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How not to impress as a prime minister in waiting

The likely next Prime Minister of Belgium is Yves Leterme, a Flemish speaker. About 1.18 into the clip below he is asked by a reporter if he can sing La Brabançonne, the Belgian national anthem. He declares that he can, and even those readers with no knowledge of French, and little of national anthems will be struck by what he decides to sing. Anyway, enjoy.




And this is what he should have been singing:

"O Belgique, ô mère chérie,
A toi nos cœurs, à toi nos bras,
A toi notre sang, ô Patrie !
Nous le jurons tous, tu vivras !
Tu vivras toujours grande et belle
Et ton invincible unité
Aura pour devise immortelle :
le Roi, la Loi, la Liberté !
le Roi, la Loi, la Liberté ! (2x)"
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Blogger James Higham said... 4:00 pm

And what was he actually singing?  



Blogger Croydonian said... 4:09 pm

James - it is more to fun to watch it, honest.

However, he starts singing 'Allons enfants de la Patrie....' Which would be a bit like a Hibernian pol bursting into 'God save the Queen'.  



Blogger hatfield girl said... 9:59 pm

O Belgique, ô mère chérie,

So she's Belgian. Now I see.  



Anonymous Anonymous said... 9:09 am

Vive la republique.  



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