started singing the national anthem of the United States. The people rose from their seats and put their hand on their heart. The old man sitting next to me took it one step further and put his left hand on his chest and saluted with the other hand. On a ten thousand inch TV screen behind the stage, the American flag was streaming in dreamlike slow motion. This was an emotional moment.
Of Brave Heroes
I believe there were about 70 thousand people there. Some mumbled quietly while others joined vigorously in the singing. Some people simply cried. The beautiful voice of the singer lifted you up and caressed every nerve and every sensation of the body. I felt sadness and humility. But also pride and solidarity. I felt my smallness and became lonesome, but at the same time I experienced the safety and happiness of being a part of a whole. The emotional lust culminated in the last lines and the people literally writhed in an emotional orgasm. I was no exception. Tears welled up in my eyes.
This was mass hysteria of the best sort, and I was carried away with it. I couldn’t care less if this was sponsored by oil companies. I didn’t care about the conditions of the animals this was all based on. I felt that I was part of something that was more important and had some higher purpose and meaning. When the song ended, with the climax, the fireworks started. People gasped with fascination and many embraced each other. All feuds were forgotten and all sins were forgiven. I have never in my life wished so strongly that I was American.
This was the first and only time that I have participated in such an event. I have seen scenes like this in movies and they have had different impact on me, depending on the quality of the movie. There, I have sensed the nationalism but nothing like the human feeling I experienced at the Rodeo. I have heard people describe similar experiences at football games in England, where even the most aggressive football hooligans cry their eyes out in the arms of each other.
Of Crying God-Fearing Weaklings
This experience had me once again thinking about the Icelandic national anthem. I think it is bad. My antipathy of it is really threefold. I think the lyrics are poor, the melody far too complicated and too much piety and lamentation in the message. I have never thought Icelanders were those crying god-fearing weaklings the song is about. On the contrary. I don’t find it particularly elevating or inspiring to worship god and die. I think more pep is needed. That’s what the mind is usually interested in when the national anthem is sung. That’s when people show that they are ready to stand together and that they appreciate the advantage and purpose of it.
I would, therefore, want a national anthem that glorifies the nature of Iceland and the tenacity of the Icelandic people in difficult times. I want something that is refreshing and peps you up. We need something like that, because God or the weather is certainly not doing it. I want something that unites us and reminds us that whether we are a fishing magnate in the town of Sauðárkrókur, an immigrant in the Breiðholt neighborhood, or an artist in Mýrargata street, we are in this together, we are bound to each other and dependent on each other, and we fare best when we stand together and work together.
I am not sure what song this should be. The lyrics must be something that everybody can learn and with a melody that ordinary people can sing. Many people have an opinion about this, and many songs have been named. I like “Öxar við ána” best. I think it should be the national anthem.
Comedian, writer and former mayor of Reykjavík JÓN GNARR, writes a weekly column for the weekend issue of Fréttablaðið, Iceland's most read newspaper and we publish an English version here at Iceland Insider.
I was lucky enough to be in Houston when the annual Rodeo was held there. Rodeos like this are an international phenomenon. There are shows and entertainment but also shops and stalls and promotions of farming, livestock and related industry. The Rodeo in Houston is the largest one in the world. It’s at the Rodeo that daredevils ride untamed horses and vicious bulls. This is not just the biggest rodeo in the world but also the city's greatest festival. The festival attracts millions of people and receives a lot of attention during the 20 days it lasts. You might say that it takes over the city. People get out their checkered shirts and cowboy boots and put country music on full blast. Bars and restaurants show live broadcasts from the festival and the cowboy spirit is everywhere.
I had an access pass and I went four times. This is so big and extensive that you cannot see everything in one day. I started by going to the opening itself which was held at a giant stadium. I was in the press box, so I had a great view of everything. The climax was when a teenage girl walked on stage and started singing the national anthem of the United States. The people rose from their seats and put their hand on their heart. The old man sitting next to me took it one step further and put his left hand on his chest and saluted with the other hand. On a ten thousand inch TV screen behind the stage, the American flag was streaming in dreamlike slow motion. This was an emotional moment.
Of Brave Heroes
I believe there were about 70 thousand people there. Some mumbled quietly while others joined vigorously in the singing. Some people simply cried. The beautiful voice of the singer lifted you up and caressed every nerve and every sensation of the body. I felt sadness and humility. But also pride and solidarity. I felt my smallness and became lonesome, but at the same time I experienced the safety and happiness of being a part of a whole. The emotional lust culminated in the last lines and the people literally writhed in an emotional orgasm. I was no exception. Tears welled up in my eyes.
This was mass hysteria of the best sort, and I was carried away with it. I couldn’t care less if this was sponsored by oil companies. I didn’t care about the conditions of the animals this was all based on. I felt that I was part of something that was more important and had some higher purpose and meaning. When the song ended, with the climax, the fireworks started. People gasped with fascination and many embraced each other. All feuds were forgotten and all sins were forgiven. I have never in my life wished so strongly that I was American.
This was the first and only time that I have participated in such an event. I have seen scenes like this in movies and they have had different impact on me, depending on the quality of the movie. There, I have sensed the nationalism but nothing like the human feeling I experienced at the Rodeo. I have heard people describe similar experiences at football games in England, where even the most aggressive football hooligans cry their eyes out in the arms of each other.
Of Crying God-Fearing Weaklings
This experience had me once again thinking about the Icelandic national anthem. I think it is bad. My antipathy of it is really threefold. I think the lyrics are poor, the melody far too complicated and too much piety and lamentation in the message. I have never thought Icelanders were those crying god-fearing weaklings the song is about. On the contrary. I don’t find it particularly elevating or inspiring to worship god and die. I think more pep is needed. That’s what the mind is usually interested in when the national anthem is sung. That’s when people show that they are ready to stand together and that they appreciate the advantage and purpose of it.
I would, therefore, want a national anthem that glorifies the nature of Iceland and the tenacity of the Icelandic people in difficult times. I want something that is refreshing and peps you up. We need something like that, because God or the weather is certainly not doing it. I want something that unites us and reminds us that whether we are a fishing magnate in the town of Sauðárkrókur, an immigrant in the Breiðholt neighborhood, or an artist in Mýrargata street, we are in this together, we are bound to each other and dependent on each other, and we fare best when we stand together and work together.
I am not sure what song this should be. The lyrics must be something that everybody can learn and with a melody that ordinary people can sing. Many people have an opinion about this, and many songs have been named. I like “Öxar við ána” best. I think it should be the national anthem.
