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A new English national anthem... where do you stand?

Crab Lungs

By Crab Lungs,
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Crab Lungs

Crab Lungs

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Posted (edited)

This has been discussed quite alot amongst my friends before but I thought I'd bring it to the board to garner opinion.

 

How would you feel about a new national anthem? Would you prefer one, or are you happy with God Save The Queen? Personally, the current one still gives me goosebumps listening to it but part of me would like something more relevant to the country and not the Royal Family. Besides, it's more of a "British" thing than an English thing IMO.

 

It'll probably never happen, but I'm going to throw these suggestions at you and see the feedback.

 

Option A "God Save The Queen" :

 

Option B "Jerusalem" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfqRh0D72f8&feature=related

 

Option C "Land Of Hope & Glory" : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=podh1wht9RY

 

Option D "I Vow To Thee, My Country" :

 

And for the more traditional.... ;)

 

Option E "Rule Britannia" (sung by Brian Blessed?) : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UcvBLd06wA&feature=fvst

 

On a personal level, I do love "I Vow To Thee, My Country" but can see the merits of the other suggestions. And, besides, "Jerusalem" is always rousing for the Cricket :)

 

Nominations for anything by James Corden/Dizzee Rascal or mentioning "German Bombers" is not accepted ;)

Edited by Crab Lungs
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St Landrew

St Landrew

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Posted

Of all the national anthems well known to me, God Save The Queen is without doubt the very worst. It is neither rousing, nor does it refer to its citizens, other than that they are cannon fodder for the Royal Family, when they need protection. There is one good thing about it - it reaffirms my UK republicanism leanings, but it can go ASAP. However, there is a problem. Despite the obvious appeal that Land of Hope & Glory has, or Jerusalem and I Vow To Thee My Country, with their uplifting musical melodies, all are a bit dodgy, lyric wise. But this applies to many national anthems. They all have their faults. I would point out that NZ's is damn good, lyric wise, without of the militaristic bluff and bluster of others, and being Kiwi, it means well, although it is a bit iffy tune wise. Whereas the Italian one is fantastic listening after Valentino Rossi wins yet another MotoGP race [yes, I'm aware he's been injured of late, but he's going to race again this weekend] and takes the plaudits from the podium. The Spanish one has a refrain in it which Standard Fireworks must have known about when they wrote... please to remember the fifth of November... for their old TV adverts, because it is exactly the same, note for note.

 

If I had to pick a tune only, any of the three UK anthems mentioned would serve spectacularly well. But we must have lyrics, and maybe it's time for a completely new tune, anyway. I suppose I should remind people that when the UK had the Commonwealth Games at Eastlands in Manchester, the English anthem used was Land of Hope & Glory. When a winning English athlete stood for the anthem during the medal ceremony, the English contingent in the crowd practically took the roof off with their volume. Nobody ever sang GSTQ with such conviction. Perhaps it should be LoH&G, after all.

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chrisobee

chrisobee

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Posted
Of all the national anthems well known to me, God Save The Queen is without doubt the very worst. It is neither rousing, nor does it refer to its citizens, other than that they are cannon fodder for the Royal Family, when they need protection. There is one good thing about it - it reaffirms my UK republicanism leanings, but it can go ASAP. However, there is a problem. Despite the obvious appeal that Land of Hope & Glory has, or Jerusalem and I Vow To Thee My Country, with their uplifting musical melodies, all are a bit dodgy, lyric wise. But this applies to many national anthems. They all have their faults. I would point out that NZ's is damn good, lyric wise, without of the militaristic bluff and bluster of others, and being Kiwi, it means well, although it is a bit iffy tune wise. Whereas the Italian one is fantastic listening after Valentino Rossi wins yet another MotoGP race [yes, I'm aware he's been injured of late, but he's going to race again this weekend] and takes the plaudits from the podium. The Spanish one has a refrain in it which Standard Fireworks must have known about when they wrote... please to remember the fifth of November... for their old TV adverts, because it is exactly the same, note for note.

 

If I had to pick a tune only, any of the three UK anthems mentioned would serve spectacularly well. But we must have lyrics, and maybe it's time for a completely new tune, anyway. I suppose I should remind people that when the UK had the Commonwealth Games at Eastlands in Manchester, the English anthem used was Land of Hope & Glory. When a winning English athlete stood for the anthem during the medal ceremony, the English contingent in the crowd practically took the roof off with their volume. Nobody ever sang GSTQ with such conviction. Perhaps it should be LoH&G, after all.

 

Methinks you don't know many National anthems too well !

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dellgirl

dellgirl

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Posted

Anything our rotten team will sing,Rooney and Milner with their jaws clenched shut made me fume. I don't care if they are republicans (if they know what that is )just belt it out,probably good for stress as well.The Marseillais for me every time for stirring up the patriotism,pity about their team this time round.

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revolution saint

revolution saint

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Posted

England doesn't have a national anthem.

 

I do think we need one though and anything has to be better than GSTQ so I wouldn't be overly fussed with whatever it was replaced with. However I do think the Scots have got it spot on with 'Flower of Scotland' and anything close to that would be superb.

 

Incidentally does anyone else make a specific point of sitting down during GSTQ? I did it at Cardiff and Wembley. I even have to put the TV on mute whenever it comes on I hate it that much.

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Wes Tender

Wes Tender

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Land of Hope and Glory is head and shoulders above the others and I'm assuming that the YouTube version is taken from the Last Night of the Proms. I'm not particularly a fan of Classical Music, but I love watching that sung with such fervour and enjoyment. I'm content with our current National Anthem for the time being, but increasingly grow fed up with the situation whereby Nationalism grows apace in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which have their own Parliaments/Assemblies and are still allowed to have representation in our Parliament, whereas we have no say in theirs. The Scots and the Welsh have their own Anthems.

 

It is increasingly becoming necessary for us to adopt one of our own.

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revolution saint

revolution saint

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Posted
We don't need one. GstQ is quintessentially known all over the world as the English National Anthem. Why change it? She is our Queen and we are not a republic.

 

Because it's the British national anthem? It's only known as English because we lack the imagination to come up with something else. You're right though we are not a democracy, we are not a republic, we are not citizens - we are subjects and we subserviently bow down to the lottery of birth. God save the Queen? God won't help her if I get there first....

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the colonel

the colonel

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Posted
because it's the british national anthem? It's only known as english because we lack the imagination to come up with something else. You're right though we are not a democracy, we are not a republic, we are not citizens - we are subjects and we subserviently bow down to the lottery of birth. God save the queen? God won't help her if i get there first....

 

sad...very sad

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Thedelldays

Thedelldays

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Posted
Because it's the British national anthem? It's only known as English because we lack the imagination to come up with something else. You're right though we are not a democracy, we are not a republic, we are not citizens - we are subjects and we subserviently bow down to the lottery of birth. God save the Queen? God won't help her if I get there first....

so you would rather sing about a mythical being...ie GOD

 

who (ironically) we should all bow to thee and all that

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Joensuu

Joensuu

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Posted

Pomp and Circumstance every time - the perfect mix of Shakespeare and Elgar, albeit set to lyrics of empire, bloodlust and a manifest belief in some higher being who has bestowed greatness upon the country (and here was me thinking that was our exploitation and enslavement of West Africans...)

 

'God save the Queen' is awful, not only is it musically naive, it also inflicts upon us crass lyrics about some magical invisible and unfounded deity called 'God' and his earthly sidekick and representative of gross inequality, the 'Queen', who are both objectionable to my Guardian reading, sandal-wearing world view. But above all, just listen to it, embarrassingly plopping like a school kid learning to play the tuba, 'derr derr derr DERR derr der...': all the musical grace of Cowell releasing his trapped morning bowel wind. (And it's a British tune, and this thread is about an 'English' anthem....)

 

'Jerusalem' is no better, its rose tinted wish to recreate some mythical heaven on earth, which apparently first occurred two thousand years ago when the son of the aforementioned invisible deity, allegedly strode upon the soil of Cornwall while trying to buy some tin. Of course, I forgot this fictitious Romano-British golden age, when the rich built extravagant mosaics and ordered amphora of the finest wine, while the poor were trained to throw spears and wield a gladius thousands of miles from home, against people who were desperately fighting to prevent being repressed. 'Jerusalem' also coughs up lashings of this religious mumbo, which is frankly offputting to many.

 

As for the Holst’s Thaxted adaptation, I'm sure we all share Spring-Rice's sense of divided loyalties, err... after all, I'm sure on a daily basis we all find ourselves questioning our devotion to our country, especially when the evidence for the existence of another 'country' in the afterlife is so, er, conclusive.

 

Shame all four songs tiptoe close to the edges of Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights, why can’t we have something with the uplifting thunder of Elgar’s Pomp and Circumstance, or Holst’s Jupiter, coupled with lyrics that don’t exclude 28.4%* of the country.

 

*based on the 2001 census?

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SW5 SAINT

SW5 SAINT

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Posted
We don't need one. GstQ is quintessentially known all over the world as the English National Anthem. Why change it? She is our Queen and we are not a republic.

 

GSTQ is the British national anthem. She is not just our Queen, she is also Queen of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and God knows where else!

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bridge too far

bridge too far

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Posted

Nah - not LoHaG - far too many references to religion and the 'Empire' for my liking:

 

Land of Hope and Glory, Mother of the Free,

How shall we extol thee, who are born of thee?

Wider still and wider shall thy bounds be set;

God, who made thee mighty, make thee mightier yet,

God, who made thee mighty, make thee mightier yet.

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badgerx16

badgerx16

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Land of Dope & Tories is the de facto anthem of the CONservatives, so automatically excludes all those of us who refuse to adopt blue rinse hairdos and worship at the alter of capitalist exploitation. For me it has to be either Jerusalem or I Vow to Thee.

 

As for standing for GSTQ, I try to avoid that if at all possible, but if my wife kicks me into compliance I always hold my hands behind my back with my fingers crossed, and keep my mouth firmly shtum. ( Mind you, the old dear is doing us all a favour by keeping Chuck off the throne ).

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krissyboy31

krissyboy31

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God Save the Queen is such a dirge!! It is also the 'national' anthem of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, not England. Wales and Scotland have their own anthem, so why shouldn't England? My choice would either be Jerusalem (if adopting an existing song) or do what Australia and New Zealand did and commission some of the Nation's greatest composers and song writers to come up with completely new anthem, something celebrating our history but relevant to the 21st century.

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badgerx16

badgerx16

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... or do what Australia and New Zealand did and commission some of the Nation's greatest composers and song writers to come up with completely new anthem, something celebrating our history but relevant to the 21st century.

Just ensure that Lloyd-Webber is safely locked up out of harm's way first.

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Mao Cap

Mao Cap

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Posted
Queen Victoria was the last Hanoverian monarch.;)

 

Was thinking more of the way in which it was hastily made up as propaganda (hence the crap tune and uninspired lyrics, no time to come up with anything better) to rally supporters of George II against the Jacobites in 1745-6. Or could have been George I in the 1715 uprising, I forget :)

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