Anthems

[Basher]

As there has been talk of Wales Grand Slam victory I thought I'd ask this simple question.

Why is England the only country in the British Isles that asks God to save the Queen?

Let's face it, Scotland, Ireland and Wales have their own "National" anthem. All stirring patriotic songs, sang with great passion and pride.

What do we have? IMO a totally boring dirge of two verses with no mention of England contained.

What's wrong with Land of Hope and Glory or Jerusalem?

God save the Queen is the National Anthem of Great Britain.

 

[GB72]

Top Point. Jerusalem should be the anthem for England.

 

[HTL]

I reckon it should be Land of Hope and Glory. Especially in the multi cultural society we live in.

I feel God save the Queen should only be used for Royal occasions and the military.

As long as they dont make up an anthem like the British and Irish Lions did in 2005, it went down as well as a fart in a space shuttle.

 

[Nico]

I know its pedantic but the Scots dont have an anthem.

I think Jerusalem would be excellent for the Saesneg,better than a song about a silly horse and cart.

Not a patch on ours tho!

 

[Basher]

Sorry Nico, you've lost me mate!

 

[medwayjon]

I vote for Jerusalem also.

A national anthem should be something with a bit of pride and a bit of passion.

It is one of my biggest annoyances when sportsmen don't sing along to the anthem at football matches. Prime example is Wayne Rooney but that doesn't surprise me as he is a cretinous troll-faced neanderthal.

 

[brendy]

Why do we need stodgey old national anthems these days, they rarely capture the nations mood anyway, how about changing it every decade, it would still have importance but would give the population a chance to vote for a song that erpresents them.

 

[DCB]

This was never a problem when the map of the world was pink !

 

[Basher]

LOL, I can just imagine the scene.

A time of great pride as we see a Brit clamber onto the gold medal podium at the next Olympics.

"Winning the gold medal.........representing Great Britain......(whoever).

The national flags then start to rise up the poles to a classic rendition of "I'm the fire starter" by Prodigy!!!

 

[brendy]

2012 olympic torch run to light the stadium would certainly be apt!

 

[rgs]

I could never understand why England use the British Anthem-the Scots and the Welsh brought out their own anthems a number of years ago.

As for the Irish rugby anthem "Irelands Call" thats a load of pish-it was dreamt up so as not to insult our Ulster brethren-and i can understand the logic-we should have picked Danny Boy instead.

 

[birdieman]

I know its pedantic but the Scots dont have an anthem.

I think Jerusalem would be excellent for the Saesneg,better than a song about a silly horse and cart.

Not a patch on ours tho!

Think the above horse and cart bit is referring to Swing low sweet chariot?

Scots do have an anthem, rarely played but it's called "Scots wha' hae" ....

Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled,
Scots wham Bruce has often led,
Welcome to your gory bed or to victory

Now's the time and now's the hour
see the front of battle lour
Feel the force of Edwards power
chains and slavery

ete etc

Scotland the brave is far better than Flower of Scotland too.

 

[TonyN]

Had this debate on another site, boy do people have strong views on this. Me personally, i beleive that a national anthem should be about the country not the queen. Land of hope and glory would get my vote but if i remember rightly, its not even about England.

 

[Basher]

Land of hope and glory would get my vote but if i remember rightly, its not even about England.

It gets my vote too Tony, don't care if it doesn't mention England to be honest, it still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up though!

 

[birdieman]

on the theme of anthems there are only 4 or 5 that are really memorable in the whole world -

France - perfect rabble rouser, very catchy
Italy - great tune
USA - not bad tune, easily remembered
Soviet Union - dark and menacing, my favourite but of course now defunct but sadly missed as the Russian one is utter crap.
UK - easily remembered but a bit too slow a tempo, cure for insomniacs?

 

[TonyN]

Yeah, and thats exactly what your national anthem should do, no matter how many times you hear it. Kinda like nessen dorma does!

 

[medwayjon]

To be fair, if our national anthem was the theme to the tweenies I would still love it. I am fiercely patriotic, I love my country and I advertise the fact with pride.

I reckon the Khazakstan national anthem from Borat is quality..... Is nice!

 

[TonyN]

'all the others are run by little girls'

 

[toonarmy]

Sheesh, I despair when the annals of history are so lightly tossed aside in favour of populist melodies.

Changing/inventing anthems or choosing to sing something entirely random is no more than a total disregard for national history, regardless of what the nation is.

No, 'God Save The Queen' is not a great anthem. But what it stands for most certainly is (in my eyes anyway!). It's never been a song about the Queen for me, it's been the anthem of my country.

Still, I know I'm in the minority these days in really valuing history. Pity, as the world would be a much better place if it actually took notice of history and made sure it didn't keep making the same mistakes over and over!

 

[John_Findlay]

Jerusalem's a great tune. Wouldn't mind having something like that. It's better than bloody Flower of Scotland up here, though. That's been ruined for me since the rugby buggers started using it and spoiled the original Corries version for all time. Shame on them.

Agree with Birdieman about the majority of his picks...not Italy, though. That's a joke anthem in my mind....so actually it's appropriate, now that I think about it.

France and USSR are the most rousing. That's what you need in an anthem.