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Anthems that make your hairs stand on end..


Thedelldays

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Something we DO agree on!

 

It is very evocative and trying not to be to parochial about it , it reminds me so much of the good things of Hampshire and its rolling downlands especially to the north and the villages of the Test Valley and the Candovers. In any event it certainly evokes for me the rolling countryside of Southern England but I have no idea if that is what the composer intended for all I know he was probably a Yorkshireman!

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It is very evocative and trying not to be to parochial about it , it reminds me so much of the good things of Hampshire and its rolling downlands especially to the north and the villages of the Test Valley and the Candovers. In any event it certainly evokes for me the rolling countryside of Southern England but I have no idea if that is what the composer intended for all I know he was probably a Yorkshireman!

I think that what RVW was trying to achieve (and succeeded in producing ) was an evocation of the great English countryside. I cannot hear the piece without picturing the things that you have mentioned. A wonderful piece of quintessentially English music.

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The Navy Hymn ('Eternal father, strong to save/For those in peril on the sea') played by a brass band on a summer evening at a Cornish fishing harbour quayside.

 

or;

 

Theme from Thomas Tallis - Ralph Vaughan Williams. It's the backing music played in 'Master and Commander' as they're rounding Cape Horn and lose a man overboard. True 'lump in the throat' time.

 

Well, they are nautical themes...

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The Navy Hymn ('Eternal father, strong to save/For those in peril on the sea') played by a brass band on a summer evening at a Cornish fishing harbour quayside.

 

or;

 

Theme from Thomas Tallis - Ralph Vaughan Williams. It's the backing music played in 'Master and Commander' as they're rounding Cape Horn and lose a man overboard. True 'lump in the throat' time.

 

Well, they are nautical themes...

or..hearts of oak..???

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Eternal father strong to save

or

O God our help in ages past

 

Both significant at this time of year and both written by Hampshire men, Wiliam Whitely and Isaac Watts.

 

Another hymn which really makes me stand up and respect is "Guide me now Great Redeemer", the "bread of heaven chorus" having been much bastardised over the years never detracts from its origins or need to pay homage.

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Guest Dark Sotonic Mills
A little sad maybe but I used to love to play Nimrod from the Enigma Variations everytime I drove toward a sunrise.

 

Put both your foot and the car roof down and its truly magic.

 

Truly beautiful.

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If we're talking about National Anthems, I have a few I like. The Italian one is particularly good, and the French one is fine. The Spanish Anthem has a musical phrase in it which reminds me of the old song we used to sing on Firework night, which carried the line... please to remember the 5th of November... so it occasionally makes me smile. The New Zealand one is nice too.

 

I absolutely loathe God Save The Queen. It's a complete dirge, and it celebrates nothing about the actual country. If by some Act of Parliament we could change it to Jerusalem or Land Of Hope And Glory, I'd be quite happy. They maybe [slightly] dodgy jingoistic tunes, but they sound superb.

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Kongesangen - now that's how an anthem should sound. We could learn something from the Norweigans.

 

Other "anthems" that make my hairs literally stand on end include:

 

Michael Jackson - "Earthsong". I remember first time I heard this song, it made me stop and think about what we are doing to the world. A real epiphany moment. It was after hearing this song that I decided to do whatever I could to help the planet, so I now take showers instead of baths and turn my TV off properly, not leave it on standby.

 

Mariah Carey - "Vision of love". Amazing, the way her high pitched voice sounds sends me delirious, like being spoken to by God.

 

Elton John - "Candle in the wind". What can you say? Everyone gets erect hairs at the thought of our Queen of Hearts (Princess Di, RIP).

 

Starship - "We built this city". Inspirational. Thiss song reminds me that money isn't everything in life. These people uilt a city on rock ad roll......so why not build a city based on love and equality and justice and peace? Magical moments listening to that song.

 

Phil Collins - "Another day in paradise". Phil gets home to us what it's like ebing homeless so well with this song that it makes the hairs on my neck stand up as I feel like I am homeless for the duration of the song. It's like 4 and a half minutes of feeling the despair, hopelessness and worthlessness of a homeless person. Sheer genius.

 

S******...

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Not many people will have heard of them but there is a local band from around here called Sensus who I have seen loads of times. Whilst most of their songs are anthemic, one in particular stands out for me - 'Eat Less Move More'. It really makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up when you hear it live. But more than that, it has a really deep message about the state of modern health - it is an anthem for childhood obesity, IMO. I think they should use it on the adverts as it is so inspiring.

 

But don't just take my word for it - this might illustrate how powerful it can be: I remember once seeing the band perform it live at a Harvester down the road from me. There were lots of families eating - burgers, chips, roast chicken, etc. But one thing struck me: the salad bar (which is free) was completely bereft of people; nobody was eating the salad. Sensus had just finished playing one of their heavier tracks (I think it was 'Animal', although can't really recall), and the first few bars of 'Eat Less Move More' struck up. Suddenly, I noticed how everyone had stopped eating and were just watching the band. It really was eerie! Then, as they finished the song to rapturous applause, people just started to move towards the salad bar. Within minutes it was swamped with people - they were actually fighting over the last of the shredded carrots! Mental! But just goes to show how anthemic it really is.

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I too agree that god Save The Queen can (on occasion) lack that 'je ne se qua', but when the occasion calls and those performing it play it with true feeling and those it is intended for are thinking of Queen and Country not much comes close in my humble opinion.

 

ie Our armed forces and Olympians:

 

http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/royalmarines/royal-marines/national-anthem

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I too agree that god Save The Queen can (on occasion) lack that 'je ne se qua', but when the occasion calls and those performing it play it with true feeling and those it is intended for are thinking of Queen and Country not much comes close in my humble opinion.

 

ie Our armed forces and Olympians:

 

 

Funny you should say that matey, because when the Commonwealth Games were being held in the Eastlands Stadium in Manchester in 2002, the Home Countries [let's call them] adopted their local anthems. Now usually, God Save The Queen doesn't get the local prolls singing out, but the adopted Land Of Hope And Glory for England, got the stadium absolutely buzzing whenever it was played during a medal ceremony.

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Jerusalem

Abide With Me

Eternal Father, Strong to Save

 

GSTQ is sh*t, the Americans, Germans and French have better national anthems than us.

 

Land of Hope and Glory and Rule Britannia are ridiculous jingositic b*ll*cks considering the state of the country that only jumped up toffee-nosed twerps that attend Last Night of The Proms enjoy nowadays.

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Bohemian Rhapsody & Love of My Life (especially when performed live, in prefference to the album version), both by Queen & apparently written by a Saints fan. :D

 

The Great Escape (when played by a brass band – not hollered by footy fans) and The Bridge on the River Kwai.

 

Somebody’s already mentioned Tubestation by the Jam, Born to Run by the Boss and Toccata, all completely different, but still great spine tingling songs/tunes.

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Vaughan Williams is an excellent choice.

 

They had some fantastic music by English composers on Classic FM last night, George Butterworth, William Walton etc. Anything by Butterworth gets me all misty simply due to his end - killed at the Somme at only 31 with his best years of composing ahead of him. What a bloody waste, sums that war up really :(

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Not many people will have heard of them but there is a local band from around here called Sensus who I have seen loads of times. Whilst most of their songs are anthemic, one in particular stands out for me - 'Eat Less Move More'. It really makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up when you hear it live. But more than that, it has a really deep message about the state of modern health - it is an anthem for childhood obesity, IMO. I think they should use it on the adverts as it is so inspiring.

 

But don't just take my word for it - this might illustrate how powerful it can be: I remember once seeing the band perform it live at a Harvester down the road from me. There were lots of families eating - burgers, chips, roast chicken, etc. But one thing struck me: the salad bar (which is free) was completely bereft of people; nobody was eating the salad. Sensus had just finished playing one of their heavier tracks (I think it was 'Animal', although can't really recall), and the first few bars of 'Eat Less Move More' struck up. Suddenly, I noticed how everyone had stopped eating and were just watching the band. It really was eerie! Then, as they finished the song to rapturous applause, people just started to move towards the salad bar. Within minutes it was swamped with people - they were actually fighting over the last of the shredded carrots! Mental! But just goes to show how anthemic it really is.

 

are they on youtube?

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The radio station that I listen too has just observed 2 minutes silence (as did those of us in the office). They took a feed from an Armistice day tribute that was finished with the Last Post, the DJ then went straight to (ie no announcement) Brothers In Arms by Dire Straits. I have found that incredibly moving, I'm actually welling-up typing this.

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