I am amused that the first verse of the Dutch national anthem includes a line about pledging loyalty to the King of Spain. This rises to confusion when I hear the line dates back to 1570, when the Netherlands were at war with Spain. Nobody seems to know what this line is doing there. Here is an explanation posted by a dutch contributor.
The last two lines are often interpreted to mean that the leader of the Dutch war against Spain had no specific qualms with the king, but rather with his emissaries in the Low Countries; it may also be sheer sarcasm.
How great is that? A sarcastic national anthem. Then it occurs to me - we've got a sarcastic national anthem too: 'God Save the Queen' , we mean it man .
